Suffer? Who Me?

What to write about today? Oh, there’s Dino, to the rescue once again.

For Lent, I was talked into giving up chocolate. A co-worker of mine, who is not nearly the chocoholic that I am, wanted someone else to share in her misery. But that is the whole idea of giving up something for Lent, not that we should ever suffer, but we should make sacrifices. No sacrifice we make however will ever compare to the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

What does this have to do with my dog Dino? He loves cat food as much as I love chocolate. As I was sitting here on the laptop trying to think of something to write, I could hear him on the other end of the basement eating the cat’s food. I snuck around one side of the basement to catch him, but he heard me and scooted around the other way. Silly dog.

Good thing he doesn’t have to give up cat food for Lent. He pretty much always gets his own way. He is one dog who doesn’t have to think about going to heaven in the afterlife; living in my house is heaven for him right now. Hmm? Think that will be us when we get to heaven, being spoiled daily by the Master?

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 (NIV)

I'd say Dino doesn't suffer much. 

Is My Quest Nearly Finished?

After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:9-12 (New Living Translation)

Me: Hi, there. You guys look tired.

Camel 1: Not so much.

Camel 2: Really? We just trekked half-way across the world, loaded down with all sorts of stuff.

Camel 1: Are you truly whining? We are camels, we were born to carry heavy loads for days on end. We do not whine.

Me: I didn’t mean to start anything. Why did you come all this way?

Camel 1: Our masters were on a quest to find the new-born king. We have been following the king’s star for a very long time. Our masters are well-educated men who knew the meaning of the star and it brought us here.

Me: Something brought me here too, but it wasn’t a star.

Camel 2: What was it then?

Me: Something drawing me to the baby. You say he is a king?

Camel 1: The king of the Jews.

Me: Hmm? But I’m not a Jew, so why do you think I care so much about this child?

Camel 1: Maybe he really came to be the king of all.

Me: Wow, but he’s so little, so young. And his parents are so poor. How can he be a king?

Camel 2: We are just camels. How should we know? We don’t need a king. We have our masters who care for us and feed us. And then work us half to death.

Camel 1: Stop your whining. All I know is that our masters are good men. They have brought expensive gifts to this boy-king. You need to just keep following him. You will get your answers.

Me: Thank you so much. I have been questioning all the animals that I have met along the way, but you have been the most helpful of all of them.

Camel 1: Good luck on your own quest. Have faith.

(Today's picture is from the park, Paradise Lost, outside of Nairobi. When I was in Kenya in 2006, we took a group of orphans to this park where they got to ride the camels and have all sorts of other fun. Also, if you haven't been following my Sunday blog, you need to go back to the first of December and read them all. Then you will know where this has been going.)