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Riley?s Unfriendly Neighbors

06/29/2009 03:09 PM

After living at home for about one month, Katie moved back to the town where she will be attending college in the fall. She starts a new job this week. She is gone and so are her cats. Her two cats were a constant source of stress and anxiety to our dog, Riley. Riley tried befriending the kitties but they did not want to meet their new neighbor. The cats were to stay in the family room in the lower level, however, every once is a while they would get out. Riley finally decided that if they didn’t want to be her friend she would defend her property. She chased them back to their room. Even so, Riley was timid about going in the family room.

After Katie left we returned everything to its place and vacuumed. That evening we brought Riley into the room to see her reaction. She was timid, sniffing for any sign of the dreaded kitties. She poked her nose around furniture and under the pillows on the sofa. She didn’t find any cats, but she didn’t believe they were gone.

The next day we did the same thing. “Riley, where are the kitties?” we asked to see if she would look for them. She looked and still didn’t find them.

Today is the third day and she is still timid about going in the family room. She is still not sure the cats are gone.

Poor Riley. She is in angst for nothing. She is haunted by her experience of the past month. I trust she will eventually forget about the cats and enjoy an evening of watching TV with her master in the family room.

Our family laughs at Riley’s fear of the long-gone kitties. I hate to admit it, but I used to be much like my clueless puppy. I would let past experiences, failures, and words from others haunt me and keep me from confidently living my life. Watching Riley reminded me how silly it was to yeild to memories of the past. Sure, I have learned alot from my past, but I don’t live there any more. God calls me to live the life He planned for me. “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. . . But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

Now I make it a habit to immediately dismiss from my thoughts any “hauntings” of the past. Good memories are welcome, but “hauntings” are not. I am living the fabulous life God has for me and that takes all of my focus. I can’t have one hand holding on to the past and one reaching for the future. It won’t work.

What about you? Will you let go of the “hauntings” from your past? If you need to confess something to God, do it. Let Him sweep your life clean. Begin to confidently live your calling (whether it be ministry, professional, wife, mom, friend) by ”forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.”

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