Kelly Swayne

Staying In The Boundaries Nellie, our dog, stands on my raised vegetable garden so her head just rest on the top of our wooden fence. She watches as people walk on the trail. Some have dogs , baby strollers, bikes. She does this often with complete content and pleasure from the safety of our yard. Never barking just watching, seems to be simply entertained. However, in October, I sat at my kitchen table watching her. She seemed very anxious. My husband and our two teen boys had gone hunting for a few days. Without them home she looked to me for fulfillment. I gave her everything she needed and more; loving, walks, fetch, car rides, all her favorite things. I never left her alone and even allowed her to sleep at the foot of my bed. However, instead of being content with her situation she began to search. I sat at my table in front of the sliding glass doors, watching her in the backyard. She was in her usual position at the fence, however this time her body language spoke loudly....

Today in church I got the perfect picture of how God must react when we show up to be with Him, in prayer, in worship, in praise, anywhere, anytime. There was a lady setting in front of my family, alone with an empty chair beside her. The service had started, the music was over and the pastor had began. A young man sat down beside her, I assume it was her son by the way she acted. She was almost giddy. This lasted all of thirty seconds or less but brought tears to my eyes all the same. She was almost bouncing in her seat, patted his back, hugged his neck, sat with her eyes on him and a wide smile on her face. The last thing she did was pull on the bill of his ball cap. I got a bit tickled at that. I am sure that was a disapproving tug of "a cap in church". I have two teen boys that were setting between my husband and me, so that touched home. Then I thought, oh my gosh! That is how Jesus feels when we show up? He is so excited to see us, he loves on us, he is giddy and correc...

I am just getting use to the blogging world. More to come as I figure this out! Looking foward to it!