Little ones, the next 48 hours will not be fun. You’ll be
shoved around, exposed to unfamiliar and frightening sounds, sights, and
smells. I can’t be with you, but promise to be thinking of you every moment
until we are reunited. It hurts my heart to put you through this and I will try
to provide you with every comfort I can for this journey.
Please trust that
after this you’ll find a new home, full of fresh, cool air and fields stocked
with rabbits and pheasants for you to chase until your legs give out. You’ll be
through with 100 degree summers and daily walks through urban neighborhoods.
Instead, you’ll be allowed to romp off leash through forest trails, sniffing,
hunting, chasing. You’ll finally have the life I have always wanted for you; a
life where you can simply be a dog; where you’ll not only have a yard, but a
whole countryside to explore.
You just have to make it through these next 48
hours. I wish I could stay with you. I wish I could make you understand. The discomfort
and confusion will be temporary, but I promise you, an exquisite life is
waiting on the other side.
As I think about putting my sweet pups on the cargo
hold of a plane, I worry so much that they’ll be traumatized by the experience.
I desperately want to stow away with them so that they can see my calm reaction
and know that it will all be fine.
It hit me that it’s probably a pretty good analogy of
how God must feel about his children on Earth, not fully comprehending the joy
that lies waiting for us in the Kingdom of heaven. We experience difficulties
and struggles and wonder if God has abandoned us. I know that His heart must
hurt to see us struggle and I’ll bet He wishes he could be physically present
to comfort us.
He promises that we will be rewarded for our faith, but we live
in a world full of frightening sights, sounds, and smells; it can be easy to
forget that we are just on a temporary journey. This life in comparison to
eternity is even shorter than a flight to London. The reward is even better
than Scotland; even more beautiful than rolling hills and valleys dotted with
sheep; even more pleasant than the fresh Scottish air on a crisp and sunny
summer day; even more delicious than fish and chips and a pint of Scottish Ale.
More than a thousand times better than Scotland! Can you imagine it? Neither
can I. But I trust that it’s waiting for me, and that it is worth any fear,
discomfort, or heart ache that I might experience in the meantime.
This is a great analogy and an even better reminder
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