90%

There’s our gal. Her name is Haddy, short for Hadassah, one of the names of Queen Esther. The name Hadassah is rooted in the word Hada which means myrtle. Myrtle trees are symbolic of righteousness and known for their sweet smell. And she lives up to her name as she is such a sweet girl.

We’ve had Haddy about five months. Shenandoah, our Worst-Best, passed away in the fall and Haddy joined us shortly thereafter. I talked often of the many lessons Shenandoah taught me over her 11 years. I could see so much of myself in her, mostly the naughty, and I often thought maybe God called me His Worst-Best. I think at times He calls all of us that.

Haddy has a completely different personality. She doesn’t attack the windows when someone drives by, she doesn’t bark incessantly to the point of mania, she doesn’t fight with us constantly for the alpha dog position which we won only by tussle. She’s not fiercely protective. She loves other dogs. And, she’s less than half the weight of Shenandoah so she’s not a very imposing figure.

Haddy is so so sweet. She wants to please at all times. She wants to be right with you every step you take often laying on your feet and getting under your feet while you’re walking. She has a much quieter disposition, she rarely barks and then only at squirrels, bunnies and our poor cat Gracie. She is a super walker, we do miles a day. And she has one particular trait we have always wanted in a dog. She walks off leash. We’ve always wanted a dog we could take out into the yard without having to have it attached to us the whole time, without chasing every single thing in sight and running away. Haddy is that dog…

about 90% of the time…

You can take her for a walk and 10 out of 100 times she’s going to run off. Despite seeing it coming, you know watching her body language, yelling all the commands, and the aid of a training collar, 10 out of 100 times she sees something that she just cannot resist and off she goes. She usually returns within 5-15 minutes, after her chasing has ended and she’s exhausted, running excitedly and sitting at my feet, but as if she never left.

While walking on the ridge the other day, we stopped at the prayer log to well…pray. As I’m sitting there praying and meditating, she runs to me and I think how very much alike we are. She wants to please us. She wants to be in our presence at all times. But sometimes she gets a little too far ahead of me and the pull of the outside world, the temptation to run after something is just too much for her to handle. In those moments no amount of calling or correction can overcome because she’s got so many four-legged things on her mind that my voice is diminished. It’s not because she can’t hear me calling, because I’m yelling “no,” “stop,” “come,” at the top of my lungs. Because she’s not in my presence, walking right beside me, she is easily distracted and, deaf to my calls, off she goes.

So far, her consequences have been relatively mild. A firm correction from us. A dip in the creek on a super cold day making it a shivering walk home. A thorn stuck tight in her skin. A sore foot here and there. All mild consequences. But the eventual consequences should she run and get lost, or encounter a coyote, bobcat or bear, or run onto a very busy road, could be deadly. I say eventual because those dangers are out there and will prevail should she not live within the parameters, the boundaries, the protections we set for her. Sound familiar?

“But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” John 10:2-5

When it comes right down to it 90% is not a bad percentage, it’s still an A on some scales. But that 10% means there’s room for improvement. 90% is not a bad grade, but God calls us to be perfect as He is perfect. We will not reach a perfect score, 100%, until we meet Him again, only He can perfect us. But we are called to strive for that perfect 100% (whole, complete), as He is perfect. We can’t do that if we don’t know His voice. We can’t do that if we don’t hear His voice. We won’t hear His voice is we are not abiding in Him, focusing on Him, giving Him our full attention.

Morning by morning He awakens me and opens my understanding to His will. Isaiah 50:4

When we return and sit at Jesus’ feet, He too responds as if we never left.