dog

The Beast

/ Rhonda / 3 Comments

While I was running yesterday morning, I realized how much of life is lived mindlessly while we wait for whatever it is we happen to be waiting for. (Click here to read post.)

Today while I was running, I realized where that thought came from. I had a moment where I thought I was going to meet my maker. Really!

This is what chased me when I was running on a trail along the river that doesn’t get a whole lot of traffic other than a person here or there, walking their dogs. Typically on a leash. And typically the leash in a person’s hand. Typically…

sandlot dog

Yes, I thought I was seriously going to pee my pants!

I was running along, enjoying the birds, the trees, the water…the nature that surrounded me on all sides. I was in “the zone” that runners fall into. Rounding a corner, I saw this enormous black dog sniffing the ground, his leash trailing on the ground behind him, his master a few steps behind. Too many steps behind, because when the dog looked up and saw me, he had one thing on his mind. Me!

It looked like the dog straight from the movie The Sandlot, whose name was The Beast.

He came running at me, growling, his master running behind him (far behind him by now) calling desperately, “Vader! Vader!”

In a split second, thoughts rumbled like a freight train through my mind.

Vader? As in Darth Vader? I don’t think he was one of the good guys!

Is this how I’m going to go?

I’m going to die! I’m so going to die!

I quickly tried to think of what I was supposed to do, but my mind failed me.  And it was too late by now anyway. The Beast stopped right before he got to me and barked a warning.  I froze, covered my face with my arms and heard a scream that sounded like it was coming from me. And then I realized that it was, indeed, coming from me.

“Is he nice?” I managed to get out to the master who was still catching up. And when he didn’t answer me, even after asking again, I was sure I was a goner. The Beast jumped up on me, when he did his head was taller than mine. He growled, barked, I screamed again, and his master finally reached us, muttering a breathless, “sorry ’bout that.”

Sorry ’bout that?!?! Really?!?!

While the dog in The Sandlot appeared to be ferocious, it ended up licking the face of Smalls when he finally caught him. But I wasn’t about to take that chance and offer this dog my face to lick. My face is far from perfect, but I like it just as it is.

This morning when I was running, I did run along the trail again, hoping I wouldn’t be subjected to The Beast two days in a row. (I’m a slow learner.)  I met a woman walking her small, friendly dog, and she stopped me as I got to her. She said, “You sure had a ferocious dog after you yesterday. Looked like it was the dog from the movie The Sandlot!”

We talked for a moment, I told her I really like her dog, and waved my goodbye to finish my run.

Carpe Diem

T.G.I.F. – Gratitude Friday

/ Rhonda / 7 Comments

gratitude

My Top Three This Week:

3.)  Publishing a blog post and seeing the pop-up box that says no errors have been found! 🙂

2.)  My novel, The Inheritance, completed and available on Amazon, and that sweet feeling of thankfulness as I held that first copy in my hands.

1.)  An early morning walk with my dog, Roxie, a cup of coffee, the fresh coolness of morning on my face, a light breeze tousling my hair, inhaling the scent of pure freshness. Ahhhhh…..summer. 🙂

What are you grateful for this week?

photo (2)

Peace

 

 

 

 

 

“R” is for…

/ Rhonda / 11 Comments

Rahab

One of my very dearest friends named her dog Rahab.  One day when we were out for a walk, she was telling me the story of how her son thought it was terrible that she named the dog Rahab.
“Why is it terrible?” asked my friend.

“Mom!” He looked at her as if she were dense.  “Rahab was a hooker.”

She knew he was talking about Rahab from the Bible. The same Rahab who was a prostitute had also given a safe place to stay to the spies secretly sent by Joshua to scout out the fortified city of Jericho.  She risked her life for men she didn’t even know, putting their lives ahead of her own well-being out of loyalty and faithfulness to her God.

“Son,” she had told him, Rahab was a prostitute, yes, but she was a good person.”

While the fact that she was a prostitute remained in the forefront of her son’s memory, her goodness is what remained in my friend’s memory.  Though I can’t say that surprised me, because she saw the good in everyone.  It was she who taught me that just because someone does something unfavorable, it doesn’t mean that person isn’t redeemable by God’s grace.  When I was complaining about something my husband had done–or didn’t do–it was she who said, “Remember what he has done for you and given to you.”  And when she felt frustrated with her husband about something, she didn’t get angry.  She voiced her thoughts, smiled and said, “But he’s my husband and I love him.”

That friend was brought into my life by a loving God who knew I needed exactly her and her outlook on life.  He knew her words and wisdom would guide me long after she moved out of state to far away Tennessee.

The story she told me about her son’s reaction to naming her dog Rahab taught me two important lessons.  It’s wise to be careful what we do in life because they may be remembered for years afterward.  And the second is, when I see a person, do I choose to see the bad or the good?  I hope and pray that I show enough love and grace that the good I do is what will be remembered.

Peace