Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The War Continues


The raccoon wars continue at my house. I don’t know who I am more frustrated with…. the raccoons or Charlie? It has been almost a week solid of interrupted nights. Last night was the worst yet with several hours of Charlie alerting me to the masked intruders. I find it hard to believe that the dog who will let birds pull hair off her while she is sleeping on the deck for their nests is the same dog who goes off like a ballistic missile if a raccoon is near the house.

I even tried putting her in bed with me. Then she just laid on the bed and growled, punctuated by episodes of snarling, barking and growling. You haven’t lived until you lay in bed with 120 pounds of growling, snarling fur. At one point last night I can remember taking a swing in the direction of the growling. Luckily for Charlie, she was no where near my flailing hand.

It has been a good opportunity for me to ask myself “Why in the world do I have pets?” No, that is not the question …. sorry that just slipped out of a tired mind. It is a good opportunity to examine my attitude and my patience level and to ask “are my actions and reactions everything that they should be?” Because I can feel my frustration growing night by night as I am awakened by this absolutely unreasonable war. It is an excellent time to turn to Scripture for the reminder of what my goal is.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5

As uncomfortable as it can be, I need to look at my daily frustrations, raccoons and all, as growth opportunities. There is something for me to learn even in this. I wonder if I can declare this a demilitarized zone?

Just Connie

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