I found this piece of writing late last night that I had written during the summer and realized the wisdom that it still has. I wanted to share it with you all this week. Our puppy, Buddy has grown quite a bit since I wrote it. He is almost one year old and our family loves him dearly. He brings us joy and frustration, but mostly joy. Ha!
We got a new puppy this week. He has made life a little more stressful and joyful at the same time. We have been wanting a puppy for over a year now. And honestly, I have built up the very moment that this would occur for the entire year that we have thought about it. Don’t get me wrong, he is the cutest! He has a puppy dog face without even trying and instantly you want to give him anything he wants. Steak? Cool whip? Peanut butter pretzel? Of course! Your puppy life is so hard….
When I think so long about something, I often add details in my imagination and when it actually happens, it hardly ever measures up. In my imagination, we would have this puppy that created joy for the kids and would become my son’s best friend. The dog would never leave his side and they would take naps together and they would run through a field together with joyous expressions. And surprisingly, in the 4 days that we have had this puppy, I am already forcing my son to play with him. He wants to play with his toys and watch a show or play on his iPad. Even though he mentioned many times he was so excited for this puppy. Was he in love with the picture I created too? Was this really what he wanted in the first place?
Our puppy is jumpy and nippy and unpredictable and it honestly frightens my kids sometimes. I have become the player, feeder, trainer, and mama of this puppy and that is not how I imagined this would turn out. And that is the problem. Where do I get these images of perfection for a puppy? How are they harmful? It creates a perfect picture that could not be realistically reached and I face the disappointment of a moment that isn’t all up to me. So many variables are at play with this. And instead of taking joy in the growth of development or allowing God to come into these moments and create a new thought, a new innovation, I am left searching for a dream that was not meant for me or my family.
I want God to have room to heal the places that need to mend and room for Him to spark the God given and God grown dreams that my imagination could not fathom to create. Is it possible by using only your imagination to create and plan your future, you could actually limit God’s room to make it better?
Always learning, always reaching for more of Him. That is the posture I want to keep with my Father that creates and innovates and makes ALL things new. And this kind of ‘new’ is hard to imagine, because it truly is beyond our wildest dreams.
