Tag: control

Don’t You Hate Feeling Powerless?

/ colleen arnold / 6 Comments

Last week my daughter and I sat in front of the fire quietly reading, and suddenly our dog, Buddy, began howling.

It was not the howling of “Hey, there’s a UPS truck out front; I need to check it out!” but rather the howling of, “Someone is torturing me, help!” My daughter and I looked up from our respective books and saw nothing alarming. No torturing cat, no tail caught in the recliner, no spilled hot coffee.  It only lasted a few minutes, and then the night proceeded in peace, the incident forgotten.

The next day, however, it happened again. This time was worse, not only in noise but in duration. Buddy howled and whined and looked at me with wide eyes begging for help. Once again, searching even in doctor mode, I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. I checked his paws for thorns, his body for tender spots, his ears for mites. Nothing.

“Buddy, I wish you could talk,” I told him.

Over the next few days, more episodes occurred. Finally, at 8:00 PM on Friday, came the worst one yet.

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Baby Bears and Turkeys (or, Really? That’s Good For Me?)

/ colleen arnold / 2 Comments

A few nights ago, my dog, Buddy, and I were out for our evening walk on a winding country road that goes up and down several hills. As we came to the crest of one of those hills, I was startled to see a baby bear about 40 feet away, eating a snack of trash on the side of the road.

He was as adorable and fluffy as any stuffed one I’d ever seen, and I really wanted to get closer for a better look. Or at least I did until I heard the footsteps of something quite large just over the side of the hill. Assuming it was Mama Bear, Buddy and I sprinted off.

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My Word for 2020: Cooperate

/ colleen arnold / 2 Comments

Its that time of year when we balance looking back with looking ahead. We look back at the regrets and mistakes of the past year and vow not to repeat them. We look back at the joys and blessings and try to figure out how to keep them.

We map a New Year filled with all the good and none and of the bad; make our plans and resolutions, all the while declining to acknowledge that we aren’t really in control.

Remember Woody Allen’s saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans”?  I don’t envision Him sitting up in heaven blatantly thwarting my dreams for a perfect life. I do see Him smiling and asking, “Why do you insist on going your own way? Why don’t you listen to My voice and let Me help you?”

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