"Stay!"

I was supposed to write this blog yesterday, but I talked John into going to see The Book of Eli instead. It was a good movie, but if you don't like the Bible, you might not like it.

So, let's just pretend it's Monday, because for alot of people it was like their Monday, and let's pretend you have another day off. That would've been better context for this topic, but I think it will still work.

I promised you I'd have some life lessons to learn from my dog, Mocha, and here's the first one I think is blog-worthy.

We have been trying to teach her "Stay." She is really well-behaved and loves everyone she meets, and for the most part, she wants to be within drooling distance of me or John at all times. For instance, this is where she is right now as I'm typing this:

If I'm at my desk, she's usually at my feet, breathing heavily every once in a while, just to let me know she's still there if I want to play. As sweet and loving as she is, she is a little rusty on basic commands, such as Come and Stay.

See, she follows me everywhere. We were tempted to name her Shadow, but it didn't stick. My desk is about 5 feet from the bathroom, but she has to get up and follow me there. I used to have to get up to throw something in the trash, which was about 3 feet away (I'm not a good shot, ok), and she'd get up and follow me there. I put the trashcan under my desk to save her the effort. When I'm in the kitchen, she is at my heels from the sink to the fridge to the pantry, which are all not very far from each other. I'm sure there's a spot that she could just sit in to watch the whole thing, but she chooses to be a participant.

I imagine her doggy thoughts are somewhere along the line of "Whatcha doing? Is that glass of water for me? Is that vitamin for me? Do you need my help unloading the dishwasher? Why are you putting that in the trash, you know I'll eat it? Can I look in the fridge with you? Is this where you keep my carrots? Hey look, we're passing my food bowl, and there's the container with the food. I like food!"

There's probably a lesson there for us being super close to the one we love, not being content to just sit there. But this is a blog about the importance of rest.

I'd like for her to be able to be in the same room with me, but let me get up and move around without investigating every little thing I do. If she could trust that I'm not going to leave her, and that I'm going to give her everything she needs, then maybe she could enjoy being 5 feet away from me for 5 minutes until she can physically feel me again.

But since she's a dog, she probably can't trust the way people do. So, we're trying to teach her to obey. We've heard that some dogs actually do this.

But as people, we can trust AND we can obey. Both are decisions we make. (PS- if you don't like the Bible, you probably won't like this part either) God's ability to take care of us isn't changed by our believing it or not. But our ability to receive from Him is absolutely tied to what we believe about God. And though, yes, sometimes He calls us to get up, get busy, run, work, etc..., He also commands us to Rest.

In fact, a place to lie down is the first thing mentioned in Psalm 23 that God provides for us. He told Moses in Gen 33 that along with His presence, He would give His people rest, as a sign of His favor. He gave us a whole day to Rest, actually built it into the whole Covenant thing (Gen 34).

It's not an either/or type of deal. I believe in order for us to do the work God has called us to, we must also do the rest He has called us to.

And that might mean staying when He's up to something we can't see, trusting that He'll be close again soon, and He will give us carrots when the time is right. (Oh wait, maybe that last one was just for me and Mocha!)

Is there a command you feel God is trying to teach you lately? Care to share?
(Remember to come over to my actual blog http://annasjoyblog.blogspot.com instead of commenting on Facebook. Thanks!)