I opened the back door and stopped in my tracks.
“What on earth?” came from my mouth at a rather high decibel level. It looked as if an F5 tornado had swept through our house, leaving it in shambles. Tiny pieces of paper, branches, leaves, DVD boxes, and shoes littered three rooms. Standing still and surveying the damage, I saw my ninety-pound Newfoundland, Boo Boo, sitting pretty and proud. I wanted to scream, “Look what you did!” but I couldn’t.
My heart melted, a smile crept across my face, and she ran toward me. As I stooped down to pet her, I realized how much I loved her. We had left her out of her crate to test her maturity level and discovered it was not what we had hoped for. Left on her own, she made unwise choices. This did not lessen my love for her or cause me to decide she was not worth keeping. I knew she needed more training. We would try again.
Our heavenly Father does the same with us. He is full of mercy and compassion. He may not be happy with our decisions, but He loves us enough to let us grow, make our own decisions, and hopefully learn from them.
If you, like Boo, have done something the world feels is deserving of punishment, turn it over to God and experience the grace and mercy of your heavenly Father.
(Photo courtesy of the author.)
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I loved this message, thanks so much for sharing. I often feel that my actions caused God to stop caring about what happens to me in my life. Your words helped me realize that I am "truly" loved even though I have sinned in my life.
Sherri , I loved this story . As you know I have a crazy dog . Remember the frosting ordeal from last year , lol. But like you I could not be mad , I just had to laugh .But I know God is still working on Silas and myself . And we are going to make mistakes ,but Gods love for us will never stop .
Why do we make it so hard? Thank you for this sweet and gentle reminder of how He loves us!
You have told me this story before and you have advised me many times of His wonderful grace and mercy!
Sheri you hit the nail on the head girl! God shows me mercy and grace every single day. Thank you for sharing your heart!