Will I Ever Get it Right?

Well, Babe was at it again.

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Just when we thought we could trust her to stay within our fenced 2 1/2 acres while we were outside with her, she vanished. Like a puff of smoke--one minute we see her romping through the tall grass and the next, she is gone.

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After calling in vain for 15 minutes, I was ready to find a recipe for Irish Setter stew.

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She made her appearance a couple of hours later, on the front porch, tongue lolling, smelling of pond water, sticker burrs embedded in her fur, and refusing to make eye contact. She's not the brightest bulb on the string, but she knew she was in trouble.

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She took her scolding and banishment to the backyard without the usual indignant bark and sulked under the trampoline until we had calmed down.

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I found her escape hole in the fence and fixed it, muttering uncomplimentary dog insults all the while.

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"We can't trust her anymore," Micah announced. "She doesn't get to go out the front door ever again."

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I agreed. For a while.

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Then those saggy, pleading eyes got to me. "We'll try it," I said. "I'll watch her like a hawk."

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We did. She never ventured near the escape hole. She watched us with eager eyes as though hoping she was doing right this time. Every few minutes, she would interrupt her romp to come charging back to us, eager for praise--which she got.

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She could disappoint us again, we're aware of that. But as long as she's trying, she deserves another chance to get it right.

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Do you owe someone in your life a second chance? Or a third, fourth or fifth chance? Babe's just a dimwitted dog, but even in her, I sense an eagerness to earn our forgiveness. She wants a chance to prove she can do it and be praised and loved for it.

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People are the same way. How quickly we give up on them, turn our heads and shrug: "Well, if that's how you are, forget it. You don't deserve my attention. You've blown it."

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I'm thankful God never says that to me. I mess up over and over, sometimes on the same things, but he's always there to pick me up, point me in the right direction, and offer complete confidence that this time I can do it.

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Babe's still getting her daily romps as long as she stays within the guidelines. And as long as we're seeking to please God, he offers us as many chances as it takes to succeed.

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Have you given up on yourself in some area? Decided you'll never get it right, so why try? Is there someone in your life who needs another chance from you?

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God hasn't given up on any of us, so we don't have the right to give up either. If Babe can do it, anyone can!

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