New Dog

So my wife and I just found out that we are going to be getting a new dog!! Needless to say we a a bit psyched about the prospect. The downside is that we have to wait until after the holidays. We are going to be traveling for about 12 days and didnt feel right leaving a brand new pet at a kennell for that long so soon after bringing it home. I have been somewhat obsessive over the task of locating this particular pet because the breed that we wanted (Staffordshire Bull Terrier) are pretty rare in the US and thereby expensive. We being on a strict budget had to find someone to practically give us one. Thankfully we found a gentleman who needed to give up one of his beloved adn was willing to hold it for us for the length of time necessary. Now that the process of locating the dog is over I am realizing how much time and effort I was putting in to such a trivial task. Granted, I am a bit obsissive when I get my mind set on things but it amazes me what things grasp my attention (dog, guitar, gadget) and what things while much more important dont get me as excited (work, my marriage, God). Dont get me wrong, I still love and am devoted to the latter group of things but they seem to get much less intensity of energy than things that hold much less value. I think part of that is cultural, that so much of life is devoted to production and consumption that things that I want to consume/purchase/gather in the present can captivate my attentions and energies more readily that the things that are constant in life.

I wonder what the world and my own life would look like if I devoted the same intensity, time and energy towards the cause of Christ that I devote to product research and consumption. What would my marriage look like if I spent as much time learning the ways of my wife that I do learning every last detail about a particular guitar or breed of pet. How much more could I serve my boss and co-workers if I spent as much energy being enveloped in my work as I do dreaming about my next great "thing." I think the answers are pretty clear, without even putting much imagination into it.