Announcing the Newest Member of our Family...

One word describes my wife…awesome! Seriously, if you are married, there is absolutely no way that your spouse compares to mine. If you are engaged and you are the type of person who wants to have the best of everything...sorry, second place will have to do. Better yet, if you are someday hoping to get married, but haven’t found the best wife yet (this includes 8 year olds), you’ll have to wait at least 80 years or so until mine dies, because she’ll still hold that title!

Why is my wife so awesome? I’m glad you asked.

She fulfilled a lifetime dream of mine last week.

I’m 27 years old and since watching Old Yeller in the fourth grade, I’ve dreamed of having a dog. No, I couldn’t watch the end and even hid behind the couch. This desire intensified as I read (and cried) Where the Red Fern Grows and Shiloh. There were other movies…See Spot Run, My Dog Skip, and Marley and Me (which launched me into a deep depression that took weeks for me to recover).

I remember countless times pleading with my father to let me have a puppy. The answer was always the same. “I saw a kid puke once and two dogs went and licked up the vomit. Do you know what they do next? They lick you in the face.” Nice. He did eventually get us a dog. She was 144 in human years and Noah named her Babette. She was a Lhasa Apso and the only surviving animal on the ark. The retired show dog and breed dog wasn’t exactly the dog my brothers and I had in mind.

Last fall, my desire was rekindled when I read an article in Runner’s World about dogs. Throughout the Christmas season, I just knew Santa was going to take care of me. Do you remember what I got? A chair (which is actually now my “sacred place”; so it all turned out alright).

Valentine’s Day came and went…no dog. A watch! A nice watch, but not a dog.

My desire deepened as a friend brought his puppy (he had two more left) to school for a new counseling program while at the same time, coincidentally, my class was reading a story in our textbook about a boy getting a dog. It seemed that everyone we knew were taking sides on whether or not we should get a dog. Of course none of this mattered, I only needed one person’s approval. My wife. And I didn’t think that was going to come anytime soon.

Yes, I could have gone out and gotten a dog by myself, but that’s not what I wanted. I know there are condescending people out there who are thinking, “Why didn’t you grow a pair? We know who’s in charge!” You need to know that we are supposed to honor our wives. I wanted a dog, but not at the expense of my wife’s happiness.

My wife surprised me in front of 500 people with a puppy. My daughter was there and walked the puppy to me with my friend. She exclaimed, “My Daisy!” (A name she picked out months before, just in case we were ever to get a dog). Daisy is a full-bred “Battle Dog”. What’s a Battle dog? Well, she is actually a boxer/cattle dog mix, so I thought I would make her have a much trendier name. Other breeds get cool names like the “Golden Doodle” and the “Schnickerpoo”, so why not?

Yes, the puppy is a girl which therefore means that my life is full of nothing but female species. Except, that is, for a boy cat, and we all know that nothing screams masculinity more than a cat.

Daisy is a smart and beautiful puppy and is unbelievably patient with my girls. Just what the Ball family needed! I have already taught her to sit, lay down, shake, and stay. I didn’t know I was a dog whisperer. I get lots of opportunity to think and pray as I take her out to “go potty”. One thing I notice is that she hates the leash. She fights me. The only time that she seems happy is if I am running with her or am bribing her with treats.

She had me thinking that Christians can be a lot like puppies. We often times hate a leash and we always want to go our own way. We often refuse to move and struggle when being pulled to places we don’t want to go. There are times that we are happy, but only when we’re getting what we want.

But as I almost stepped in some “elimination”, God revealed to me that we should be nothing like dogs. He reminded me of His Word and how we are compared to sheep, not dogs. My mind needed to be rewired; people often feel that Christianity is full of restrictions. But it’s not. Christianity is full of relationship, not rules.

Sheep in ancient times had the freedom to graze and go where they wanted with a shepherd keeping watch.  Sheep are stupid, but shepherds found enormous value in them. They would go after wolves, lions, bears, and thieves. Not with guns, but with staffs.

Christian, if you are feeling like a dog on a leash, being led in a direction you don’t want to go and never feeling as if you have any slack, you aren’t living life to the fullest. I will even be so bold as to say you aren’t living in the perfect will of God. You aren’t experiencing life like Jesus wants you to. Remember that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He even wants you to cast your burdens on Him.

You are free to go where you want.

You are able to do anything you want to.

You are not a dog on a leash.

You cannot imagine the value that Jesus finds in you. No matter what you have done, Jesus loves you more than you can imagine. If one out of hundred is missing, he will leave the 99 to go find that one. He offers His sheep protection and, in return, the sheep know the shepherds voice.

Interestingly enough, the Word does compare some to dogs. Solomon wrote, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). My father was onto something. God sees you as a loved sheep, but truthfully some are dogs. Since God gives us freedom, some people use that freedom to return to their vomit. They return to their sin. How disgusting? You get the choice on whether you are like a dog or like a sheep. It’s up to the fool.

So are you a sheep or a dog?

Everyone has freedom to live as they choose, but how do you use that freedom?

Do you find yourself, like Paul, doing the very things that you don’t want to do?

How many times have you found yourself repeating the same acts of stupidity?

Or are you using that freedom to only, in turn, be tied up by self-imposed religious restrictions?

Or are you using that freedom to further your relationship with Christ?

The great news is if you are acting like dog and lapping up your vomit, you have the freedom to choose for yourself what to do next. Choose to be a sheep under the protection of the good shepherd. He has left the flock of 99 and He is looking for you. Turn and seek Him.