Puddles

Zeke needs walking.  It is not just his extra 10 pounds but his behavior.  Tearing things up in the house, getting territorial, needy for attention.  With spring here I felt it was time to leash him up and take him out.  Monday night was the perfect night.  A storm had just passed and the evening was just cool enough to enjoy without a jacket. The wind was perfect. 

Since Zeke is leash training we do a lot of zig-zag.  (No special dance or anything.)  Walking from one side of the road to the other, circling the culd-e-sac so he can't figure out where I'm headed.  There was a moment in the evening when Zeke discovered puddles.  As we crossed from one sidewalk to the other....I moved directions quickly...leading him, he'd step in a puddle. After one puddle it suddenly became a game.  He'd get so excited that within just two bounds his ears would flop up in the air.  He was so excited with the splash.  Puddles created happiness.

I have never looked at a puddle as happiness.  I wasn't the kind of child splashing around in the rain so a puddle to me was...a puddle.  Rain pooled into one spot until the sun came out and dried it all up. 

After a storm passes we have puddles.  Residual storm so to speak.  Left overs.  A storm in life doesn't just pass over and "poof"....it's done and life can move on.  It leave behind reminders of grace. It leaves behind scars.  It leaves behind reminders of what God has done.  Your puddle may be sparkling in the sun or sitting by the drain with black gravel throughout.  But truthfully, your puddle is happiness. 

Like Zeke is willing to pass through a puddle eagerly and enjoy what the storm has left behind, enjoy your puddle and be reminded of what God has done.