Sunday, November 29, 2009
Only read chapter 18 this week
In this chapter Michelle talks about traveling with her to Shih tzus, as well as taking them for walks in those times that they have forgotten their manners. The first she states has to do with trust. Her female dog trusts her and that she will do what is right, which is return, therefore she behaves very well when Michelle is speaking and waits quietly in a room off-stage. Her male dog on the other hand does not have this trust and therefore whimpers and cries at the door. Michelle then turns this around and equates it to her trust in God and in so doing takes us along for some inspection of our relationships with God. In sound bites she get to the part about walking her two dogs and how after the not walking like they have been trained to do she has to re-establish the boundaries through the use of pinch collars. I really liked one of her statements about boundaries. It is one that I stress with my clients repeatedly. "We can't expect people ot respect our boundaries if we've never established or enforced them. We can't be offended when they break rules they never knew existed. At the end of the day people (and dogs) feel better when they know the limitations." She next, of course, then talks about the fact that God is very clear on the boundaries that he has set for us so that we can enjoy a good relationship with us. She finishes up with the piece that pinches my toes. "And yet so often I follow my own voice, the voice of my peers, my desires, my flesh. I find myself staring at the wreckage caused by my foolish actions. And class begins again. My stubbornness must be crucified all over again. I'm miserable untl I discover the safety of surrender to my Lord, Jesus." Amen sister I am silently shouting as I read that part again.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
This week's reading:14, 15, 16
Chapter 14: The Unrelenting Nature of Love
Michelle starts this chapter off with two stories of loss. The feelings of loss a young boy and a woman has when their dogs are stolen. The feelings she experiences when the man she loved dies. It was at this point that she tells us of her return to church and how Jesus restored her. In the "Sound Bite" at the end of the chapter she talks about the love of Jesus.
Chapter 15: The Danger of Judging Others
God has really been pushing this message with me this week. In two different books this week I have read lessons about hte danger of judging others. One book talks about how you can't judge someone's worth based on their looks and in this chapter Michelle shows us that what we judge in others we may have to deal with in our own life. She judged her assistant's dog as being a problem because her assistant did not properly train him but then she gets a dog that is difficult to train and misbehaves in many of the same ways. She then equates this to God's love of us inspite of the ways in which we may misbehave.
Chapter 16: The Contageous Nature of Sin
Michelle starts the chapter by telling us how kennel cough made it's way through the three dogs in her household at the time; her two and a friend's dog that was staying with them. Once again she equates this to how sin can spread through a church and/or a person. The shoe pinched when she talked about pride and how some of us try so hard to get other's approval. She can give me some good lessons through her stories of her dogs. In this chapter she talked about how her male dog (the new dog in the house) was only trying to win her approval and get attention because he was overly needy for attention. Her female dog had never felt this need because she knew of the beginning that she was the apple of Michelle's eye. Michelle once again uses this to relate a lesson from the Bible in this chapter is how Jesus did not give into Satan's temptations in the desert because he knew who and what he was and that he already had all he needed. In other words he knew Satan's temptations were but hallow reflections of what he already had. In sound bites at the end of the chapter she talked about how we can learn to love things that are not good for us. She talked about if she allows her dogs to eat people food then they will come to expect that and not eat the things that are healthy for them. Again she shared how we are the same way when it comes to God and God's words.
Michelle starts this chapter off with two stories of loss. The feelings of loss a young boy and a woman has when their dogs are stolen. The feelings she experiences when the man she loved dies. It was at this point that she tells us of her return to church and how Jesus restored her. In the "Sound Bite" at the end of the chapter she talks about the love of Jesus.
Chapter 15: The Danger of Judging Others
God has really been pushing this message with me this week. In two different books this week I have read lessons about hte danger of judging others. One book talks about how you can't judge someone's worth based on their looks and in this chapter Michelle shows us that what we judge in others we may have to deal with in our own life. She judged her assistant's dog as being a problem because her assistant did not properly train him but then she gets a dog that is difficult to train and misbehaves in many of the same ways. She then equates this to God's love of us inspite of the ways in which we may misbehave.
