I Am Not Afraid Of Dogs

I was walking with my kids today, out tramping across the fields, enjoying the sun and the sky and the wide open space. Laughing, they trotted ahead of me a ways, boots galumphing, hair streaming on the wind. Our carefree joy was interrupted however when suddenly three huge dogs rushed out of the bushes charging and barking viciously, the leader running us down and poised to attack. A hot lick of fear swept through me for a split second as my eyes scanned the ground for a stick or rock, but there were none. The kids had fled behind me crying. And as the great beast bore down upon us that momentary fear fled me, I felt more confident than I ever had in my life. I stepped fully in front of my children, legs braced, shoulders back and issued a command that in Albanian means "GET BACK!" The stance of my body and the tone of my voice stopped that dog dead in his tracks. He skidded to a halt, then turned and left, barking over his shoulder, taking his friends with him. I kept my eyes on them until they had disappeared, far beyond the grasses and hedges.

"Oh Mommy!" My daughter cried, throwing her arms around me, "How did you do that?!"

"I am not afraid of dogs." I replied.

What followed was a lengthy discussion of animal behavior, and safety, and why we stay close to Mommy, and so on and so forth. But that is topic for another time and is not the point of this post.

There are dogs in this town who are greater scoundrels than the above mentioned, and I am not talking about the four legged kind.

Let me make our stance to them crystal clear.

They can bark and they can charge, but we will NEVER back down, for unlike them we serve a mighty God. THE mighty God. We have Christ and all his hosts at our backs and we continue to fight the good fight with our heads held high. We are not cowards who lie in wait like predators, who live and lie for selfish gain, who pick on the poor that have no one to protect them. And those dogs can come one hundred strong to my face if they so dare and just see what this daughter of the King is made of.

For we wear the armor of God.

As it is, I am sure they will continue to hide under rocks and behind computer screens, preying on the defenseless.

My friends, pray for these individuals for they are desperately lost. So blinded by fear and greed and hate that they can not tell up from down. And I exhort you all "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 5:8-11)