Dig Dig Dig

Upon a recent trip to the bookstore, I found that the book at the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list for nonfiction is a story titled, Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog. I have not read the book, but its title would seem to give a fairly good idea of it contents. So if the number one selling nonfiction book is about nightmares in dealing with dogs, then people must like to hear stories about dealing with dogs, and so I have one of my own.

I got my mutt last summer from the SPCA, a Labrador retriever mix, she was 6 weeks old and I named her Molly. She is now about eight months old, and we have gotten past the housebreaking stage, with a minimal amount of accidents. No longer does she choose to relieve herself in the house while I am not looking. We have also gotten past the chewing stage, where everything in the house from three feet down is in danger of getting teeth marks and drool. Most would consider that to be the most aggravating stage to endure. I have taught her to sit, stay, and fetch. So you must be thinking that I am doing pretty well so far, but there is one thing that I just cannot seem to stop Molly from doing; and that is digging in the backyard.

I have heard and tried countless solutions, and if this story sparks more ideas and tips from people then I will probably try them too (assuming they are cost efficient). I have heard people say that you should simply fill the holes up with water and then she won't dig in them anymore. Problems with this...water evaporates, Molly doesn't mind getting muddy, and the clincher...even if it did work for those holes filled in with water, she just digs new ones. I have been told that dogs won't dig if there is pepper on the ground because they don't like it when it gets in their noses. Smart & Final carries big containers of ground pepper, and I went to get one. I filled in all the holes with fresh dirt, packed it down, and then put a nice thick layer of ground pepper in all the spots. Before I was even done putting the pepper down, I found Molly going over all the spots eating the dirt. I bet that dirt had a nice pepper taste to it, one that she considered to be very appetizing. Oh, and then she started digging again. I tried spraying her with the hose when I saw her starting to dig, and that stops her, but when she is by herself, there is no one to stop her. I tried giving her toys to play with and chew instead of digging, but she still digs. Lastly, I tried putting chicken wire down on the ground so that she couldn't dig. This would be very effective if I put it down over all of the yard, but that is way too much area to cover. Molly will just not stop the digging. Molly digs as if she is on a mission. She is persistent, and no matter how many things I try to do to stop her, she keeps digging. Perhaps digging is part of her identity, if you ask me it is.

Jesus was also on a mission when He left his throne on high and came here to be with us. His identity was the cross. It is what defined him more than anything else while He was here. It was his mission. Through that very cross He brought salvation to all who accept it. No matter what kind of obstacles people tried to put in front of him to stop him, He did not stop, He kept on the road to the cross. Satan tempted him, Pharisees tried to trick him, his disciples betrayed him, and everyone misunderstood him, but he kept on the road to the cross. He was mocked, stabbed, whipped, beaten, spit upon, tempted, called a blasphemer, betrayed, lied to, and misunderstood, but He never wavered on his sinless walk to the cross. We serve a mighty savior.