Chapter 16: The Contageous Nature of Sin
Michelle starts the chapter by telling us how kennel cough made it's way through the three dogs in her household at the time; her two and a friend's dog that was staying with them. Once again she equates this to how sin can spread through a church and/or a person. The shoe pinched when she talked about pride and how some of us try so hard to get other's approval. She can give me some good lessons through her stories of her dogs. In this chapter she talked about how her male dog (the new dog in the house) was only trying to win her approval and get attention because he was overly needy for attention. Her female dog had never felt this need because she knew of the beginning that she was the apple of Michelle's eye. Michelle once again uses this to relate a lesson from the Bible in this chapter is how Jesus did not give into Satan's temptations in the desert because he knew who and what he was and that he already had all he needed. In other words he knew Satan's temptations were but hallow reflections of what he already had. In sound bites at the end of the chapter she talked about how we can learn to love things that are not good for us. She talked about if she allows her dogs to eat people food then they will come to expect that and not eat the things that are healthy for them. Again she shared how we are the same way when it comes to God and God's words.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Several more chapters read this week: 11, 12, 13
Chapter 11: The Pull of Passion
In this chapter Michelle begins by telling us how her dog Milan sits by the door all day waiting for Michelle to return. She equates this to love; stating that Milan does this because she loves Michelle and that Michelle is a priority to Milan. Michelle then talks about times when she has placed that kind of love and trust in human and the hurt she felt when they failed. Next she equates Milan's love to God's love for us and how we are a priority. But by the same token our love for God should be the same and God should be a priority with us but more often than not it is more like some of the human lover's Michelle has had.
Chapter 12: The Intrigue of Community
Here Michelle talks about how dogs link their owners into a community. She shares what happened when one of her dog walkers did something that upset Milan and how she would never trust him again to walk her. In paws to reflect Michelle discusses the sense of community and communal living that the first Christians enjoyed. Ultimately she shared how having and loving that little dog has brought her out of her self-centeredness into a life of community with others.
In Chapter 13: The Trouble With Jealousy Michelle talks about how male doggie friends of Milan's have expressed their jealousy and how Milan does not react well to their behavior. In Paws to Reflect she then equates that to how God may react when we spurn his love. She shares how a woman totally misunderstood the statement that "God is a jealous god." The woman thought that God was jealous of her. The woman really was quite arrogant to think such a thing. I agree with Michelle that God is jealous over us and not willing to share us with other gods. She then shared what happened when she was jealous over a man. I certainly know what she is talking about there, having been in the same place.
This is a fun book to read. The dog Milan does things that are very funny but then Michelle has a way of turning that into a lesson about God, God's love, what our response to that love should be. She hit the mark with this last chapter.
In this chapter Michelle begins by telling us how her dog Milan sits by the door all day waiting for Michelle to return. She equates this to love; stating that Milan does this because she loves Michelle and that Michelle is a priority to Milan. Michelle then talks about times when she has placed that kind of love and trust in human and the hurt she felt when they failed. Next she equates Milan's love to God's love for us and how we are a priority. But by the same token our love for God should be the same and God should be a priority with us but more often than not it is more like some of the human lover's Michelle has had.
Chapter 12: The Intrigue of Community
Here Michelle talks about how dogs link their owners into a community. She shares what happened when one of her dog walkers did something that upset Milan and how she would never trust him again to walk her. In paws to reflect Michelle discusses the sense of community and communal living that the first Christians enjoyed. Ultimately she shared how having and loving that little dog has brought her out of her self-centeredness into a life of community with others.
In Chapter 13: The Trouble With Jealousy Michelle talks about how male doggie friends of Milan's have expressed their jealousy and how Milan does not react well to their behavior. In Paws to Reflect she then equates that to how God may react when we spurn his love. She shares how a woman totally misunderstood the statement that "God is a jealous god." The woman thought that God was jealous of her. The woman really was quite arrogant to think such a thing. I agree with Michelle that God is jealous over us and not willing to share us with other gods. She then shared what happened when she was jealous over a man. I certainly know what she is talking about there, having been in the same place.
