"And behold, the watchman upon the tower would have seen the enemy while he was yet afar off; and then ye could have made ready and kept the enemy from breaking down the hedge thereof, and saved my vineyard from the hands of the destroyer."This morning I found my daughter sobbing with uncontrollable tears. To begin this story, my wife and I had brought home from Israel a pair of leather shoes as a souvenir from Jerusalem. My daughter loved these shoes, and wore them all the time. The soft leather and the ease of putting them one her feet...made these shoes her favorite.
Unfortunately we have a puppy who loves to chew.. (and bark.) We love Patch, but his natural dog instincts has created problems with our neighbors, our furniture, our carpet... and now our shoes. Daily, we constantly have to remind our children to put their shoes away.. so that they won't be used as chew toys.
Last night in putting the dog to bed, I had the impression to make sure all shoes where in a safe place. I found one pair vulnerable.. but didn't see the other pair under the table. This morning once the dog was let out from his "cave"...unwatched and left to himself, Patch found my daughter's favored shoe and went to town on the cowhide. Luckly my wife walked in on the guilty puppy and stopped the devastation before the shoe became unwearable...
This shoe takes on a new meaning for me and my family...
Yes, A favored and still wearable shoe shows a bite mark, but a gentle reminder that anything of value to us needs our constant viligiance to make sure that it remains in tact. I am reminded of the parable of the "watchman on the tower" that falls asleep and the enemy enters in to the Lord's vineyard. A good Family Home Evening lesson. See the above scripture.
Exquisitely good story, my friend. Boy do I appreciate your blog entries.
ReplyDelete