Watching Owen subdue the Siberian Husky who was taking advantage of the rest of the family members was awesome. For one, this dog really knew who to take advantage of. His eyes were affixed on Owen, moving when Owen moved, undistracted by the nearby sweet little female cocker spaniel.

I got some tips from the class and came home and started working away on Feisty Freckles and Obedient Orli. I must say, if I didn’t want to lose my voice, I should save for an e-collar for Freckles! What a pricey collar it would be! Orli was a dream to train though! So in sync with me. After our walk-jog-heel routine, we went for a run around the playground tonight! I am sure if he could laugh like I do, we would both be running and laughing on the top of our lungs. Took him on the slide before we headed home. He was off-leash and heeling on our way home! I am a proud dog-mum!

I could live in a nicer place if not for the dogs. But I love my dogs and wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world!

Leave him to Me

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: A Lamp For My Feet
Scripture: 1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Leave him to Me

When there is deep misunderstanding which has led to the erection of barriers between two who once were close, every day brings the strengthening of those barriers if they are not, by God’s grace, breached. One prays and finds no way at all to break through. Love seems to “backfire” every time. Explanations become impossible. New accusations arise, it seems, from nowhere (though it is well to recall who is named the Accuser of the brethren). The situation becomes ever more complex and insoluble, and the mind goes round and round, seeking the place where things went wrong, brooding over the words which were like daggers, regretting the failures and mistakes, wondering (most painfully) how it could have been different. Much spiritual and emotional energy is drained in this way–but the Lord wants to teach us to commit, trust, and rest.

“Leave him to me this afternoon,” is what his word is. “There is nothing else that I am asking of you this afternoon but that: leave him to Me. You cannot fathom all that is taking place. You don’t need to. I am at work–in you, in him. Leave him to Me. Some day it will come clear–trust Me.”

“Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, and he will lift you up in due time. Cast all your cares on Him, for you [and the other] are his charge” (l Pt 5:7).

An excerpt from The Power of Being a Woman by Michelle Mckinney Hammond,

“Whenever I ask you to do something and you so sweetly go along with what i say, it does something to my heart. It makes me want to just shower you with everything you want! You are such a woman. I really like that.”

In essence this is the strength of vulnerability that comes from submission. Submitting to a man (of God) gives him room to grow as a man (of God), never judging him or condemning him for the choices he’s made but giving him room to make mistakes and learn from them. So that he can submit to the knowledge of who he is in God’s sight.

Submission is not weakness. It takes strength to submit. It is a co-operation and partnership. When women submit to their husbands’ leadership, they walk under God’s covering as a covenant. Dare I say, it’s a joyful thing to do, submitting, for in submitting, I’ve learnt to love.

This is becoming more evident for me in a relationship.

But by no means bullying is allowed. That is simply an abuse of power! Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church. By laying your lives down for your wives, putting her first in everything.

And all the women say, “AMEN!!!!”

Learning about His grace from J.P. ministry is like discovering my God for the first time. It’s like being born-again for the first time. Awesome!

Do You Want an Answer?

This is the question we need to ask ourselves when we are seeking “solutions” to our problems. Often we want only an audience. We want the chance to air grievances, to present our excuses, to make an explanation for our behavior, rather than a cure. More often than not the clearest and most direct answer can be found in the Word, but it must be sought honestly.

“The way of the Lord gives refuge to the honest man, but dismays those who do evil” (Prv. 10:29 NEB).
We can approach God’s word with a will to obey whatever it says to us about our present situation, or we can avoid it and say to anyone who would try to point us to it, “Don’t throw the Book at me.” The latter is an evasion, which supports our suspicion that our problems are, in fact, insoluble. The honest (i.e., humble) heart will indeed find the Lord’s way to be a refuge.