This morning, I finally got a picture of our puppy’s morning ritual. Each morning, she sticks her head through the doggie door to see if the way is safe before she goes outside. She does this every day. Ladybug is only six months old, but she is teaching us something.

Our culture is filled with legitimate issues that need our attention. However, those issues have offered some individuals and social agendas an opportunity to lure the undiscerning into places of deception. They are using heartfelt matters as bait to draw people out and prematurely align their lives and resources with diversions and hidden agendas. 

It would be wise to learn a lesson from my dog. Before we charge ahead when our emotions and the culture are wanting action, we need to stop and discern the environment into which we are about to step and unwittingly offer our support. When things heat up, it’s too easy to allow our emotions, group pressure, and our desire to do something to cause us to make unwise and premature choices that put us in a place of emotional and spiritual jeopardy. 

Our home is close to a forest. Some mornings, as I sit in the darkness, I can hear the howl of a coyote pack who just made a kill. A few times, we have seen cougars. Our puppy would become an easy meal for these predators if she was not wise enough to stop and discern what awaits her outside the walls of our home, even in the familiar environment of our back yard.