Chaplain Bill Wolfe
Llano County Sheriff’s Department
Hello, and welcome to the Chaplain’s Corner. We had a great time at the FCPO conference in Houston on the 25th of February. Got to visit with some “old friends,” put faces to “email friends,” and meet some new friends. Cam didn’t put birthday candles on my pizza, but then, I didn’t tell him my birthday was the following Tuesday either. He had a few more important things on his mind. J Coming up on to I-10 trying to get out of Houston…<shakes head>… I think it was 8 lanes of westbound cement. HPD Patrol, you have my sympathies. I’ll take my 2 lanes with bluebonnets any day.
A Dog and His Dad. Now I bet I’ve caught the attention of some of the K9’ers out there. J We have an inside dog. (Or does the dog have us?) He wouldn’t likely be the favorite of you dog handlers. He’s a little tri-color Rat Terrier. He doesn’t mind the deer in the yard so much, but show him a cat and you’re off to the races; munch Rice Krispies treats and you’d sure better share; go for a walk and you go where he goes – usually.
He’s got me “trained.” Whatever time I come home from work, be it 11 pm or 5 am, he’s got to go for a walk. (He doesn’t go out unattended because he has a propensity to gallivant.) A walk, a scoop of Kibbles & Bits with CHICKEN! (he’s addicted to chicken), and then he starts bugging me to go to bed. J That’s our routine. He insists on it. Rain or cold, whether I feel like it or not. He prefers that I take him out. For some reason, there’re some things for which Mom just won’t do.
Depending on my disposition, time of day, and weather, our walks can be a few hundred feet to over half a mile. It was on the way back to the house on one of our longer walks that God “nudged” me and said, “Now you know how I feel sometimes.” There a lot of comparisons between sheep and people in the Bible. Well, Mr. Dog makes a pretty good illustration too. J
Terriers are a headstrong breed. We have gotten a 25’ retractable leash so we don’t have to tread everywhere Sparky decides he has to visit, but I generally follow him around the “north 40” letting him go where he wills. Then we go out to the road and wonder up and down until I decide I’ve had enough. Did I mention terriers are headstrong? Sometimes I almost have to pick him up to get him out of the road when traffic comes. Often when I lock the leash and say, “That’s far enough,” he will stop and turn around and head back. Other times he’ll strain at the leash, literally choking himself, to get two more inches to sniff that clump of grass. Then after he prances beside me for a few steps, he’ll look up and say “See, I’m being good.” Then it’s back to the “reading the newspaper” – stop every few feet to see who’s been there and reclaim the territory. I tell him we’re “going to the house” and call his name and encourage him to come. And he’ll move to the next fence post or clump of grass and read “the next page of the newspaper” and refuse to budge or he’ll have to reach t-h-a-t (tug-choke) l-a-s-t (strain-choke) s-p-o-t (lemme go-gasp) o-v-e-r t—h—e—r—e (c’mon, it’s just another 6 inches, Dad). Owww…another grass burr in the puppy foot! Did I tell you that terriers are headstrong? AAArrgghh! Sometimes it gets to be almost more than I can stand. Sometimes I’ll unhook the leash when we’re well back into the property and go on to the house and let him come at his own pace. Sometimes he follows, and sometimes he doesn’t. Once, recently, he decided we’d not gone far enough down the road to suit him, so he went back and I had to go find him. <sigh>
So too, are people in their relationship with God. He desires to walk with us through this life. He enjoys our company when we walk willingly by His side. But all too often, we humans decide we’d rather pick our own route. We wander here and there, heedless of what might be coming down the road that could do us harm. He’d have us walk where we won’t get “grass burrs in our feet.” He calls us and encourages us to come Home with Him, but we turn a deaf ear. We test the limits He sets. We wander here and there, “sticking our noses” in all sorts of “distractions,” regardless of how they appear to God. After a time of insisting on doing it our way, God may “unhook the leash” and let us go our own way to suffer whatever consequences may befall. When that happens, He will come looking for us. Once. Twice. Maybe more. But eventually, He’ll stop striving with us. He won’t stop loving us, but He’ll say, “Enough is enough; you’re on your own from here on.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever want to reach that point in my relationship with Him.
What I’m trying to say is that we don’t have all the time in the world to do our own thing. God’s not going to put up with us (or this nation) forever as we ignore Him. We need to be attentive to His voice and when He says “heel,” we need to run to His side where it’s safe and we know He’ll take care of us.
I’ve got to stop. We’re out of time. George? Christie? If I can be of any help, please email me.
Blessings to you and yours.
Chaplain Bill
llanochaps@moment.net