This is a fun book to read. The dog Milan does things that are very funny but then Michelle has a way of turning that into a lesson about God, God's love, what our response to that love should be. She hit the mark with this last chapter.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Ch. 8, 9, and 10
This week I have read three chapters. Basically because I do not want to slow down long enough to post my reflections on each chapter. This is not only true of my reading but also of my life. Things and been busy without really being hectic this week. One of the reasons is I have taken o this challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in one month. Now I am pretty much on schedule with this writing. This are also busy at work. Plus I have wanted to finish a sweater that I have had to rework because the original was way too large. It was sort of intended to be that way but I did not like how it fit it was too loose and baggy. So all of those things have not stopped me from reading because I really enjoy this book but it has slowed down how often I post my reflections of what I have read. Therefore I am going to cram three chapters into one writing. Sort of sounds like my life again.
Ch. 8: Interesting Thing About Expectations.
The way Michelle talks about how her first shih tzu "Milan" began to expect to be allowed to sleep cuddled up next to her not just on the couch but also the bed was funny. Knowing how cute and pitiful a dog can look when they are begging for something I could almost picture this little ball of fluff and his sweet face begging to be let on the bed. I could just as easily see how once that expection was met he would quickly lose interest. I agree with Michelle this is so much like some of us humans. We beg and beg our Father God for something and then when we get it we soon lose interest. It sort of reminds me of an old Garth Brooks song "Thank God for Unanswered Prayers", in which the songwriter realizes when meeting and old girlfriend that he is so glad that God did not answer his prayers that she be his and instead made him wait for the woman that was truely the best for him. However, how human that little dog was when he just would not stop even when he proved to himself that the bed was to high from him to jump on. It is a reminder of times when I just would not take God's answer of no and just kept pushing for what I wanted. By the same token when I did ultimately get what I had presisted on it is not really all that important weeks, months now the line when the new wears off.
Michelle also talks about how expectations build in a relationship. When the relationship is new we may not expect must from the other person but as the relationship grows so do our expectations. The arguments grow as our expectations go unmet. Often we are expecting the other person to fill places that only God can. Or even worse we expect the other person to make us happy, feel pretty, give us praise, make us feel worthwhile, you get the picture. In many instances only God through his word and we ourselves can make us feel those things, can meet those expectations. When the other person fails to fulfill our expectations we feel hurt, angry, unloved, etc. I need to remember I am happier in my relationship with my husband when I expect his to only give me those things that he is capable of giving. In other words I allow him to be who he is and allow God to, or God's way to met the other expectations.
Ch. 9: The Flattery of Reflection
Michelle begins this chapter talking about how Milan is a lot like his master. Neither of them like to get up early nor do they like to get up early and go out in the cold. Another way they are alike is they want things the way they are familiar with them being. Michelle then equates this to our relationship with God. First she talks about how God wants us to be like him by being Christ like. Again she uses human tendency to reflect what God wants. She uses as her example how parents want their children to be like them. When we draw closer to God and become "little Christs", "we begin to reflefct His beauty and grace and love to others aroundus, causing them to draw close and love Him too." "And I won't mind losing myself and ooking like God because it feels so good. And that my friends, is a beautiful thing."
Ch. 10: The Secret of Conversion
In this chapter Michelle talks about how her dog, Milan, has won over people who claim they do not like dogs or are afraid of dogs. He doesn't do it by imposing himself in their space but by simply being himself and respecting their boundaries. He minds his own business and does not try to push his way into their affections. In some cases he even ignores them and does his thing. Michelle stated that it was if he could sense that the other person was afraid or did not like dogs so he avoid them, often curling up and going to sleep in his own space.
Michelle then choses this as an example of how we might want to approach converting people to God. Not by being loud, obnoxious, or pushy but by quietly reflect God's love and reflecting it's work in our lives. It is not unlike AA's principle of "attraction not promotion". AA does not have an active public relations firm touting all of it's benefits but rather lets the attraction of changed lives bring more people to AA. "Just as God woos us with His love and grace, and people are changed through a relationship, the secret to winning friends and infuencing people seems to be much more simple than we make it." She goes on to say instead of trying to strong arm others into our way of thinking we should just be ourselves and then let our behaviors attract people to our point of view. She suggests that instead of screams others get saved we need to "make a relationship with God look so good that those searching for peace and true joy will . . . get jealous of what we have and want in."
