Audy's Animal Anecdotes - The Thief Who Made Me Think

Audy Perry, the son of the founders of Heritage Farm wanted me to share his collection of short stories that began as simple observations of the daily doings on the farm, some tragic, though some not, but all have been written with the dear Lord in mind and lessons we can learn providing we are teachable.  The following is another of Audy's stories with just a wee bit of editing.

Just past midnight on one rainy Saturday, I was awakened by the panicked barking of our dogs. I opened the back door to find our soaking wet canines voicing extreme disapproval at a thief! This thief was not of the human kind but dressed in gray and black stripes with four legs, a tail and the traditional black mask.  A raccoon had invaded their feed bin causing this great disturbance.  Not wanting to get wet, I reached for an old baseball and threw it at the bandit and with uncharacteristic accuracy I manged to land the ball smack on its' side. Quite proud of myself, I thought for sure it would run away for good and I could return to my warm bed. This was not to be!   The raccoon proceeded to scale the corner of our home and scurry onto the roof!  The end result was a very scary attic meeting and a $100 repair bill.  I will say that the raccoon is no longer living at my house. However it donned on me,  I lost a night's sleep and a good bit of money over the defense of a forty-seven cent can of dog food! If I had just let the dogs in the garage, it would have been much easier, safer and less costly.

Many "battles" in our life are like that what I had experienced.  We go into situations thinking the only way to "win" is by defeating everyone who opposes us, and we expend massive amounts of time, energy and resources fighting battles that could be avoided altogether if we would just pause and look for alternative solutions that don’t escalate the situation.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then

peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit,

impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a

harvest of righteousness. James 3:17,18

Way to go Audy! How the world would be a different place if each of us  would heed this lesson and put it on our to do list for 2011.  Happy New Year everyone, may your year be filled with much love, peace and prosperity!