Crumbs Do Not Make a Meal
So, as any of you that read my blog know, I am crazy about my dog. True, I write about him and show his picture to everyone and look forward to seeing him when I come home. In the eyes of some I might seem a little overboard. However, after watching pet week on the Today show I feel like I haven't even entered the world of being officially dog crazy. I couldn't believe all that is out there for people and their pets. Let's see, dog research to see what they are thinking, resorts for overweight pets, dog yoga, and how to use your dog to lose weight. Apparently, doing crunches while holding your dog burns an absurd amount of calories. So needless to say, I have a long way to go before I take dear ol' Ted to the yoga studio. But not only do they have endless activities for dogs, they also have spent countless years and dollars formulating just the right combinations of nutrition and taste to appeal to Fido's palate. Just walk through a pet store and you will see aisles and aisles of dog food that can range in price from $8 to $80. There is food for small dogs, food for bigs dogs, food for old dogs, puppies and adult dogs. Don't worry if your dog has a stomach problem, there is food for that, sensitive skin? Got that too! You can pretty much feed your dog's problems away with the shake of a scoop.
So, I have already admitted to being a little dog crazy so it would come as no surprise that I might spend a little more on dog food than my husband would appreciate but I love that dog, I want food made just for him. I looked at my many options and found great joy upon finding a label that said 'small dog formula for 1-7 year old dogs', perfect! That's him, if only they made food for dogs that are sweet and cuddly and full of personality, then it would really be a match, but I digress. Anyway, this food is exactly what he needs, just the right nutrients, just the right size, and I always follow the serving size so just the right amount for his weight. It's a little bowl of doggie delightfulness. If he eats it, he will be healthy and strong and have energy and his coat will be nice and soft, his bones will be hard and his eyes will not fail him. He's good to go! However, someone failed to give him that message. As I pour his little slice of heaven into his bowl, humans are eating snacks around the kitchen and dropping little bits of food as they go. Nothing big, just a crumb here and a morsel there. Not enough for a meal, and certainly not the nutrients to keep him healthy. And heaven forbid they
might be eating chocolate or raisins, poisons for dogs, not only could he not be healthy, it could kill him. That doesn't stop him, he walks right past his perfectly formulated food (that someone who knows exactly what dogs need made for him) and snarfs around for measly crumbs. Not only for crumbs but possibly for toxins. He is not phased, he doesn't mind at all. They are different than what he usually gets, there are new flavors and smells and what we eat must be way better.
Obviously, he is not filled up by the crumbs and eventually gives up and eats his food. But in the midst of all his sniffing and snorting, I am suddenly struck by the similarities of it all. My mind instantly goes back to times when I chose new and interesting over what was best for me. But most of all I thought about God, yes I know that's wierd to think of God when you see a dog looking for crumbs, but that's how my brain works. Anyway, I thought of how God has blessing after blessing waiting for us. Blessings that are just for us, made by a God that knows us better than we know ourselves. And How He knows EXACTLY what we need and offers it to us every day. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says...'no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him'. Yet day after day we walk right past His blessings and run for the crumbs. We settle for mediocre when we have the potential for amazing right at our fingertips. We play chopsticks on a Casio instead of sitting in front row seats at a sold out concert. We dig scraps out of the trash instead of eating a four course meal at Ruth's Chris. We talk on a tin can phone instead upgrading to an iPhone 6. You get the picture. Please don't misunderstand my analogies to say that God wants us to have concert tickets, steak dinners and iPhones. God wants us to do big things, great things! He wants us to call on Him, ask Him for help, commit our lives to Him and have the courage to make a difference that we can only make with Him beside us. He wants to take our skills and talents and USE them. He wants us to do great things together. He wants us to put aside our fears and our pride and our desire for safety and instead strive for what He created us to do.
So, I challenge us all, when crumbs start falling and we start to running for those measly bits and settle for small leftovers, stop and look around. Pass them up, walk on by and look for your own 'bowl of Science Diet small breed formula for 1-7 year old dog' blessings. What will your bag say?