All three of these have been very good lessons for me. I got a good lesson in expectations this week. Every employee almost in th company I work for have come to expect rather generous Christmas bonuses, the largest of any company in our profession. Well this year because of the economy we are not getting a bonus. At first I was rather angry as were others but then my supervisor sort of put it into persective. A bonus is not something that is owed me for my work but rather a gift given to express appreciation for what I have done over and above what is required of me. My annual evalution was not really changed from last year even though I have been patting myself on the back for being better at my one flaw (or least in my supervisor's point of view) which is angry outbursts when I feel people are trying to take advantage (or that is how he sees it). His perception is a little different than my outlook that causes the behavior. However, the out come is the same. It puts a sense of fear in others because they fear my angry outbursts. His way of wording it also let me know he understands where I am coming from but like God he is saying I don't want you to question their actions I want you to do what I have asked you to do which is being helpful when your caseload allows you that time. I realized as we talked that I still have this sense of "fairness". I only want to help someone if they are doing what they are suppose to be doing just as I do (in my mind only). What my supervisor and God are saying is no, as a Christian you need to be bigger than that, and if you really do not have the time to help then say so in a more pleasant manner.
Ch. 8: Interesting Thing About Expectations.
The way Michelle talks about how her first shih tzu "Milan" began to expect to be allowed to sleep cuddled up next to her not just on the couch but also the bed was funny. Knowing how cute and pitiful a dog can look when they are begging for something I could almost picture this little ball of fluff and his sweet face begging to be let on the bed. I could just as easily see how once that expection was met he would quickly lose interest. I agree with Michelle this is so much like some of us humans. We beg and beg our Father God for something and then when we get it we soon lose interest. It sort of reminds me of an old Garth Brooks song "Thank God for Unanswered Prayers", in which the songwriter realizes when meeting and old girlfriend that he is so glad that God did not answer his prayers that she be his and instead made him wait for the woman that was truely the best for him. However, how human that little dog was when he just would not stop even when he proved to himself that the bed was to high from him to jump on. It is a reminder of times when I just would not take God's answer of no and just kept pushing for what I wanted. By the same token when I did ultimately get what I had presisted on it is not really all that important weeks, months now the line when the new wears off.
Michelle also talks about how expectations build in a relationship. When the relationship is new we may not expect must from the other person but as the relationship grows so do our expectations. The arguments grow as our expectations go unmet. Often we are expecting the other person to fill places that only God can. Or even worse we expect the other person to make us happy, feel pretty, give us praise, make us feel worthwhile, you get the picture. In many instances only God through his word and we ourselves can make us feel those things, can meet those expectations. When the other person fails to fulfill our expectations we feel hurt, angry, unloved, etc. I need to remember I am happier in my relationship with my husband when I expect his to only give me those things that he is capable of giving. In other words I allow him to be who he is and allow God to, or God's way to met the other expectations.
Ch. 9: The Flattery of Reflection
Michelle begins this chapter talking about how Milan is a lot like his master. Neither of them like to get up early nor do they like to get up early and go out in the cold. Another way they are alike is they want things the way they are familiar with them being. Michelle then equates this to our relationship with God. First she talks about how God wants us to be like him by being Christ like. Again she uses human tendency to reflect what God wants. She uses as her example how parents want their children to be like them. When we draw closer to God and become "little Christs", "we begin to reflefct His beauty and grace and love to others aroundus, causing them to draw close and love Him too." "And I won't mind losing myself and ooking like God because it feels so good. And that my friends, is a beautiful thing."
Ch. 10: The Secret of Conversion
In this chapter Michelle talks about how her dog, Milan, has won over people who claim they do not like dogs or are afraid of dogs. He doesn't do it by imposing himself in their space but by simply being himself and respecting their boundaries. He minds his own business and does not try to push his way into their affections. In some cases he even ignores them and does his thing. Michelle stated that it was if he could sense that the other person was afraid or did not like dogs so he avoid them, often curling up and going to sleep in his own space.
