Comfort and Peace in the Storm

I’m continuing my blog series about these two furry grand-dogs that I’m keeping while my children are away. It’s Sunday morning and I get a wake-up call, rather a wake-up barking at 4:30 am from Emma, the Yorkie. I’m not a happy camper. Who wants to be awakened by a barking alarm? My sleep is very important to me because I get so little of it. So the little I get doesn't want to be disturbed. I prance into my granddaughter’s bedroom where Emma sleeps and I shoosh her. I get back to my room and determine to get just a few more minutes of shut-eye, then I hear thunder bellowing loudly. Aw! So that’s why Emma is barking. She is afraid. I go pick her up and bring her to my bed. She snuggles in closely to me. She is comforted. She is at peace because I represent peace and comfort to her.

Rarely do I veer off-course from my life experiences in my blogs. That’s on purpose. St. Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 1:4 "That you may be comforted with the same comfort that I have been comforted with." And, indeed, that is my desire to bring comfort – not to just a furry friend, but to comfort others with the many times of comfort that I have been comforted with during my own “thunderous, stormy and difficult times. I want to help others learn their lessons.....much faster than I do.

I found that when the storms come, it’s our nature to get worried –- like little Emma. She doesn’t understand loud thunder. And, maybe we don’t either. Oftentimes, praying and seeking God for the answer is the last thing we do to escape our storms. "Well, I've tried everything else.....so as a last resort, I'll ask God for help!" We do our best to try to figure it all out, when He Who knows everything about everything has it all figured out. He is just waiting for us to cry out to Him for the answers.

The disciples knew Jesus was on the mountain praying. They discounted the fact that He was the authentic, unparalleled storm chaser and peace maker. They toiled and feared in their boat on the stormy waters, but Christ was praying on the mountainside for them because He saw the storm come up and He saw their fear. And we should realize that He sees and knows the storms we're going through and He is hearing our prayers in the midst of OUR storms.

Little Emma snuggles in close to me and even as I type this blog this early Sunday morning, she sleeps on, and, in fact -- snoring. If my tender heart cares for the concerns of this little dog, how much more does our loving Heavenly Father care about us? He is always inviting us to “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) We can know this: There is no difficulty in life that is stronger than Jesus. We can snuggle in close to Him and face our difficult times with courage because He promised to ALWAYS be with us! I love knowing that His peace is ours during our storms....and how reassuring to know that right behind this storm is a rainbow of blessing! He promised it, and I've come to count on it!

I'm Supposed to Love My Neighbor as Myself, BUT Myself Doesn't Have a Barking Dog!

Day 56 of Photo Inspirations:  I'm Supposed to Love My Neighbor as Myself....BUT Myself Doesn't Have a Barking Dog!

I live in the most amazing community with some delightful residents in it, except for a few cranky ones.  But, cranky, is just the nature of some folks.  

So that was my dilemma.  When wonderful new residents moved in......so did their two large dogs.  In a new community where there's cement trucks,  contractors hammering or sawing, geese, walkers, etc.-- those dogs have every excuse in the world to do what they do so naturally: BARK, BARK, BARK!  They have a dog door, so when their owners are at work, they can go in and out all day. Not wanting to be one of the CRANKY neighbors, I sucked it in.  I thanked God that I had such good ears that could hear them. I prayed. I put louder music on to drown out their incessant barking. But, I (and other neighbors) had enough.  

I spoke to their Builder and asked his advice.  He recommended that I get a device that uses ultrasonic sound to deter their barking.  It's completely safe and detects barking up to 50 feet away.  And he told me where I could find one.  $70 later I came home with my solution for a quiet and peaceful day. Quite slyly, I sat out my little "miracle birdhouse" and it appeared to work.  The barking seemed to curb, but not for long.  I think they got wise and stayed more than 50 feet away -- most of the time.

"Okay, I'll bite the bullet and go meet with the dogs' owners."  And,  I did that last night.  And by the way, the dogs were NOT barking -- because their masters were home. They were happy campers.  What beautiful people they are and after a little chit chat and expessing how apologetic I was to have to be there, I announced that their barking dogs were giving the neighbors a lot of grief.  I took a deep breath to hear how they took it.....and, to my absolute joy, they were so apologetic, so willing to do whatever it takes to rectify the situation.  I was told that the owner comes home at noon everyday and could let the dogs out then, instead of leaving the dog door open all day for free rein.  Whew!  Friendship salvaged.

Why did I share this story with you?  I wanted you to learn from my experience.  I could have saved $70 and a lot of frustration and lack of peace if I had only talked to them in a kind and loving way in the first place.  I didn't want to risk a friendship -- but as it turned out a friendship was strengthened because of my honesty and true desire to help the cause.  Once again, I defer to the best Role Model -- Who handled difficult situations and difficult people in exemplary ways.  Our behavior toward people really does influence their behavior toward us.  It's up to us to take the high road to convey warmth, to seek the ultimate good for others, to build up and not destroy, and to forgive.   It's ALL about LOVE!   Love draws out the best in people and situations.  Bottom line...if love is at the core of our motives, then LOVE will conquer ALL.
#BarkingDogsMakesBarkingPeople  #LoveConquers