When the labs were young, I would open the front door and they’d vault off the front porch and be out of sight at the edge of the field in seconds flat. The problem always was that they wouldn’t come when I called them. Oh, they heard me. They’d lift their heads from whatever delicious scent they were investigating and look at me, but they had determined that whatever treat I had for them would in no way measure up to the fun they were going to have together. It only took a couple of times of having to track them down, tramping through fields and driving up and down roads before we knew we couldn’t just let them run. They always came back - eventually. But we didn’t know how far they were going, what they were chasing, and how much trouble they could get themselves into.
Here we are eleven years later and things have changed. Ebony has a torn ACL and although she walks pretty well, and even scampers after the chipmunk who likes to live dangerously next to our house, her hind legs don’t work so well anymore and she wears out quickly. Velvet still does a pretty good job of getting around, but the cataracts clouding her eyes are so bad she can’t see the dog treat you put in front of her nose. She always recoils when you touch her nose with it.
The past few days, Ebony has been reluctant to go for our morning walk. She’s happy about it once she’s outside and walking, but convincing her to get out of bed has not been easy. Once outside, I put Velvet on the leash and walk them over the dam. Of course, being labs, they both pile into the water, drinking as they walk, choking and coughing on water bugs, and trying to shake while still shoulder high in the pond. Yesterday, that’s the point at which I took the leash off Velvet. Neither of them made any indication that a mad dash into the woods was imminent. They investigated smells and calmly accompanied me around the pond and back up to the house.
So this morning, I didn’t even put the leash on Velvet. I just told her it was time to go for a walk, enticed Ebony out of her bed, and started off towards the pond. Velvet came when I called her, instead of going to see what Ebony had found. They both went for their morning swim. They both followed me back up to the house.
It’s a bittersweet experience. They are very compliant and lovable. They no longer chew on the porch rails. They don’t bark all through the night. But I know it’s because they’re rapidly approaching the end of their lives; it’s not because that’s what they’d do if they had the vim and vigor of youth.
So what about us? As we grow older, I’d like to think that we heed the Master’s call with ever increasing alacrity - because of the relationship we have with our Great God, not just because we don’t have the vim and vigor of youth.
There are a couple of very interesting verses in Psalm 119 which caught my attention recently:
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (vs. 67)
It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (vs 71)
Is that what it takes - old age, trouble, affliction, problems, disaster - before we see the value of God’s ways and our absolute need for Him? Do we have to be knocked down and bruised before we seek God first? Do we have to try things our way and get into all kinds of heartache before we do it the way God said to from the very beginning?
I kind of wonder if this is where Solomon ended up at the end of his life, in order for him to have penned these words:
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them. Ecclesiastes 12:1
Oh that we would seek God with all of our hearts now because He is good and worthy and He loves us so very much!! I don’t want to wait for the evil days to come before I turn to God with all of my heart. I don’t want to fall victim to the trap of being content with where I am so that I neglect my relationship with God because I fail to see how very much I need Him (Deuteronomy 8:11-20). I owe Him everything, even my very life. What could be more important than heeding His leading every day of my life?
I’m already sad, knowing that my labs’ days are numbered. But really, all of our days are numbered before even one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). Perhaps I need to be more intentional about living my life for God’s glory with whatever days still remain.
Here we are eleven years later and things have changed. Ebony has a torn ACL and although she walks pretty well, and even scampers after the chipmunk who likes to live dangerously next to our house, her hind legs don’t work so well anymore and she wears out quickly. Velvet still does a pretty good job of getting around, but the cataracts clouding her eyes are so bad she can’t see the dog treat you put in front of her nose. She always recoils when you touch her nose with it.
The past few days, Ebony has been reluctant to go for our morning walk. She’s happy about it once she’s outside and walking, but convincing her to get out of bed has not been easy. Once outside, I put Velvet on the leash and walk them over the dam. Of course, being labs, they both pile into the water, drinking as they walk, choking and coughing on water bugs, and trying to shake while still shoulder high in the pond. Yesterday, that’s the point at which I took the leash off Velvet. Neither of them made any indication that a mad dash into the woods was imminent. They investigated smells and calmly accompanied me around the pond and back up to the house.
So this morning, I didn’t even put the leash on Velvet. I just told her it was time to go for a walk, enticed Ebony out of her bed, and started off towards the pond. Velvet came when I called her, instead of going to see what Ebony had found. They both went for their morning swim. They both followed me back up to the house.
It’s a bittersweet experience. They are very compliant and lovable. They no longer chew on the porch rails. They don’t bark all through the night. But I know it’s because they’re rapidly approaching the end of their lives; it’s not because that’s what they’d do if they had the vim and vigor of youth.
So what about us? As we grow older, I’d like to think that we heed the Master’s call with ever increasing alacrity - because of the relationship we have with our Great God, not just because we don’t have the vim and vigor of youth.
There are a couple of very interesting verses in Psalm 119 which caught my attention recently:
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (vs. 67)
It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (vs 71)
Is that what it takes - old age, trouble, affliction, problems, disaster - before we see the value of God’s ways and our absolute need for Him? Do we have to be knocked down and bruised before we seek God first? Do we have to try things our way and get into all kinds of heartache before we do it the way God said to from the very beginning?
I kind of wonder if this is where Solomon ended up at the end of his life, in order for him to have penned these words:
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them. Ecclesiastes 12:1
Oh that we would seek God with all of our hearts now because He is good and worthy and He loves us so very much!! I don’t want to wait for the evil days to come before I turn to God with all of my heart. I don’t want to fall victim to the trap of being content with where I am so that I neglect my relationship with God because I fail to see how very much I need Him (Deuteronomy 8:11-20). I owe Him everything, even my very life. What could be more important than heeding His leading every day of my life?
I’m already sad, knowing that my labs’ days are numbered. But really, all of our days are numbered before even one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). Perhaps I need to be more intentional about living my life for God’s glory with whatever days still remain.
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