It is the loss of temporary items, caused by my puppy, Boo Boo, that began this whole LOSS thought process. Having a puppy in your home, is most assuredly a promise of eventual loss. They destroy everything in their path, with no regard for value sentimental or monetary! Boo has a penchant for anything paper or paper related. She has eaten her share of paper towels, toilet paper, and cardboard boxes. I am amazed at how quickly she can totally decimate an item. She also loves bushes, sticks and has even had her bout with concrete and rocks, but that is for another time.
We have been allowing Boo a little more freedom lately, some time out of her crate when we are gone from the house, testing her maturity level. As it turns out, she is not ready for the freedom we have afforded her. We recently came home for lunch to find she had the time of her short life destroying two unread magazines, mangling at least 15 DVD boxes, shredding one roll of paper towel, and brining several branches through the doggy door into the living room. Loss. Loss of a few magazines, some paper towels, pretty boxes for DVD's, but more than that, loss of trust in Boo. This is something that will have to be earned, at a later date, when she is a little older and mature.
I took pictures of the scene, and posted them on Facebook. I got mixed reactions from people, "did you want to kill her?", "did you yell at/spank her?", "did you laugh?", and "did you give her a big kiss?" Honestly, I was stunned to see the mess, but never mad at her. I was disappointed that she had not been as well behaved as I had hoped she would be, sad that I would have to put her back in her crate for awhile longer, and relieved that she was not hurt by any of her mischief.
I have not been able to put this episode in the past and move on. I keep feeling like God was trying to teach me something through it. I can so easily see myself as Boo. So many times in my life I have had freedom to make decisions about the right thing to do, only to make a huge mess, and cause LOSS of one kind or another. The only difference is, most of my messes affected other people and were not so easily cleaned up. What was the same? No matter how much destruction I caused, how bad it looked, or could have been, God still loved me. I am sure he too was disappointed that I had not behaved as He had hoped. I believe as my loving heavenly father, it pained him to let me suffer the consequences of my actions. Maybe I didn't have to go to jail literally (like Boo's crate), but I still had to reap what I had sown. I also choose to believe, because of His love for me, that He was relieved that I had not hurt myself a time or two by my actions.
I am thankful for God's lessons in life, the ability to learn from them, and his patience and love for me while I continue to learn.
"But He, full of [merciful] compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not; yes, many a time He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath and indignation."-Psalm 78:38AMP
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