Shadowing Jesus!


During our recent visit with our family in Albuquerque, we got an opportunity to get further acquainted with two new family members. Our precious grand daughter, Klaire, had her 2nd birthday during our visit. We were extremely excited to "love on her" and her two older brothers. But the newest of family members was Sophie Grace, a nine-month old hyper bred "Mini Golden Doodle!" She is a combination of a Golden Retriever and miniature French Poodle. She reminded Monique and me of our Freddie who graced our family with ten years of good and not-so-good memories. Old Fred was a "Cock-a-Poodle" (Cocker Spaniel and French Poodle). He was a little "high-strung" too!

On the first full day of our visit, Melissa, our daughter, put us in charge of the pup! She and the kids went off to their day at school and left the "old folks" to dog-sit the Sophie. She followed me everywhere and shadowed me unrelentingly! It was fortuitous for both of us that Monique had laryngitis and that meant that I would be the "alpha male/dog" the entire day.
Sophie Grace Shadowing Me!

Sophie tried my patience at first by bumping into me and jumping up on us wanting attention. Monique, wasn't much help because she could barely squeak out a sentence of protest like, "Go! Get away from me!" And  she wasn't just saying that to Sophie! During one frustrating moment, Monique hissed at me to get my attention. I blurted out, "Don't you raise your voice to me!" And we both broke out in laughter because she couldn't raise a voice she didn't have! I told her, "That was my best come-back today!"

Sophie was good most of the day and so was I after getting into trouble occasionally with "The Mrs.!" I took this picture and texted the kids in Illinois, Texas and Missouri. They all chimed in on the thread how much Sophie reminded them of Fred. I used to hold Fred by the snout and dramatically state the obvious while staring into his eyes, "There is an incredible amount of D-O-G in you!" His tail would enthusiastically wag while his backside would wiggle with frenzy as if it could separate from the rest of his body. He thought it was the ultimate compliment and all I was doing was being teasingly sarcastic!

When Jesus called Simon and Andrew who were fishing on Lake Galilee, He simply invited them to "Come with me! I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass" (Matthew 4:19, MSG). They were to follow Him and in essence "shadow Him" throughout those three years of His earthly sojourn. What is the value of such fellowship? They would see Him in action loving, caring, ministering, confronting, and sacrificing His life for others.

It has been said, "More is 'caught' than 'taught!'" Jesus did both! He modeled for others so they could "catch" His priorities each day! He also taught (by story and precept) and engaged them daily so that they could understand what He was doing and saying. How are you doing "Shadowing the Savior" these days? Daily Bible reading and prayer along with regular worship keeps us in close fellowship with the Savior. It is always best to "keep in step" with the Lord!

Mike Keppler, retired pastor,
active churchman and
doting grandparent.
Contact: drmjkeppler@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Pray and Move Your Feet!"

Image
There is an old West African proverb: “When you pray, move your feet.” I have said something similar in a little different way: “Be careful in your praying. You may be (and often are!) the answer to your own prayer.” Others see this almost as a command to “Put feet to your prayers!” What do we mean by these various sayings? Prayer is not just an important spiritual discipline for the Christian, it often leads to an “in the flesh” response and connection between the pray-er and the prayer request. Prayer and Action! pngimg.com While prayer is one of the spiritual disciplines, this doesn't mean it is just an academic, theoretical or forensic exercise! I have heard it said, "God inhabits the praises of His people." This suggests that it blesses God to hear the praise of His people in prayer. I believe that the Lord gets an even greater blessing when our praying is “incarnated” in devotion, commitment and service for Him. Our best efforts at praying involve action plans to ...
Read more

Sayings That Shape Us!

Image
Joseph D. Keppler December 9, 1929 - February 14, 2024 (I shared the following eulogy at my Dad's funeral, February 19, 2024).  I have so many wonderful memories from growing up with my parents. I say “growing up” because it became clear when I started grade school and heard one of my peers exclaim, “Your parents are so young!” And they were! Mom and Dad eloped on June 10, 1950, and had to go all the way to Corinth, Mississippi to get a justice of the peace who would marry a 16-year-old girl to a 20-year-old sailor, who after four years of active duty, was now in the Naval reserves! That sailor and his gal would become dad and mom, grandpa and grandma, to this great family. Mike, Grandpa, and Matt "A quick pic between oil changes!" I learned so much from dad who had married young, took on a family of four kiddos, and started his own business in those first fourteen years of marriage. Growing up in a family business taught me many lessons for sure! Watching dad and mom in ...
Read more

What's Your Best Gift?

Image
This past week, we just concluded the season on the Christian calendar referred to as Twelfthtide or the 12 Days of Christmas. One of our pastors reminded us on Sunday, New Years Eve, that technically, Christmas was not yet over! I suspect that he had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he addressed primarily the youth and children and suggested that they could still take advantage of this in the remaining days leading up to Epiphany on January 6th!😉  "This was marked down and I couldn't pass it up!" Marc texted. What was your favorite gift of the Christmas season? What gift did you give to another that received a special response? I doubt that it was a fruitcake! Am I right? Just a few days ago, I received a picture and text from our good-humored son, Marc. He was weighing in after Christmas as to why he was able to just now purchase a discounted fruitcake at the local Texas HEB grocery store. I teased him by responding, “You do know why it was discounted, don’t you?!...
Read more