Do Dogs Have Boogers?

Sometimes adulting is downright exhausting.  It seems that everyone expects something from you.  Your boss expects production.  Your spouse expects devotion.  Your kids expect provision.  Friends expect participation.

We get so overwhelmed with trying to be everything to everyone.  We are pressured to be the best at everything we do, to be multi-tasking superstars.

Back in the pre-Google days, my pre-school daughter believed me to be the repository of all knowledge in the universe and the source of answers to any questions that might tickle her young brain. One day, I was confronted with this one:  “Mom, do dogs have boogers?”  Well,  I am a die-hard Jeopardy! devotee and have a pretty sufficient foundation of general knowledge, … but canine nasal mucosa and its derivatives is not part of my RAM.  So I did what any mom would do in that “teachable moment” --- I invited her to insert her finger into the pooch’s nostril and find out for herself.  Needless to say, my child was completely flummoxed: Mom Did Not Know an Answer!!!  She also declined to participate in the scientific experiment.

However I, after recovering from the crushing dismay of Not Knowing an Answer, experienced a veritable EPIPHANY. Yes, I did not know the answer to the question ... but I did not NEED to know the answer to such a question.  I realized that it is absolutely fine to go through life without contemplating who has boogers and who does not!  I understood in that moment of clarity that I need no longer strain or strive to have the answer to every question that would come my way.  Life and all the decisions involved therein was not something that I could control, nor I was required to be its curator.

I was not required to do so because the Bible tells me I have communication with the One who does have control.   The Word says that we have 24/7 access: To the One who created everyone and everything. (John 1:3)  To Him in whom all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17) To the Lord that is my shepherd and who leads me.  (Psalm 23) To the God who has a plan for me.  (Jeremiah 29:11)  Whew!  What a load was taken off of my spirit when that realization came to me.

In Sarah Evans’ devotional book Jesus Calling (November 17 entry), she reminds us that we can be a sheep.  There is no need to exhaust ourselves trying to figure everything out, or waste precious time making contingency plans for days that are not promised to us.  Just be a sheep.  Leave things to the Shepherd and let Him lead.  He knows where to find food and shelter, how to protect us from predators, and when it’s time for milking or shearing.

I recall a newspaper story about a sheep that had gotten separated from his shepherd and hid in a cave for 6 years.  When found, the sheep’s fleece weighed 60 pounds, rather than the typical 10 pounds for a sheep that was regularly sheared.  This poor animal was isolated and painfully weighed down all because he had wandered away from his shepherd and was trying to survive on his own. 

How many times do we find ourselves in the same position of struggling with the fear and weight of going it alone?  Of believing it’s all up to us, that we must shoulder everyone’s burdens and solve every problem?

God is telling us it’s okay to be a sheep.  We can let Him care for us. The Shepherd knows his sheep (John 10:14) and we can call on him for everything. He has all the answers. I find great joy in knowing that He has a plan for me, that He can be relied on, and that I can cast all my cares upon Him. (1 Peter 5:7): My fleece does not have to be 50 pounds in excess.  I can be free of that burden and the frightening isolation of being separated from my shepherd.  Being cared for by a shepherd who is the Creator of the Universe brings a lightheartedness and security that the world can never match. 

Are you trying to go it alone in your own strength?  Why not cast your cares on the Shepherd that loves you. Try “feeling sheepish” … and experience the Joy of the light fleece.

P.S.  Just in case you were wondering, years later the answer came to me (specifically, my kneecap) when I was the victim of a rather prodigious dog sneeze:  YES.