Pepper and God

The following is something I wrote 2 years and some of you read it in the Clarion, but it is a relevant to what I will post tomorrow. We are back at the Woods' cabin.

I am writing this from the mountains a little norht and west of Taos at the cabin of Jerry and Carol Woods(8:00 o'clockers). The weather has been great and it has rained a little but we are just trying to relax.

Most of this is about Pepper and som ofit is about God. Pepper is a 7 year old mix between a Jack Russell Terrier and a German Shorthair Pointer. She is extremely smart and energetic and is attached to Kathryn. She likes me to when I have food and Kathryn is not around. She likes to travel in the car and is very well behaved while riding, but she has never been in the car for more than an hour at a time. Taos is a 12-13 hour trip, but we broke it up into 2 days. Pepper was a littl hyper. Now, up here, someone was always around for the first couple of days. On monday the ladies went to town and Jerry and I played golf. We locked Pepper andMaggie, a cute 10 yearold long-haired dachsund, in the cabin. When Jerry and I got back from golf Pepper greeted us in the driveway and was so excited that she was jumping up and down. We wondered if the girls were home, or if the door hadn't been locked and it blew open.

When we unlocked the door we realized that neither of those guesses was right. Pepper had ripped the screen on a low window and jumped 3 feet to the ground. On Tuesday no body was home again, but we had locked the door, closed the window moved a bench that was in front of the window. When Jerry and I got back Pepper was in the driveway waiting for us and she was so excited that she jumped up and down. We couldn't wait to see what magic she performed this time. We had not closed the window over the kitchen sink. She had jumped on the counter, bent the aluminum frame on the screen, and jumped down 6 feet to the groud. It was kinda funny and kinda not.

A couple of days later I was in the mountains by myself and trying to decide what to write for the Clarion. I realized Pepper just wanted to be with us. She didin't know where we were, but she knew we weren't there. She wasn't going to let anything stop her from being with the ones she loved. That is about Pepper. Now, what about God. Well, actually it is about us. Do we want to be with God as much as Pepper wants to be with us? When we find ourselves seperated from God do we try to remove the barriers that seperate us? When we find ourselves in the presence of God do we get so excited that we start jumping up and down? God doesn't lock us in to protect us. God sets us free and asks us to stay near. God even promises that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.(James 4:8) All Pepper wants to do is to share her love. I think that is what God wants to do too.