one single Good

I often refer to myself as a beagle.

When I was younger, I wanted a pet beagle, but my mother warned me, "they wander".

And oh, have I wandered.

Last night, my husband had over 8 men of God, meeting over "the way too much food I prepared for them because I am a woman and take the hospitality way over board"....and it was just so encouraging and beautiful to hear MEN...talking about GOD, sharing their hearts, with the occasional football reference thrown in. And of course I was in the other room, but with one ear open to their discussion, because there was just so much good happening in that kitchen of mine. And I heard my husband talking about the importance of faith and how God must be our priority, and then he added...."but it isn't easy!" And every man at the table, chimed in, "It is so hard."

We are all beagles, I suppose, and so to leave doing good and bearing fruit that will last, all up to us, is simply a recipe for disaster. We need more. We need something that pulls us back to where we belong.

People. Face it. We need God. We need relationship with God. And we need it now.

Once you make the effort; once you acknowledge the undebatable truth that you are made by God, and your heart shaped to seek Him, and you allow the desire planted by Jesus Christ to take root and grow, you will understand what I am talking about. And you will still wander. But you will always come back home.

My dog is not a beagle. She is a chow-lab. And she LOVES to take off and wander when ever she can. She knows she should not do this. But she can not help herself. She believes that there is something way better beyond the confines of the backyard fence and leash. Like, perhaps, as her master, I am holding out on some incredible experience that will fulfill her every dog need. And so she takes off, like a show horse, leaping over knocked down tree trunks, and racing through the poison ivy and brush. And so we all run out, with leashes and various bags of lunch meat and hot dogs, and we shout out her name, and I can not promise we are always dressed appropriately to be walking the neighborhood streets. But we do not care. We get up and we go. We call for her loudly, we wave treats in the air, we pray she is not harmed.

Because we know. She is not safe out there on her own. We know, because not too long ago, we lost our sweet puppy due to her wandering impulse. And I can not bear that loss again.

Eventually, our adventurous chow-lab returns. Because she knows where the food is.

And she flops on the hardwood floor and pants happily, and we sort of want to kill her, but instead we reward her and love on her, because well...we love her. And we are just so glad she has returned to us safely. Instead of punishing her, we rejoice in her. Sound familiar? (if not, read this Luke 15:11-32)

I am happy to be in a season of tightly tethered to God.

But I know what it feels like to wander.

And I am sure, one day, I will wander again.

But praise be to God that whenever I have wandered far, I made it back home safely.

And praise be to God that I learned that there is nothing outside of my white fence worth running after; that all that I need is right here, in my home.

You may have never opened your Bible, but I am willing to bet you have seen The Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy is right.

She had everything she needed.

There was no need to wander.

Have you wandered, sweet friend?

Are you running after something because what you have does not feel like enough?

It is ok. I have been there. And you are so not alone.

But let me suggest this.

If you feel the urge today to run, why not run to Christ?

You know, you can walk into an empty church and sit alone, and no one will ever know.

And you don't even need to say anything.

Or pray anything.

Or feel anything.

God can work with nothing.

Just look at the world.

He made it out of nothing.

It can feel really impossible to stay put, when you are prone to wander.

But let me leave you with this, from Saint Bonaventure.

"Why, then, servant of God, do you wander so far, seeking delights for your body and mind? Love one single Good in which all goods are found, and that will suffice; desire simple Good, which is all good, and that will be enough..."