Muscles quiver in anticipation. Tension lay in the air like smoke coming from a chimney. Gunner has been through this drill from the time he was a ten week old pup, but the word stay is still one of the hardest to obey. He creeps forward which brings my quick correction. His eyes focus on the canvas dummy that stands in the place of future real birds. After eternity, I release the pup. Muscles that were once subdued now jump to life. Gunner’s feet throw chunks of earth with each stride. A giant leap meets the ponds edge, ending in a watery explosion. The young dog whimpers in frustration as his feet won’t carry him as fast as he would like through the water. Gunner quickly detains the Canvas imposter and makes his turn back toward me. Content resides in the eyes of the pup; he can tell by my overjoyed praise that he has pleased me. I reach down and with a Drop receive the canvas bird. The celebration quickly comes to an end with the word Sit followed by the dreaded Stay. I throw the canvas bumper back to where it came. Gunner’s muscles tense. He whimpers as the quivers of tension return. We spend the rest of the afternoon using tense repetition as a tool to imprint Gunners’ purpose on his heart.
A few hours later Gunner is sprawled out on the ottoman like he had been shot. He is whipped—barely waking long enough to eat his dinner. I rub his floppy ears allowing my mind to wonder. I start thinking of his performance today. Gunner’s intense drive to please was only equaled to his instinct to break command, and go when he wanted. The word stay was excruciating to him, much like wait is to us.
My family found ourselves in this predicament. For more than a couple years we had been consistently praying for a new house. All three of my boys had to share a bed room and the house was packed to its gills—and now Aaron, the oldest, was a teenager and needed his space. Month after month we prayed but the answer always came back wait. I became winey, pouty, and discouraged, but most of all, fearful for my boys faith—I wanted them to see God answer our prayers. I even jumped the gun and started looking at houses without having ours sold. Oregon was in the middle of the real-estate boom, making the market way over priced. A small townhouse, with no yard, went for two hundred and twenty thousand. The prices made our dream look hopeless—to the point that I looked for employment elsewhere—even out of my home state. I applied for a ton of jobs, that I was more than qualified for, but almost supernaturally, none of them panned out. Finally I melted; I had worn out all the human driven alternatives. I cried out, “Lord, not my will, but yours.” Within a couple of studies the Lord answered me—Rom 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. I was being told to wait—one of the hardest things for me to do. But Like David I resolved to—(Psa 27:14) Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. I tried to base my life on this concept. Soon the whole family started using phrases like—in His time or Lord willing, when we referred to the need for a house. It wasn’t until we were helpless that we found real peace. Waiting is never easy. Like Gunner, I was new at this and I often tried to creep forward, but my handler knew what he was doing correcting me before it became a problem. I have learned His lesson well—Quit living for the moment. Life is much more then the minute that we are in, and that moment can effect years. My ordered life is much bigger then I am, and all I can do is make the decisions that are placed before me. I cannot see what God sees. All I can see is the moment, but realizing how I treat that moment effects my eternity is wisdom. Knowing this I have realized that when the opposite is true, when I don’t understand the moment, it is best to be still, to wait on the handler to give me the command.
When I look at Gunner I see a fully functioning water dog. I have visions of a well disciplined machine that follow my commands. I know that at thirteen weeks there is no way he can live up to those expectations, but I do know the process that it takes to get him to my vision. I know the frustration he will have to deal with; I know the confusion that he will have to burn through. I thrust the pup into these hard situations now, so he could work it out before it really matters. I allow him to meet problems, fears, and emotions early on so he will grow into a mature hunter. The reason we do this at a young age is the pup is totally reliant on the handler. A good handler loves a pup through those times. A good handler always views the pup as the finished product. A good handler takes pride in his finished dog.
