The Baby Beau Blues

May of 2023, we got a puppy. May of 2023, you know, when we had 2 young daughters, were fostering an 11 year old girl, and I was 7 months pregnant with our son…yeah, great time for a puppy. Were we crazy? Yes. 

Our daughter Riley is obsessed with dogs, so she got to go and help pick out the puppy. She actually didn’t know where she was going with Daddy, so that was a special surprise for her. It wasn’t a part of our plan, but when we saw a doodle mix (he’s a Golden Doodle mixed with a Great Pyrenees, so, part horse) at a price we couldn’t pass up, we went for it. 

We named him Beau. 

Ohhhhh, Beau. 

No no, Beau Beau.

He’s a good dog, really, but I forgot how puppy-ish puppies are when they’re in the puppy stage of puppyhood…so, SO puppy. 

This dog is smart. No lie, he let himself out of the garage by pushing the button while we were at church one Sunday morning. That was a fun call from the neighbors. He’s also let himself out of the back gate by releasing the lever. Oh yeah, and he barked incessantly in his kennel, busted out of his *metal* kennel multiple times, and he’s eaten more socks than I can remember. FYI, playing “is it a sock or is it just poo?” in the backyard is a delightful family activity. Ha, just kidding. Kinda. 

Anyways, we’ve trained dogs before…but this guy required a professional. Thankfully, Beau is very food-motivated and the training helped a ton rather quickly. 

This post really isn’t about the dog.

After a few weeks of training, I started doing little things to see how he would respond. I would leave him in the house by himself while I was in the yard. Or I would leave the front door open while I went to the trash to see if he would bolt through it or wait to be invited. I even gave the babies snacks on the floor to see if he would take advantage of their messiness or not. 

I didn’t want him to fail any of these tests (which of course he did at times) – quite the opposite! I wanted him to succeed! I wanted to see how much he had learned and to benchmark our improvement. So yes, I was “tempting” him, but not in an effort to trick him or cause him to do wrong.

And I just can’t help but think about how we read of God doing the same thing throughout the Bible. 

I actually overheard a conversation last week about the exact same thing – “why would God tempt Adam & Eve with the forbidden tree if he knew they were going to mess up and eat it anyways?”

That’s a pretty loaded question. Let’s unpack it just a little bit today.

The first thing I want to draw your attention to is that God is wholly and unimaginably good. It’s who He is – not just one of His qualities. God is good. Just like God is love. James 1:13-15 tells us that

God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

So while yes, God could have just not put the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden, that would have taken away mankind’s choice to love and obey him. Who would want to be loved by someone who is forced to love you? It wasn’t God that caused them to take of the fruit of the tree, it was Adam and Eve’s own desires; they saw that it looked good to eat, was pretty to look at, and thought it would make them wise (Genesis 3:6).

The other Biblical example that comes to my mind is Abraham. As a refresher, Abraham and his wife, Sarah, had longed for a child of their own for many many years. God promised that they would have one, but grew impatient and tried to take matters into their own hand. Then, at the ages of 100 and 90, their son Isaac is born! Some time later, God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering.

Whaaaat?

I think it’s interesting that the Bible uses the word “test” here – that God “tested” Abraham in saying this. In response, Abraham sets out and is seconds away from obeying this unimaginable command, when God stops him and says “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (Genesis 22:12).

Side note, God didn’t withhold his only Son from us either ❤️.

Hebrews 11:19 tells us that Abraham had so much faith in God that he believed that God was able even to raise Isaac from from the dead if he had completed the command to sacrifice him. He knew that God always keeps His promises and that his descendants would be named through Isaac specifically. What an amazing faith!

Abraham passed the test. And was rewarded.

So, when I was testing Beau, there was some crying, some agonizingly painful waiting, some impatience, some lack of understanding…he sounds a lot just like us humans, doesn’t he? 

No test is fun at the time, and the results can either bring us great joy and relief or great disappointment and pain, but they are a necessary part of life.

To see where we can improve.

To see what we’ve learned.

To see who we have become.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13