The Runaway

This is Day #2 of Scooby's "Great Escape" plan. Day #1 found Scooby running out the front door yesterday when my youngest was walking through. She had her arms full of soccer gear and didn't quite get the door shut on time. So there we were, running the neighborhood trying to rescue all the innocent neighboring dogs from the attack of the psychotic, maniac dog. After about 10 minutes of running, the escape convict was caught and returned to our property.

Then today was Day #2. One would think that we would be more careful about walking out our front door after yesterday's incident. As Kirk and and 2 of my kids were leaving for football practice, I noticed Scooby out of the corner of my eye. He was lying in wait, right next to the front door. As soon as they went outside, Scooby bolted past them in a moment of passionate freedom. You could almost see the look of thrill over his whole face as he glanced from house to house, trying to determine which little dog would be his next victim to terrorize. He hasn't hurt any of these innocent dogs yet....but I believe they have been emotionally scarred by his threatening manner.

After about 20 minutes of circling our neighbor's house, the escapee was finally caught...once again.

So this leads me to wonder....since he is a psychotic maniac, why do we keep going to find him? I mean, think of how much more calm our household would be without his daily bouts of rebellion.

But despite all that...despite the problems he causes...despite the furniture he has chewed...despite the hole he bit in our other dog's ear...despite the fact that every blanket we own has a hole in it from Scooby...despite the hard plastic I keep stepping on from the water bottle he shreds...despite it all, we love him. Yes, I said that. I almost can't believe it myself.

He really is a good dog. He's an awesome watch dog and he makes me feel safe when Kirk is gone. He protects our kids with everything in him. And he's just plain cute.

That reminds me of the love that God has for us. No matter what we've done...no matter how far we've wandered off the path...no matter what, He loves us. We are His children. We are His precious creation. And just like Scooby, after our times of rebellion, we are welcomed back into His loving arms and can start over fresh after His forgiveness.

It's never too late to make things right.