Jazzy, our silly smart Boston Terrier, often has a will of her own. After Hurricane Harvey, I struggled to get her to obey my lead when I leash-walked her. She wanted to go her own way. She didn’t realize my insistence on doing things my way wasn’t to deny her joy, but to protect her from what she didn’t know could hurt her.
Because of the 51-inches of rain, the fire ants reorganized their homes and built hills up higher, higher, higher! Jazzy didn’t even notice them and wanted to plow right through them. It was as if she was in flight or fight mode—just pulling as hard as possible on the harness to go straight, despite the obstacles. She had doggy Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I warned her as we approached a fire ant hill, but she didn’t listen. I had to take immediate action to prevent her from serious injury. I’ve heard of an entire fire ant community killing a cow, so they could make quick work of little ol’ Jazz-ma-tazz!
I had to yank on the leash hard. The harder I pulled, the more she resisted. It was a battle of the wills. Or in our case, a battle of the Willises! One time, I had to scoop her up to protect her from those destructive fire ants.
I don’t think she even realized I was protecting her.
I wonder how many times God wants me to obey Him, and I struggle to do my own thing?…