Tuesday With Teri

“Base!”, I remember yelling breathlessly as I reached the tree my friends and I had declared was the safe “home base” while playing tag.   I could not help but think of this as I chased my dog around our coffee table the other night.

Hughie, our porky little yorkie, sleeps in a kennel.  Every night we place him in his kennel and he quickly curls up on his soft doggie bed and falls asleep.  Once inside he never barks or objects until morning.  It is not a horrible place to be, but for him it is “AWAY” from us, and that makes it less than desirable.   So, when he thinks we are going to put him in for the night he avoids it.

When we turn off the TV and say things like, “time for bed” or “kennel time”, he is quick to move to the end of the sofa, curl up in a tight ball and pretend to be asleep.  It is as if he is trying to convince us he will be good if left out all night.  He considers the end of the sofa his safe place, “base”.

The most pitiful sight of our nighttime routine is whenever he is on the floor when it becomes obvious we are getting ready for bed.  He runs through the house as fast as his little legs can carry him.  He runs for the couch and throws his front paws up on the side in an attempt to jump up and on to his safe place.  His ability to jump up on the couch left him about 5 pounds ago.  He tries really hard, wags his tiny nub of a tail and looks up at any nearby person for assistance.

So this one night, he assumed I was going to place him in the kennel.  He took off in a panic stricken run around our coffee table.  What a sight we must have been!  I followed him around 4 times before he tossed his paws up on the couch.  I looked down into his dark little eyes and I could almost hear him yelling “BASE!”  I lifted him up and placed him in his special spot.  He curled himself into a tight ball and snuggled into a blanket.  I sat beside him and stroked his knobby, fur tufted head.  His little body relaxed into mine and I could sense his sigh of relief.

I think of God like that.  He is my “base”.  He is the place I run to for rest, peace, comfort and safekeeping. I’d rather be near Him than anywhere else, yet surprisingly there are times when I stray away.  Sometimes I am desperately running through life, knowing I need to reach “base” again.  I will exhaust myself running from God when all He wants to do is scoop me up and bring me to “base”.

Where do you run?  To whom do your run?  Do you have a “base” where you can find refuge?  We DO have a “base”.  We have a God Who desires to be our place of rest, our hope of peace and our strength for the challenges we face.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

May today be the day you cling to the God  Who loves you best, and yell out to the world… “BASE!!!!”