My Shoes!

As many of you know, I have a dog. He’s an 8-year-old Border Collie mix named Jack-Jack. He’s a very intelligent and well-behaved dog. But once when he was a puppy he lost his mind. I left him alone at home while I attended a play. He’d been in the house alone several times with no problems. But that night I returned to find my favorite shoes chewed to shreds.  “My Shoes!” I bellowed. As I held the destruction before him, he bowed his head in shame.  Have you been there?

I’m not asking if you’ve ever had something you care about destroyed by a distraught dog. The question is have you ever been that distraught dog? How do you respond to stress? Most of us are able to keep our cool while under pressure. But we all have our “moments.” If you are honest with yourself, you might see a trail of shredded “shoes” in your reactions to stress. Yelling, arguing, snarky comments and deliberate silences are the shredded shoes of families and coworkers. It’s enough to make us hang our heads in shame.

We have a choice in how we respond to frustration and stress. We can chose to treat others the way we would like to be treated or we can respond to our feelings in a destructive way. It is a choice. I invite you to pray for the strength and patience to chose wisely. Remember in Christ we are a new creation.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Psalm 28:7

See you Sunday!
Missy