Blue-Ticked Off- Part 1

Last week, one of our vocabulary words was "enough." One of my kiddos, who is a dog lover, had a sentence on her test that said "I have had enough of my dog." Well, I feel the same, but I am no dog lover. Major Payne Marshall, (it had to have a "P" name), is named well. Although a Blue Tick Hound probably should be an outside dog, which I hope he is soon, he has been inside since we got him after Christmas. To his defense, he has recently gotten better with the potty training that he was lucky to survive. But tonight, like most nights, we spend much of our time saying, "NO!" and "Get down," along with beating him with a newspaper! I'm constantly cleaning up something he's torn up and sweeping up dog hair. Before, it was cleaning up other "messes" he made because he wouldn't let us know he needed to go out.  Needless to say, I've had  about all the dog I want.
However, I've learned a few things from ole' Major. 
In the first "training days," there were several days of rain. Seems like Jason was gone some of those days, and I ended being the one taking him out! (He probably was gone one day, it just felt like a week!) But, taking a dog out to pee in the rain, is like taking a child to a candy store and telling them not to touch anything. I'm trying to get the dog to go to the bathroom, while all he does is drink more water.......so then he can pee in the floor again when I bring him back in! If it was frosty, he's licking it off the grass.
I noticed when I would turn on the kitchen sink, he would go crazy. If he got a hold of a wet cloth, he was trying to lick the water out of it. Moisture on the side of a cup? You better not leave it out, or he'd lick it clean. 
Forget walking him by the ditch or giving him a bath. He would even run back to the bathroom when he got the chance, with the hope that there would be water in the tub.
Water, water everywhere!
He was drawn to the water, in whatever form it was in.

I saw very quickly a picture of how I should be. Am I that drawn to the Living Water? Do I look for the Water everywhere I go? 
Once Major had a taste of water, he longed for it. He knew what it sounded like, as he'd run to the sink. He knew what it felt like, what it smelled like, what it did to quench his thirst.
Once we have had a drink of the Living Water, we will never forget. We may try to substitute it with something else. We may try some "drinks" with artificial ingredients, but it's just not the same. We may try to add something to our water to give it some "flavor." We may sample fancy supplements like lattes and cappuccinos, trying to make ourselves feel better about our thirsts, hoping that does the trick. But we never forget how refreshing and satisfying pure Water is.

John 4:13-14 -
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 


Revelation 22:17-

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.