Keep An Untroubled Spirit

I read this advice last night, --keep an untroubled spirit.  I needed it for myself this morning.  It seems to me that at any given time we are only a hair's breadth away from not being in control. I love being in control, knowing what's planned next, how I'm going to do each thing.

I had an appointment in Erie to take both our dogs to the vet for their check-ups, and preparation for summer.  An hour before we left, my husband said he was too sick to go with me!  There went my control.

I can handle Rusty quite well here at home but I don't even try to take him out for walks.  He's too big and strong for me to handle when he gets excited.  Other dogs excite him.

I almost called and rescheduled the appointment but I knew that this chore must be taken care of.  Might as well do it now.  But my spirit was in a powerful turmoil.  I was afraid because I know how much stronger Rusty is than I.  I put the head halter on him and we went to the car, the three of us.  That was no problem.  He loves to go to the car.  As soon as we were in the car, a man came walking up the street behind the car.  This set both dogs barking something fearful.  My turmoil increased.

Then I remembered. The first rule is keep an untroubled spirit.  I began to pray over this need and just let God pour His calm into my spirit.  Then I refused to think of all the "what ifs" that could go wrong.  I only thought about being able to handle it and everything going well.

And it did.  I did take them into the vet's office one at a time and after the check up, I took them back to the car one at a time, and I made it without any terrible incident.

Of course, I "bought the store" while I was there.  Maintenance meds for the lab, distemper shots for both, heart worm meds and flea control for the summer.  You don't want to know what the bill was.

Keep an untroubled spirit.  It really worked!

Posted by: NJ on 2/26/2004 2:50:25 PM , 1 comments