My son gave me Nike sports socks. They are white and foot specific. The right sock is marked R and the left sock is marked L. You can tell the difference if you put the sock on the wrong foot. They are glorious. They are super comfortable and they have improved my vertical leap by 25%. My vertical leap is measured in terms of millimeters and not feet. But the socks gave me a 25% improvement.
The dogs were very interested in my new socks. They have this adorable habit of taking my white socks out of the laundry basket and they become the main object in the doggy game of tug-o-war. Most of my white socks have holes in the toes where the dogs have battled over them.
Our found-on-the -side-of-the-road terrier is the most egregious of sock offenders. This morning as I was putting the socks on, while I was pulling the right one over my foot, she was stealing the left one. When I looked down the left sock was gone. I looked at her, she was grinning lying beside the left sock. I see a future filled with battles over these socks.
Dora has been upset by all the people in her house at Christmas. They have upset her schedule and confused her. She has been ultra-protective of her adults. It is cute for the adults who understand the behavior, frightening for children who do not. Dora has also not been happy that cousin Ruxin came to visit. Ruxin is my daughter’s male terrier. Ruxin and Dora don’t get along. It must be a terrier thing.
Dora even ran off the Jehovah’s Witnesses right after Christmas. I guess I opened the door too far. Anyway, they didn’t give me their speech because this little dog was yapping at them. She was not going to bite them. She was being territorial with her domestic territory. Besides her theology is thoroughly Wesleyan and she might have been protecting our Orthodoxy.
I trained a dachshund to do that. We had this wiener dog named DJ. His only trick involved the Baptists. I would say, “DJ, there are Baptists in the back yard.” He would run to a door and yap until the door was opened. Then he would run through the back yard barking at the mythical Baptists. It was an amusing trick. The Baptist church in Arcadia was aware of DJ’s trick. It kept the deacons from knocking on the door.
Now I guess I can say, “Dora, the Jehovah’s Witnesses at the front door.”
These form fitting socks have put me in a jovial mood. How is your mood on this first Saturday of 2016? It is a good time to make a new start, even in the thoughts we have and the way we frame our lives. Some days are going to be like Nike socks on the correct foot. Some days are going to be like socks the dogs have used in their canine Olympics.
The difference is in our personal outlook. I pray that this year will be a good one for you and that you might know the abundant life that Christ promised. The abundance of His love and grace changes outlooks.