are you ready to run for your life?

My kids often ask me to tell them stories before bed. Monday I told them one from our past that ended up teaching me quite the lesson.

Several years ago, we were good friends with the family across the street from us. They had boys the same ages as ours, and we spent many afternoons at their house-- talking and laughing while the kids played. The one thing about them I hated though.....was their dog. Max. Max the Rottweiler.

He pretty much looked like this: He was one of those dogs that was sweet as a puppy toward his "family" but vicious toward everyone else. The wife claimed to need him for protection when the husband traveled. They always locked him up in the laundry room when we came, but I could often times hear him snarling on the other side of the door. I knew if he ever got out--he would attack the first stranger in his path.

So, one day Brad takes Z (then 6) and E (then 4) for a walk. I stayed behind with new baby L. After 20 minutes, I looked out the front window to see if they were coming back. And what do I see instead? Max....sitting out in his front yard....just waiting for some unsuspecting someone to walk by. The usually padlocked gate had come open somehow.

What was I going to do?! My children and husband would be coming around the corner any minute. I couldn't leave the baby behind to go find them--and I might be attacked in the attempt anyway. Frantically, I called our neighbors (his owners). They weren't home. I called the husband's sister who was also their nanny. She lived a town away, but I was hoping she could help somehow. She was as panicked as I was about the situation. I tried Brad's cell phone and heard it ringing in our bedroom. He'd left it behind. Finally, I called the police who told me to call Animal Control--which I did, begging that they send an officer out immediately. They said they'd get someone out as quickly as possible.

Without a gun of any kind in our house, I ran to the closet to look for something I might be able to hit the dog with if that's what it came to. I grabbed a golf club and headed to look out the front window again. To my utter terror, there was my little Z and E-- both laying in our front yard, unmoving. Max was no where to be seen. Neither was Brad.

I opened the door and ran towards them. As I did--they both sat up, looking confused as to why their mother was running at them with a golf club when all they were doing was 'resting' after their long walk.

"Run into the house!" I screamed, "Now! Max is out!"

They knew what that meant and hightailed it inside, their little eyes as wide as dinner plates. Just then, I saw Brad coming around the corner. At the moment I yelled at him to run, Max came out through the opened gate and started charging toward him. Brad sprinted toward the open door, slamming it shut behind him. We all stood and hugged each other, happy to be safe.

Moments later Animal Control pulled up and wrestled Max back into his backyard. The neighbors, who showed up seconds later, were allowed to keep him but given a stern warning and made to further secure their backyard. Even being the animal lover I am, I was happy when Max died a few months later!

So--what was the lesson of that story I was able to pull and share with my boys years after it happened? : That scary afternoon, I had a unique vantage point. I could see the danger that lay ahead for my loved ones--recognizing the pain it could cause them. I did everything in my power to try and warn them. I tried every way I could to send help for them. I prayed that their eyes would be open as well, and recognize the need to flee.

Isn't God in such a position now? He can see the fierce, loose Rottweilers in our lives--and I am certain he tries to warn us and send us help so that we will be able to run to His safety as well. How I hope I will be able to make it there--to His arms, divinely protected.

***Sending out a little prayer for all of us to see the dangers ahead of us and to be given all the strength we need to run for our lives if necessary.***