It's Just a Dog.......

So we decided that we would use our blog to give people who cared to read a glimpse of our journey to the mission field; the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Things are pretty busy around here these days, and between home school, trying to raise support, trying to sell a house, preparing to move to another home in between the sell of our house and moving to Uganda, preparing for a baby coming in January, and trying to keep life as normal as possible for our five kids, we've been a little pre-occupied.  Exhausting is an understatement, and we haven't been able to post as much as we would like to. 


But something happened yesterday that we felt the need to share.  We gave our dog, Chance, away.  Chance has been a part of our family for the last 2 1/2 years.   We got him against my (Josh's) will (I'm not an animal person), when the girls made all A's on their last report card a couple of years ago.  But over the last couple of years, he has grown on us all (well, except maybe Kim because he tore up all of her patio cushions multiple times).  The kids loved him, and although they didn't play with him as much as they should have, he was always in the backyard waiting on them, whenever they wanted to.


Yesterday, he went to live with some friends of ours.  They have three kids, and Chance is lucky to have a new family like them.  He will be well taken care of.  As we all said our goodbyes yesterday, all of the kids were okay, except for one.  I won't say who, because she might get embarrassed, but she got very upset, and stayed that way for a while. 


We didn't really understand why at first.  I mean, she didn't really even play with the dog very much.  She griped when she had feeding duty.  And often complained about how he was "pooping" up the back yard and they couldn't play back there.  Nobody else was upset.  So why was she?  It's just a dog, right?


 Kim and I laid in bed last night talking about it, and the truth of it finally dawned on me.  Even though Chance wasn't her "best friend", it was a big deal when he left, because for this child, Chance represented security and normalcy.  She has known that everyday for the last 2 1/2 years, she could walk in the backyard and that dog would come bounding up to her wanting to play.  That was normal to her.  In a way, she could "rest" in that.  All of a sudden, he's not there anymore. 


Over the next year, nearly every ounce of normalcy that these children have ever known is going to be removed.  Things are going to be taken away.  The only pet they have ever had is now gone.  The only home they have known is going to be sold.  The only city they've ever lived in (or remember living in) will not be home anymore.  Their family and friends will soon be 9000 miles away.  No travel league soccer games, no school dances, no dance recitals, no baseball games, no spend the night parties.  These are all good things, and my kids more than likely will not experience them.  And to be quite honest with you, that sucks.  Am I excited about what we are doing?  Absolutely.  But the thought that my children will miss out on these things make me sad.  That probably doesn't sound very "missionary-y" but it's true. 


Sometimes, though, God strips away what is good to reveal what is best.  He takes things that maybe we are clinging to a little to tightly and asks us to lay them down, in order that He may best be glorified in us.  He does this with men and women all through scripture.  Abraham, Moses, the disciples, Paul, the early church, all of them gave up a great deal (many their own lives) to best be used by God.  I can say with 100% certainty, as those men and women stand in eternity, that it was worth it. 


So I ask you all to pray for us over these next months and years.  Pray for us as we begin to strip down some of the things we are clinging too tightly to.  Pray that God would give us grace in explaining this to our children.  It's hard for them to understand.  Heck, it's hard for me to understand sometimes.  Pray that we would find our rest, not in what is normal and secure, but in the One who never changes.  Pray that we will cling to Christ.


Much Love,
The Moodys