My family had a couple of Shelties when I was growing up. Shelties are herding dogs by nature, with lots of personality.
Whenever I would run through the house, Corky and Sparky would chase me, nipping at my heels, in an effort to “herd” me like their breed would for sheep and cattle. This habit was more problematic when we would go swimming. The dogs would run laps around the pool, barking and whimpering, unsure of how to properly guide the swimmers. The area around the pool is concrete, and the dogs would run until their paws were blistered and bleeding. Their paws would be raw for the first couple of days after a long swim/herding session. The poor pups could only gingerly walk on the carpet, refusing to step on the hard tile floor. We had to move their food and water dishes from the linoleum to the carpet so they could eat and drink. It was ridiculous because their wounds were all self-inflicted. Their instincts would override their suffering, and they would ignore their body’s signals in spite of the fruitlessness of their efforts. They indulged their compulsions in the face of the pain that resulted from those very actions. Eventually we began putting them in their cages when we would swim in order to keep their paws intact because they simply could not make the connection between their actions and the ensuing misery.
It is easy to laugh at my dogs and their silly dog problems. It is less easy to laugh once I began recognizing the correlation to my actions in Paul’s words in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” And later in verse 19, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do- this I keep on doing.”
As those words resonate with the struggles in my own life, it becomes apparent that this a people problem, too. How often do you find yourself battling against the habits you know are damaging or wasteful?
How many times do we continue doing the very actions that we are working to cease? I’m certain that Corky and Sparky’s little doggy brains regretted the pain their paws would feel after a day of corralling swimmers. But I am equally certain that running laps around the pool in futility was the only choice either one would make on their own. As humans, we too are often foolish and shortsighted, not fully realizing the correlation between our actions and their consequences.
Kids often arrive at the Ranches with an arsenal of bad habits. While I have yet to see a resident run circles until their feet are raw, we see a whole host of similarly ineffective and damaging behaviors. As we help them to recognize the destructive nature of those bad habits, they begin to learn how to eliminate the old actions and replace them with healthier practices. Because they are human, they will slip up, and we will take the opportunity to teach another lesson. Then they will learn to apply those lessons to help them improve their behavior and results in the future, breaking the cycle of doing the very things they want to stop. Thank God for His grace in allowing us the opportunity to change.
We are so proud of the chance to teach, learn, and grow alongside our residents. Thank you for investing in today’s youth as they engage the process of eliminating painful bad habits and building healthy new ones. Thank you for your support that makes that growth possible.
