Even though blustery cold winds gave me good reason to stay in the warm, my four-legged companion needed to do her business outside. I donned my husband’s parka and heavy boots, wrapped my legs in a blanket and put on gloves to sit in the doorway while she made her way down the stairs beside the ramp. Her fur coat kept her warm as she sniffed the ground finding the perfect place for her deposit. Her search took her under the ramp out of sight.
Job completed and ready for her warm house, she ascended the stairs only to be stopped on the third one.
“Go round,” I told Faith.
Deciding she had wrapped the leash around a ramp post, her execution of making a trip around the post should have solved the problem. She headed back up the steps getting no farther than the last time.
What do I try now?
I dropped the leash in anticipation of her dragging it up the steps behind her.
“Come on, Faith,” I said.
She tried. My brilliant idea didn’t work. By this time, she was getting anxious to be freed and not able to get to her, I was helpless.
“Wait. I am going to get help,” I tried reassuring her.
Closing the door, her desperate cries tore through my heart as I raced to awaken my husband, snuggled in our warm bed, sound asleep. Rousing him with my pleadings to rescue Faith, he abandoned sleep to brave the elements.
I was waiting far too long for a simple tangled leash extrication, when the door flew open and I was greeted with very cold, wet paws. Faith’s happy pirouettes were interrupted periodically by placing grateful kisses all over my face.
Faith’s experience reminded me of how tangled our lives get with busyness. Our schedules dictate what, when, where and how we live. Before we realize what is happening, our lives get so tangled we have no time for God. Trying our own methods to free us from what holds us back, we make our lives more jumbled. It is only when we stop trying our futile ways and focus on God’s open arms waiting to free us, will we experience success.
What in your life has you tangled?
Joan Patterson 