Pam Padgett - teacher
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, ...
sober:
- not drunk (can be "drunk" on emotion as well as alcohol)
- serious, sensible
I would like to get another puppy. A week or so ago I found on the
internet some aussiedoodle puppies (same breed of the dog I already
have) in another state. The puppies were very cute and ready to go to
homes immediately. I prayed asking God to show me if one of these puppies was what I should get.
These puppies had obviously been on the website for a while so I sent
an email asking if the web site was up-to-date, whether the puppies were
still available.
The next day I received a very "friendly" response from the breeder
starting with "Hi Pam", told how much she liked aussiedoodles and hoped I
would too, said two puppies were still available, and ending with how
much she looked forward to talking with me.
I started to write a "friendly" email and include telling her I was just like her in liking the aussiedoodle breed, and asking for more information about the available puppies.
But it troubled me (the Holy Spirit in me being troubled) each time I started to write that I was just like her in liking this breed of dog.
Then I was reminded of "friends" having a common bond of affection
and realized this breeder's "friendly" email had affected me. I had
gotten "drunk", and was dealing with her as though we were friends. Yet
I don't know this person at all. She is just someone trying to sell
puppies on the internet. I have no reason to think she fears God. She is not my
friend.
friend:
- on the same side with
- having a common bond of affection with
- one who approves, supports, encourages
- one who is actively interested in and wishes success for
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God.
This caused me to become sober. And I prayed for wisdom in how to
handle this matter. When I looked at the website again a day or so
later, there was only one puppy left in the litter, and I noticed this
puppy was described as "shy". This concerned me. I would like a dog
that wants to play with my current dog, and outgoing enough that it
might be able to do therapy dog work at some point. I prayed about this
and continued to be concerned about the puppy being shy.
Before I got sober where this breeder is concerned, I could easily have convinced myself that a shy puppy was no problem.
Instead, I sent a very simple response, without "friendly" comments,
saying I noticed there was now only one puppy available and that it was a
shy puppy. I was looking for a more outgoing puppy to play with my dog
and possibly do therapy dog work at some point.
--
A few months ago I had talked with people at a dog park who had
purchased a dog from a prison system program where the dog had been trained. I found myself thinking about the prison inmates and how much it
probably helped them to be able to train the dogs. Before long, I even
thought of how much I would want to have dogs to work with if I was ever in prison. Building up a fantasy of having a common bond with these inmates. And I wanted to support
this program.
friend:
- on the same side with
- having a common bond of affection with
- one who approves, supports, encourages
- one who is actively interested in and wishes success for
So I looked on their web site and found a dog I thought
would play well with my dog. I contacted the program to setup a time to
see this dog.
But when I mentioned this to Joan, she was disturbed about my getting
a dog from this program. I became more sober and seriously prayed about what to do, and was
reminded how much hair this breed of dog would shed. This would
be a real problem for me.
I see now I had gone off in imaginations, building a "friendship" in
my mind with inmates at the prison, and not soberly and prayerfully
considering the whole situation.
As a result, I was seriously considering bringing a dog into my home that would have been a big problem for me. (I am grateful to have been stopped.)
I canceled the appointment to meet, and possibly buy, the dog from the prison program.