My dog Shotgun and I were walking out to feed the horses. It was a pleasant but very dark night, one where I kinda find my way by listening to the sounds of the horses. I can hear them talking to ma and I can hear Shotgun running around sniffing this, and snuffing that checking out what the squirrels and rabbits have been up to all day. I had just gotten home from a laddies group where we had been discussing God's grace and what it was to us. What a great group of ladies with so many different personalities, lots of love, humor, heartache and one main thing in common, loving God and being saved by His grace. Even through or maybe partially because of the tough stuff discussed and shared there, I always seem to drive home in a warm glow and this was the frame of mind I was still in. I've got to say here that Shotgun is a great dog. He is colored like his St. Bernard dad but more the size of his German Shepard mom.He's So Fluffy! He looks like a big stuffed animal running to meet you. He has pretty good manners and knows all the basic commands but his nose gets him into trouble. It's like a smell on the wind can just grab him by the nose and off he goes with no stopping. He loves everyone. He loves women, men, kids, people in uniforms or not...he loves dogs, cats, rabbits and even the pack rats that he helps escape out of the live trap. Sadly he does not seem to understand that not everyone loves him....say like.....the skunks. This is where his nose problem really gets him into trouble. As I was pulling the tarp back over the hay, with the horses happily munching away, I started thinking, “Where is that dog?” and was relieved to hear him running up to me. “Good boyyyohhh No!! No, No, No! Get away from me!” The smell had hit me and he had gotten close enough for me to see his squinting eyes and foaming mouth. He had taken a direct spray in the face from Mr. Grumpy Skunk. He was trying to rub on me, rolling on the ground and shaking skunk scented drool foam all over the place all at the same time. If the only place you have ever smelled skunk is passing one that has been hit on the highway, let me tell you it is a whole different experience and smell when you get up close and personal. It is intense, overpowering, and almost completely unrecognizable, as what you would normally consider the smell of a skunk. All I could think was that I needed to contain this situation and fast before he skunked ME. Thankfully he was coherent enough to listen and obey when I said, “Kennel!” All the way to the kennel I was forming my plan. I knew I needed to call my husband and hopefully catch him before he left town so that he could pick up all the de-skunking supplies I needed. It was late and 5:30 a.m. was going to come fast but it was a foregone conclusion that Shotgun was going to be de-skunked, and it was going to happen tonight. You see, Shotgun is an indoor/outdoor dog and one of the family. You don't leave one of your family stinking in their misery when they are coming to you for help and you are their only hope. As I closed the kennel door I said, “You're lucky I love you.” And That was when I started thinking about God's grace. There was no way that dog was going to walk with me stinking the way he was. There was no way he was going to enter the house like that no matter how good his manners were, how cute he was or how much he loved others. But he had come to me believing I would save him from this nightmare. I love him and was going to make the way for him to be a part of the family again. I was going to wash him clean. This is what God does for us, right? We can't walk with God and there is no way for us to enter His kingdom when we are dirty in our sin. No matter how good our manners are, how many nice things we have done, how many people we take care of or how much we give, we can not wash ourselves clean. Only He can make us clean. Only He has made the way for us to be a part of His family and enter His kingdom. By His precious Son Jesus' sacrifice, paying the price we could never pay, we are saved from our sin. By His stripes we are healed and by His blood we are cleansed if only we believe Him. All this because He first loved us but He doesn't say to us, “You're lucky I love you.” He just says, “I Love You.” So Shotgun got de-skunked that night. I even used a hose hooked up to the warm water in the house because being washed clean is a warm and loving feeling. Will he get skunked again? I hope not, but the temptations to get into trouble keep coming, just as they do for me. So when he does get into trouble again, I hope I will be there for him just like the Lord is always there for me when I get into trouble. I thank you Lord for your grace. I thank you Lord for your love. I thank you for speaking to me in ways I understand and I thank you for turning an event that would normally have me angry and grumbling into a picture of your grace.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 --  May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope,  encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.