Strays

Bulgaria has in interesting problem with animals: their government can't afford to support a pound or animal shelter system. People are more concerned with feeding their own families than stray dogs. Each neighborhood has its designated strays and when I walk down the streets, I know which familiar faces I will see and where.

This guy to the right lives in front of my house. He is probably the most disgusting dog I have ever seen in my life, too. His back has patches of hair missing from where he bit or licked it off from fleas and sores on his skin. And every time I make eye contact with him, he looks away quickly and looks at me from the corner of his eye just to see what I am doing. When I walk out of my house, he is there. At night, he is there. In the morning, he is there. Some of the old ladies leave their table scraps for him and his friend that looks just like him, only with more hair on his back. Different stores leave water out for him to drink. And in this photo, he is currently stealing some shade in an office front where the owners left the door open so he can come and sit in their office (I stood on the street to take this picture).

I read Luke 6 this morning before I left the house. Jesus says, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." This stray is blessed. I want to be like him. He needs Jesus. I want to know what it is to NEED Jesus. Lord, make me hungry. Lord, make me poor. Lord, show me your satisfaction. The thing is, God loves to open the store front to give us shade, and he loves to put out water for us. But more than that, he loves to give us a home. I am jealous of those who know how to need Jesus. My pride gets in the way.