Screaming in the Parking Lot

 

            As I’ve written about before, we have become a single car family; which for us it means that when I pick my kids up from school we have to hang out where my husband works for an hour.  It’s really not that big of a deal.  His work has a small pond and a couple picnic tables set up.  The girls do their homework, and Mojo (my dog) gets to spend some time outside. 

Yesterday my youngest was on a toot.  She was procrastinating on doing her homework. “Mommy, I forgot my sweater in the car.  Mommy, I don’t have a pencil.  Mommy, I need to get another piece of paper.”  I was getting frustrated, and sent her back to the car to get what she needed.  In order for her to do that, she has to cross a parking lot. I tell her every time to be careful in the parking lot. I had Mojo’s leash in one hand, and my tablet in another.  Suddenly I heard a scream.  It was the alarm button for mother’s everywhere.  Mojo started to take off running after her.  He was stopped abruptly by the end of his leash.  He was fighting me to get to her.  When I finally made it to her, she was now crying on the ground, I saw that she’d tripped and fallen.  Mojo jumped into her lap and started to kiss her face.  When all was said and done she wasn’t any more hurt than a bruised knee.  Here's my picture of Super Mojo!

Mojo’s reaction is what surprised me.  He was ready to take off to get to her with or without me.  I get my dog is only a small 12 lb. dog, but his protectiveness kicked in overdrive and was getting to my daughter.

If you think about it, we’re supposed to act like this to those around us in life.

1 Corinthians 12:26 (ESV) If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

           
          It’s amazing to me that in the animal kingdom my dog instinctively understood my people are hurting and I’m going to go to her.  His understanding is what many Christians forget.  How is it that what is innate and natural for a dog, we tend to ignore and desensitize out of ourselves?
           
          In the story of Cain and Abel when Cain kills Abel and then says to God when questioned about his whereabouts, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God is using this story to say, ‘Yes, yes you are.”  If you see someone fall in front of you and you can help, yes, you are supposed to take the blinders off your eyes and help the person.  But what happens in life and in church that we get so caught up in our own worlds that we don’t even see when a person is hurting.  We wouldn’t take off running for them even if they fell in front of us.  We’d walk past them and pretend for our own conscious that we’d pray for them.  When really we just said that we would to make our own minds feel better, but in truth we barely do that.
           
           As I mentioned in the last blog, and I’ll mention again, I don’t pretend to be any better than many in this regard.  But I’m trying.  I’m trying to make an effort that when I see someone in need in front of me instead of ignoring them because it’s easier, trying to help the person up.  All Mojo was giving to my youngest was some moral support.  It’s not like he could have physically picked her up and carried her to the car.  But he was there to say, ‘I care about you.’  He was there to say, ‘I saw that, are you okay?’  We have to learn to see a world around us, before Jesus can use us to minister to it.  So I want to give a big shout out to my dog for caring so much about my daughter, and for teaching me that there are hurting people that may need an encouragement that only God through me can give.
           
        Remember God has awesome plans for your life.  Get excited.