It’s official. The newest member of the House of Weaver has arrived. Meet Sir Wally Boomeister Halloweeny Weaver - all 9 weeks and 5 lbs of him.
We got him on October 31st - hence the name. He is learning the code of the pack - potty outside if you walk on all fours!
He has also expressed an interest in blogging as you can see by this picture. So he may appear as a guest blogger from time to time.
It has been a rough couple of days at the Weaver house. Amos, our wonderful dog - if not 6th family member - passed away yesterday.
It was nearly eight years ago that we rescued him from the local humane society. I can still remember walking among the kennels with dogs waiting for adoption and not being settled on any. As we were leaving we heard this deep howl from another part of the facility that we had not been to and I knew it was a hound - precisely what I was looking for!
He was around eight months with a slight hip problem but we knew he was the one. Over the next seven years he became quite endeared to family and friends. He was mellow, loving, hospitable, and had great house manners. We could never understand how such a great dog ended up one door away from the euthanasia room but someone else’s burden became our great blessing.
He loved the park and the lake and we would run trails together. He was also a walking partner for my wife and I. He wen along on several vacations and camping trips. He was the best dog we could have ever hoped for.
In his last few hours I was able to load him in my truck with my oldest son’s help, and took him to the park - a place where we spent many hours together. We sat in the back of my truck and reminisced. After wrestling with my perceived lack of spirituality in being able to pray for his healing I settled upon this request of the Lord: that He would take Amos so that we would not have to put him down.
We left the park and returned home to wait for my wife before going to the vet - and the Lord took him. He was part of my journey and I am thankful.
One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
Andrew Gide, French critic, essayist, & novelist.
This quote has such relevance for those journeying with Christ outside the Christian religion. I can clearly remember a time of prayer shortly following my personal exodus during which I felt like I was in spiritual free-fall. At first fear tried to grip me but the Lord encouraged my that I was entering into open waters, where there are no buoys or markers by which to guide myself - only the Spirit. I realized that, in many ways, the traditions and trappings of the church system had defined God to me and if I was going to apprehend Christ in a more authentic way I would have to let go of the old landmarks - lose sight of the shore.
I am also reminded of my short stint in the US Navy, wherein I only got to go on one cruise - to the Caribbean. I can clearly remember losing sight of land and feeling suddenly small. A tiny speck in an endless blue ocean. But crossing the sea is cleansing as you depart from one country to find another. Quite like baptism or crossing the Jordan.
As it says in Hebrews 11:13-16,
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
May we be a people who strive to enter that country and dwell in that city - no matter how long we must lose sight of the shores of our former understanding.
I always enjoy reading Dan Edelan’s thoughts at Cerulean Sanctum. This one, regarding a ridiculous “prophecy” concerning the upcoming election, just has to be shared.
Click here to read.
A Man Among men
Lately I have been considering the Lord in His humanity and am always awed by the fact that He accomplished the Father’s will and purpose in His humanity - not His divinity. When He walked the earth He not only revealed God to us, He revealed what it truly means to be human in the way God intended. He truly was a Man among men.
Further meditation on this brought some interesting thoughts to my mind concerning His living of humanity verses ours. Here are a few of those thoughts.
Jesus was the first-fruits of a new humanity - we are the harvest. As a dear friend of man likes to say, “He is designing a new human.” Lord redesign me in Your image!