Stay in your Cage!

A month ago a sweet yellow lab puppy adopted us. Usually a family chooses which animal they will take home.... this animal decided which family he wanted! He showed up at our house and wouldn't leave. We called Animal Control and the Humane Society to see if anyone had reported a missing puppy... needless to say, he joined our family!

Because we can't trust him when we leave our house, we always put him in a dog crate (or kennel... Josh and I still can't decide which name we like better!). He HATES the "crennel" (This is a compromise between crate and kennel!) The puppy always freaks out and jostles the cage so much that he scoots it around the room. He also discovered that if he moved it enough, he could wiggle the locks on the door open. Once or twice he has been able to get one of the two locks open, and squeeze out. Last night was a little different.

We got home late from a teen activity (Which, by the way was AWESOME!!!). We heard the puppy, which we ended up naming Stinky Pete - 'cause he stinks! - crying and barking. When we walked around the corner, immediately we realized that Pete was hurt. There was blood everywhere, and his whimper was different from his usual, "I want out so I can play," whimper. He had gotten one of the locks to open and had managed to squeeze most of him through the door. His right leg was now wedged tightly in the door, and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't get out. As a matter of fact, the harder he pulled , the worse the cut on his leg got! Luckily, the cut was wide, but not too deep. Josh held the dog while I cleaned the wound. We cleaned up the blood and wearily crawled into bed.

I thought today of how much this story reminds me of people. Because my husband and I work with teens every day, they came to my mind first. God gives us rules, or a "cage", to protect us. He sets up laws and boundaries in order to keep us safe. We never seem to see it that way. We see it as confinement from the good life. No drinking, no smoking, keep yourself pure until marriage, no inappropriate TV shows.... there are so many ways we see God's rules as a big cage, or crate, or kennel, or whatever name you have for it. Growing up, I can remember countless times where my friends were doing things that I knew went against the rules that God and my parents had for me. I chose to do right. Was I jealous of them? Honestly, yes. Sometimes I wished that I could live like they were living. It seemed so fun. Now, I see what a wonderful "cage" I had. I have the life I always wanted. I have a husband that loves me. My brain isn't fried on drugs. I haven't been divorced twice. I don't have a hangover every Sunday and wonder what happened Saturday night. I have such a great life, and it isn't on accident. The choices I made as a high school and college student are reflected in my life today. Boy, am I ever glad that I stayed in my cage!