As gas prices, food prices, unemployment, taxes soar and the dow, real-estate values, retirement accounts plummet we can take lessons from our dogs. Gunner doesn’t know why he has to sit and stay. He doesn’t know why he has to suffer through it, but I, as his handler know exactly why he has to go through these things. I see his life in its future glory. Something he has no clue about. We are in better light then Gunner, we can know of the future Glory. Although the moments of today are scary we can take rest in the fact that they are ordered from our handler. We can bask in the fact that they are ordained to bring us to future glory. Jesus has allowed all that is going on to hone us into the people He wants. Like Gunner all we have to do is stay when he says stay and act when he says act. This is great a comfort and the only home for hope in these times. Turn to the Great Handler He will never lead us astray. Wait on the Lord, He is leading us to future Glory!
A few hours later Gunner is sprawled out on the ottoman like he had been shot. He is whipped—barely waking long enough to eat his dinner. I rub his floppy ears allowing my mind to wonder. I start thinking of his performance today. Gunner’s intense drive to please was only equaled to his instinct to break command, and go when he wanted. The word stay was excruciating to him, much like wait is to us.
My family found ourselves in this predicament. For more than a couple years we had been consistently praying for a new house. All three of my boys had to share a bed room and the house was packed to its gills—and now Aaron, the oldest, was a teenager and needed his space. Month after month we prayed but the answer always came back wait. I became winey, pouty, and discouraged, but most of all, fearful for my boys faith—I wanted them to see God answer our prayers. I even jumped the gun and started looking at houses without having ours sold. Oregon was in the middle of the real-estate boom, making the market way over priced. A small townhouse, with no yard, went for two hundred and twenty thousand. The prices made our dream look hopeless—to the point that I looked for employment elsewhere—even out of my home state. I applied for a ton of jobs, that I was more than qualified for, but almost supernaturally, none of them panned out. Finally I melted; I had worn out all the human driven alternatives. I cried out, “Lord, not my will, but yours.” Within a couple of studies the Lord answered me—Rom 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. I was being told to wait—one of the hardest things for me to do. But Like David I resolved to—(Psa 27:14) Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. I tried to base my life on this concept. Soon the whole family started using phrases like—in His time or Lord willing, when we referred to the need for a house. It wasn’t until we were helpless that we found real peace. Waiting is never easy. Like Gunner, I was new at this and I often tried to creep forward, but my handler knew what he was doing correcting me before it became a problem. I have learned His lesson well—Quit living for the moment. Life is much more then the minute that we are in, and that moment can effect years. My ordered life is much bigger then I am, and all I can do is make the decisions that are placed before me. I cannot see what God sees. All I can see is the moment, but realizing how I treat that moment effects my eternity is wisdom. Knowing this I have realized that when the opposite is true, when I don’t understand the moment, it is best to be still, to wait on the handler to give me the command.
When I look at Gunner I see a fully functioning water dog. I have visions of a well disciplined machine that follow my commands. I know that at thirteen weeks there is no way he can live up to those expectations, but I do know the process that it takes to get him to my vision. I know the frustration he will have to deal with; I know the confusion that he will have to burn through. I thrust the pup into these hard situations now, so he could work it out before it really matters. I allow him to meet problems, fears, and emotions early on so he will grow into a mature hunter. The reason we do this at a young age is the pup is totally reliant on the handler. A good handler loves a pup through those times. A good handler always views the pup as the finished product. A good handler takes pride in his finished dog.
As gas prices, food prices, unemployment, taxes soar and the dow, real-estate values, retirement accounts plummet we can take lessons from our dogs. Gunner doesn’t know why he has to sit and stay. He doesn’t know why he has to suffer through it, but I, as his handler know exactly why he has to go through these things. I see his life in its future glory. Something he has no clue about. We are in better light then Gunner, we can know of the future Glory. Although the moments of today are scary we can take rest in the fact that they are ordered from our handler. We can bask in the fact that they are ordained to bring us to future glory. Jesus has allowed all that is going on to hone us into the people He wants. Like Gunner all we have to do is stay when he says stay and act when he says act. This is great a comfort and the only home for hope in these times. Turn to the Great Handler He will never lead us astray. Wait on the Lord, He is leading us to future Glory!
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