Teathered and Set Free
I went to Rooks Park this afternoon, to have some MUCH needed Alone Time with God. We walked clear around Mill Creek Trail (I call it the Big Circle), and even found a special "God and me" place where we enjoyed sitting and relaxing and learning. Always learning. Always watching.
It was while we were sitting there (I'd have a picture of it, but I kinda spent the battery in my camera before we got there), that He pointed something rather stark out to me. Across the fish-ladder from our vantage point, was a very similar one, that led down to the water. A woman, her probably 10 year old daughter, and their (beagle?) dog stopped there, and the woman stood up on the path above, while her daughter and their dog, on a leash, went down to the water where he could play and drink for a minute. Only a minute. He hardly had had a chance to get a single gulp, and it was time to go already! The mom was in a hurry. Yet she didn't speak harshly to her daughter - just positively and matter of factly. The girl passing on this message to the dog was a bit different. She tugged and pulled and did her best to get their dog up the bank! She didn't yell, though, and in fact, she didn't say a word. Eventually, the dog kind of cowerred and relented, but was very unhappy. The girl didn't seem to be disturbed by this - I suppose she's used to this kind of tug-of-war with her dog. They did get back up to the path, and everyone kept moving. Then God pointed out to me that Love would make a better teather than that leash. Had the girl and her dog had a severely close relationship, and had she been a perfect owner (she ought to be given credit for not yelling at the dog - a lot of kids her age would have, and no, no one is a perfect dog-owner), someone who the dog trusted implicitely and without question, she wouldn't have needed a leash - he would have obeyed her every command. Interesting word, that one is, "command." Love doesn't command, yet He commands the spirits of those who answer His Call.
God pointed out to me that the girl and her mother have a loving, kind, happy relationship and so her mother was able to simply say "ok, it's time to go now" and she readily just went. There was no fear in her eyes, as if knowing that if she refused that there was some punishment involved. Nor was there fear that she might be holding up her mom's busy schedule if she chose to stay on the bank with her dog. She just readily went back and did all she could to bring her dog with her.
1 John 4:18 & 2 Timothy 1:7
On the way home, as is His Custom, God chose a really cool lineup (and the DJ's think THEIR responsible for this ;p), which included "I Am Free." Love HAS set me free! I am FREE to do anything and everything, because it is ALL to God's Glory! This is something I've struggled wtih of late -- being afraid of doing the wrong thing, of being wrong, of letting God down. Yesterday, God let me know that it's OK to be wrong - He has my back covered and He Loves me too much to let me down. He'll be here for me, and IS here for me! So, I'm FREE to do whatever the Spirit drives me to do!
So, Love has Teathered me to The One who I can Trust, and it has set me Free to Live the way He Leads me to, unfettered by all the weird looks I get from people who just don't understand.
It was while we were sitting there (I'd have a picture of it, but I kinda spent the battery in my camera before we got there), that He pointed something rather stark out to me. Across the fish-ladder from our vantage point, was a very similar one, that led down to the water. A woman, her probably 10 year old daughter, and their (beagle?) dog stopped there, and the woman stood up on the path above, while her daughter and their dog, on a leash, went down to the water where he could play and drink for a minute. Only a minute. He hardly had had a chance to get a single gulp, and it was time to go already! The mom was in a hurry. Yet she didn't speak harshly to her daughter - just positively and matter of factly. The girl passing on this message to the dog was a bit different. She tugged and pulled and did her best to get their dog up the bank! She didn't yell, though, and in fact, she didn't say a word. Eventually, the dog kind of cowerred and relented, but was very unhappy. The girl didn't seem to be disturbed by this - I suppose she's used to this kind of tug-of-war with her dog. They did get back up to the path, and everyone kept moving. Then God pointed out to me that Love would make a better teather than that leash. Had the girl and her dog had a severely close relationship, and had she been a perfect owner (she ought to be given credit for not yelling at the dog - a lot of kids her age would have, and no, no one is a perfect dog-owner), someone who the dog trusted implicitely and without question, she wouldn't have needed a leash - he would have obeyed her every command. Interesting word, that one is, "command." Love doesn't command, yet He commands the spirits of those who answer His Call.
God pointed out to me that the girl and her mother have a loving, kind, happy relationship and so her mother was able to simply say "ok, it's time to go now" and she readily just went. There was no fear in her eyes, as if knowing that if she refused that there was some punishment involved. Nor was there fear that she might be holding up her mom's busy schedule if she chose to stay on the bank with her dog. She just readily went back and did all she could to bring her dog with her.
1 John 4:18 & 2 Timothy 1:7
On the way home, as is His Custom, God chose a really cool lineup (and the DJ's think THEIR responsible for this ;p), which included "I Am Free." Love HAS set me free! I am FREE to do anything and everything, because it is ALL to God's Glory! This is something I've struggled wtih of late -- being afraid of doing the wrong thing, of being wrong, of letting God down. Yesterday, God let me know that it's OK to be wrong - He has my back covered and He Loves me too much to let me down. He'll be here for me, and IS here for me! So, I'm FREE to do whatever the Spirit drives me to do!
So, Love has Teathered me to The One who I can Trust, and it has set me Free to Live the way He Leads me to, unfettered by all the weird looks I get from people who just don't understand.
posted by Caroline Talita Ishshah | 6:27 PM
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