Snow Bounding

This morning I let Bentley out the door and stood outside as I watched him attempt to bound over the snow. Trudging through 15" of the fluffy white stuff isn't so easy when the depth of the snow almost exceeds the depth of the dog!

He jumped and leaped and plopped and jumped and leaped and plopped some more until he reached his destination. He then came plodding back toward the house before being distracted by a scent and then he was off!...bounding through the snow again, this time in a different direction and before I knew it he was clear on the other side of the pond, snuffling through the woods, hot on the trail...of what? Who knows? Point being - he was nowhere near the house. I knew that no amount of calling and whistling and yelling at him was going to prevent his new-found cavorting. So instead, I came back in the house, trudged out to the garage, got in the van and proceeded to drive up the driveway.

Every time Bentley hears the van (or the truck - or even the tractor, for that matter!) he will come charging from wherever he is in time and space to ensure that he gets to ride along!

However, this morning, his 'charge' would better be described as a 'footslog', plugging along in the fluffy white stuff which exceeds the depth of the dog!

Finally, he rallied and was safe and warm and heavily panting in the van! I drove back into the garage and we came inside where he is presently positively pooped out and sleeping at my feet! Exhausted. Spent. Ah, if only he didn't have quite so much of the fluffy white stuff through which to plod. Perhaps had he stuck to the paths made yesterday by the wheels of the tractor or the boot tracks made by Brillo Man, instead of schlepping through the 15 inches of fluffy white stuff that is deeper than the dog, he would have had an easier time!

Coincidentally, (or not!) I reached for the morning paper and noticed the Bible Thought printed on Page 4 which reads:

Let thine eyes look right on,
and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established.
-Proverbs 4:25, 26

When we travel through our day, how much easier it is to stick to the path that has already been established for us. We know that the Holy Spirit goes before us to prepare the way; to clear the path, so to speak. Trudging and schlepping on a path not prepared is just as difficult as trying to bound and leap through a lot of fluffy white stuff that is deeper than the dog! Even though the white stuff looks beautiful, it's not easy to walk through. If someone hasn't cleared a path, we end up plodding and plopping, instead of dancing and prancing.

This day, I choose to fix my eyes on my Jesus and follow the path which He has prepared. I intend to prance - not plop! How about you?

Note: The dog in the above photo is not Bentley, although Bentley is indeed a Schnauzer, he looks nothing like that pooch!