DON’T LOOK BACK

Written by Luz Leigh

      Don’t look back. These words came to me this morning as I was walking from the dog pen to the back door of my home. You see, for a few days, (or weeks, who knows?), I am babysitting a puppy for my granddaughter. The granddaughter, like so many young people, decided she wanted a puppy to share her apartment. Well, while the puppy was tiny, cute and loveable, that was fine. But as we all know those cuddly little balls of fur have a way of becoming a “dog”. No longer do they fit in a small apartment. They need to be outside…to be able to run and play where there is no carpet to dig into or furniture on which to chew.

      So, the day came when it was decided that until granddaughter could secure a house with a fenced yard, the puppy would become a member of my household. It all began with the question, “MamMaw, do you still have the dog pen where Poppy kept Trixi?” Well, in fact, I do. Do I ever get rid of anything? The pen needed some minor repairs, so the two of us set about making it “puppy-proof”. During the time we were mending the fence, I managed to get stung by a wasp or bumble bee or something, but that is another story.

      The pen was made secure just before dark. We set up a box fan to help stir the air even if it did little to cool the air. A light was turned on so the puppy would not be in the dark in a strange place. We put a big water container next to the fence and filled it so she would have fresh water to drink. A feeding dish, filled with her favorite food, was placed inside the gate.

      The granddaughter lovingly put the puppy in the pen, fastened the gate with the same chain her Poppy had used years ago, securing it tightly so there was no way the pet could escape. We said goodbye to the puppy, reassuring her one of us would be back to see about her early the next morning. The puppy whimpered a few times and then lay down to wait.

      Thus began my role as caretaker of a dog. Early each morning I walk to the barn, carrying food for the puppy. Once there I open the gate and allow her to run out and be free for a while. The first morning she acted as though she was afraid to come out the gate. After all, she barely knew me, she had spent her first night alone in a strange place, and she didn’t see her owner anywhere in sight. Of course, she couldn’t see the owner; the owner was at work at her new job, earning a salary so she could provide food and shelter for herself and her dog.

      The puppy has become attached to me and I tolerate her. I refuse to become attached to her for I do not want to have to be responsible for the care of a dog more than a few weeks, at the most. I do not mind caring for her in this situation…it has given me something to do in my spare time. This morning after the puppy had enjoyed her morning outing, I put her back in the pen, fastened the chain on the gate, and was walking back toward the house.

      It was at this time, she began to whimper a little louder than she had in the past. I knew in my heart she would be sitting there, looking forlorn, wanting me to stay with her, or allow her to go with me. I could not stand the thought off facing her. So, I told myself, “don’t look back.”

      In our lives we face times when for one reason or another, the command “don’t look back” comes to us. Did you ever drop off your child at a summer camp for the first time? As you were driving away from the facility where your child would be cared for and loved by responsible people, you were tempted to look back. If you did, you would have seen one of two things, either of which would bring tears to your eyes. The child would either be watching as you drove away, her little chin quivering, tears beginning to form in her eyes, silently saying, “Please don’t leave me.” Or, worse than that….she would be running with her friends to find their cabin, laughing excitedly about the prospect of an entire week away from home. “Does she not love me? Does she not care that I am driving away?” you ask yourself. Either scenario will bring a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.

      Other times that you must not look back include the first day of school; the day you leave her at her new apartment at a college hours away from home; the day you have helped her move into her new home that she can now afford with the money she is earning at that good paying job she has sought for so long; the day their car pulls away from your home as the young married couple leave for the beginning of a new life together. These and others are times you “don’t look back.” Look only to the future.

      There are so many things in our past of which we are ashamed, but our loving heavenly Father admonishes us to “don’t look back.” There is nothing we can do to change what has happened, but if we look to Him for love and forgiveness, we will joyously seek the future, not the past. Our Father has made provision for our past to be covered by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ if we but seek His forgiveness and follow Him.

      So, just as I “don’t look back” toward the pen where the puppy sits, waiting my return, I will not look back at my past, nor that of my loved ones. Glorious days await us. Only believe. Trust in the Lord and thou shalt be saved, words to love and live by.

      Better go now and look forward…the puppy is awaiting her afternoon romp in the back yard and her supper. I am looking forward to fellowship with my Lord and my fellow Christians.