Spring has sprung!

Last Wednesday morning something happened I have anxiously been waiting for. As spring approaches I watch the sides of the hills around here, especially towards Georgia over the waters of Arrowhead Mountain Lake, and look for signs of color. But not green like you might expect; I watch for red. Oh, sure, the green of the evergreens is always there, and the green of the hills will come ("Green Mountain state"...hint, hint) but the first color of spring that I look for is the red of the budding leaves of the maple trees. The hills turn a distinct shade of red. It's more subtle than the shades we see in the fall, but whereas the autumn colors mean that we have only a few days left until 'stick' season and then winter, the red that comes in spring means that in a few days we'll see the world turn green once again. The red color is the first sign of hope in new life.

So too, in the Christian life red is the color of hope. The blood of Jesus was the means by which we could have hope for a new life. "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" Romans 5:9 Every year I look for the red of the hills so I can know that spring has really come. And I look to the blood of Jesus to know that new life has started.

Short but joyful lives

About a year and a half ago my family went through a very traumatic experience when we lost our dog, Rocky. I've owned many dogs in my life but never one quite like him. He had a degree of personality that was quite amazing, and had a full range of vocalizations that seemed almost human. By the time he died at the age of ten he was completely blind due to glaucoma and had epilepsy. It was an uncontrollable seizure that finally took his life. One of the unfortunate side-effects of his being so extraordinary was that he took our hearts by storm, and it was very difficult to open ourselves up again. This was very hard in particular on my wife.

When I came out of the hospital last month one of the promises I made myself was to get another dog. I knew that we needed it, not just for the companionship, even though that was important, but because there was healing that needed to be done. And with Debbie being home much of the time it would also give her someone else to focus upon, making life that much less lonely.

The paradox of the animal-human connection is that most of our pets will not live as long as we will. We take them into our lives and hearts knowing that fact, but trying to deny it as long as we can. But I maintain that the joy our companion animals bring into our lives is worth the heartache of knowing that we will likely lose them at some point. Even when we chose a spouse, we must acknowledge that eventually one of us (in most cases) will lose the other. Life is simply not worth living if we do not open ourselves up to the joy and love of others, even knowing that the opposite side of the coin is eventual pain and loss. God did that with us...He opened Himself up to us, knowing that He would have to watch His only Son die on a cross.

This last weekend we opened our hearts again, and will welcome two rescued Shih Tzu into our home. We may not be able to make a difference for all the dogs out there, but we can make a difference for these two...and they in turn will make a difference in our lives. Let the joy begin.