Yesterday, for the third time this summer, I nearly melted down the tea kettle. I came home after leaving Terry at work, filled the tea kettle, turned the burner on under it, and headed down the hall to my computer. Classes started for me on Wednesday and since two of my courses are online, I spend a lot of time in front of the computer. Two hours later I began to smell smoke. One of these days that kettle is going to fuse to the stovetop, or worse, the whole house is going to go up in flames. I used the microwave to heat my water for the rest of the day, and I'm beginning to shop for a tea kettle that whistles. I'm also beginning to think I need a keeper.
Our neighbors have dogs. Five dogs. Count 'em....two pitbulls, two mini-dachsunds, and a shi-tsu. Their numbers have increased gradually over the past couple of years and so has the noise. We can't step out of the back door without being barked at. In fact, I can't even go into my kitchen without being barked at.
One of the pitbulls has recently decided that our yard is much nicer than his and has figured out how to get over the fence (and under it) in order to visit regularly. Last weekend he came over twice...while my husband was mowing the lawn. The encounters were not pleasant. The first one sent Terry over the fence at the other end of the yard in order to avoid being bitten. The second caught him in a position where he couldn't run, and he spent several minutes doing donuts with the lawn mower in order to keep it between himself and the dog until he could finally get away.
What does any of this have to do with the gospel?
We tend to be people who normally keep to ourselves and don't get very well acquainted with others around us. Not exactly what the Lord had in mind when he gave us this house. This past weekend we prayed together for our neighbor before Terry went to speak to him about his dogs. I only wish we had done this sooner. This man unloaded his burdens on my husband, and they were many. He told Terry that other neighbors had complained about the dogs, but none had come directly to him....this was the perfect opening for Terry to tell him that we are Christians and this is the way Christians deal with things. Their conversation was lengthy and cordial, and he has already gone to great lengths to keep the dogs from exploding every time we open the back door. More important than that, communications are now open between us, and we are praying for opportunities to witness to this man and his family and share Christ with them.
After all this, I have to thank the Lord for the dogs.....I think He used them to wake us up to the needs of our neighbor. I'm just thankful we didn't have to get bitten before we finally got the message.