Michelle then choses this as an example of how we might want to approach converting people to God. Not by being loud, obnoxious, or pushy but by quietly reflect God's love and reflecting it's work in our lives. It is not unlike AA's principle of "attraction not promotion". AA does not have an active public relations firm touting all of it's benefits but rather lets the attraction of changed lives bring more people to AA. "Just as God woos us with His love and grace, and people are changed through a relationship, the secret to winning friends and infuencing people seems to be much more simple than we make it." She goes on to say instead of trying to strong arm others into our way of thinking we should just be ourselves and then let our behaviors attract people to our point of view. She suggests that instead of screams others get saved we need to "make a relationship with God look so good that those searching for peace and true joy will . . . get jealous of what we have and want in."
All three of these have been very good lessons for me. I got a good lesson in expectations this week. Every employee almost in th company I work for have come to expect rather generous Christmas bonuses, the largest of any company in our profession. Well this year because of the economy we are not getting a bonus. At first I was rather angry as were others but then my supervisor sort of put it into persective. A bonus is not something that is owed me for my work but rather a gift given to express appreciation for what I have done over and above what is required of me. My annual evalution was not really changed from last year even though I have been patting myself on the back for being better at my one flaw (or least in my supervisor's point of view) which is angry outbursts when I feel people are trying to take advantage (or that is how he sees it). His perception is a little different than my outlook that causes the behavior. However, the out come is the same. It puts a sense of fear in others because they fear my angry outbursts. His way of wording it also let me know he understands where I am coming from but like God he is saying I don't want you to question their actions I want you to do what I have asked you to do which is being helpful when your caseload allows you that time. I realized as we talked that I still have this sense of "fairness". I only want to help someone if they are doing what they are suppose to be doing just as I do (in my mind only). What my supervisor and God are saying is no, as a Christian you need to be bigger than that, and if you really do not have the time to help then say so in a more pleasant manner.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Ch. 6 & 7
I am really enjoying this book and Michelle's ability to be both funny and yet give new insight into not only dogs but humans and the relationship between them. She is then able to take what she learns from that relationship and apply it to her's (and our) relationship with God. Chapter six dealt with potty training her puppy. In particular how she does not mind cleaning up after her dog whether outside in the doggie park or had an accident in her house. She dutifully carries her little plastic bags around to pick up the mess and deposit in a more suitable location, i.e., trash bin or proper receptical. She then equates that to how God does not like it when we disobey but he still loves us enough to clean up after our messes even when they are "smelly".
I really had to laugh when she shared the incident of a dog lifting his leg to her male dogs head and how the rest of the day other dogs did the same because of the first dogs scent. She equated this to how our small little sins attract larger and larger sins or opportunities for Satan to get a toehold into us.
Chapter 7 deals with teach obedience. How she needs to teach her dog obedience and why and then equating that to why we need to learn to obey God. Basically she condensed it down to the fact that her dogs are safer and happier when they are obediant to her commands because they get praise and treats. God does not directly give us praise but he does give us blessings and we are safer and happier when we obey him. Also she equated obedience to love. We obey God because we love him and her dogs obey her because they love her and want to please her. I just wished I could remember that part about how I am safer and happier when I obey God.
I really had to laugh when she shared the incident of a dog lifting his leg to her male dogs head and how the rest of the day other dogs did the same because of the first dogs scent. She equated this to how our small little sins attract larger and larger sins or opportunities for Satan to get a toehold into us.
Chapter 7 deals with teach obedience. How she needs to teach her dog obedience and why and then equating that to why we need to learn to obey God. Basically she condensed it down to the fact that her dogs are safer and happier when they are obediant to her commands because they get praise and treats. God does not directly give us praise but he does give us blessings and we are safer and happier when we obey him. Also she equated obedience to love. We obey God because we love him and her dogs obey her because they love her and want to please her. I just wished I could remember that part about how I am safer and happier when I obey God.
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