M&M insight No. 1

"Do you kiss the hand that stops you?"  After I said it, I realized how unusual it sounded.

I have never said "No" or "Stop" so many times in three days!  In the last five minutes I've said those two words dozens of times to keep my laptop safe as I type. 

We did an "insane" thing this week.  I'm not sure this is recommended in retirement.  This morning in a moment of clarity I wondered if there is some kind of manual or advisor for  the "do's and don'ts of retirement."

We have wanted to get another dog and have been doing a bit of shopping.  This week , "a lead" surfaced and my husband pursued it!  We ended up at a breeder with the intent of looking.  We both knew I can't be trusted with a litter of puppies .  We knew one was coming home.

Yet we did not come home with a puppy.  We came home with two!  So it has been a wild three days.  They are adorable  and double trouble!  I'm sure the spiritual insights from M & M (Mickey and Molly) will be the second chapter in my Another Beginning blog.

My question to the puppies came when I was issuing the command to "Stop" , probably from chewing my clothes, the couch or each other.  When I give the command and they don't stop I push them away.  Their first response is a lick of my hand.  I know they are little manipulators and that's their method of conning me into allowing them to continue chewing.

My question made me consider my relationship with God. I discipline the puppies (I should probably put discipline in quotation marks-I'm not sure who is training who in the housebreaking department.) to protect them and to make them acceptable to society.  Isn't that the same reason God says No to us?

Matthew 6:13 in The Message reminds me that we should ask God to keep us safe from ourselves.  The puppies can't get enough of chewing on the rose bush.  Apparently the thorns are not doing their job!  Is there some vitamin in rose bushes that puppies need?  I know the thorns will hurt them.  I know that the electrical current flowing through the laptop cord will hurt puppies, they don't.   (Yes, I'm in a chair surrounded by three dogs typing!)  I say no to the puppies to protect them.

I will say no to the puppies to make them acceptable to society.  Too soon, that jumping and leaping will not be cute.  People will not enjoy  my puppies if they continue to maul visitors at their arrival.

God does the same for us because He loves us, even when we are not cute!  He will stop us to protect us and to help us fit into His world.  How often have I thanked Him for that discipline?

Proverbs 3:11-12  spoke to me when I pondered my unusual question, "Do you kiss the hand that stops you?"  I usually don't because I'm selfish like my little puppies.  I plan to remember in the future that God disciplines the ones He loves.  He disciplines me for my benefit. 

So in the future I hope I answer in the affirmative and tell God, "Thanks for saving me from myself and making me fit into Your world."

Gotta go....... The  printer woke up one puppy and he's trying to chew her collar off.  I need to break out the words and do some protecting!