Black & White; Old & New

(Blackie, Me, and Duke this morning before our walk)

Living out in the country as we do, we have always liked having a dog around for company. When we first got married hubby had beagles for rabbit hunting. Later we had a Border Collie and a couple of Australian Heelers to help round up the cows. As time passed things changed. We sold the cows. The dogs got old and passed on. But before she got too old Gracie, our Border Collie, had a litter of pups. Five solid black and one solid white.

(Duke & Me in the fall of 1996)

The white one had this funny little way of hitching up one of his back legs as he walked. One of my sons said, "Look at that puppy! He walks like John Wayne!" We thought that was cute so we named him Duke and kept him. He has become my special dog. He loves me unconditionally I think. But he's getting old. He had his thirteenth birthday in May. I'm not sure how old that would be compared to in human years but way on up there. His hearing is getting to be almost non-existent. He doesn't bark anymore when someone drives up. So because of all that, my husband has been talking about getting a new puppy.

On Wednesday hubby brought home said new puppy. When he talked to the vet he was going to adopt the puppy from he thought they said it was about six weeks old. Turns out he's already about four months old and larger than my dog Duke! ha That's going to take some getting used to! Oh...did I forget to tell you that I'm really, REALLY afraid of dogs most of the time! Any strange dogs! But I've never, ever been afraid of my Dukie-Poo....as my granddaughter and I call him!


The new puppy is supposed to be a Border Collie/Black Lab mix and is solid black. We went through lots of names....Buddy, Bo, Sam,....suggested by hubby.......and Jake....suggested by me but could never agree on one. Finally while looking at the pup's soft, glossy black coat I said, "Well, what about Blackie?" Hubby responded with, "I like it!" So, Blackie he has been dubbed! He's friendly. He's well mannered. And he's smart. I think we're bonding already.

This morning just before we took Duke and Blackie for a walk I had hubby snap my picture with them. I think we were all moving around but you can get the idea of what they look like and how close to the same size they are. As I downloaded and looked at the picture later some thoughts went through my mind. I looked at the black dog on one side and the white dog on the other. It reminded me of the illustration I've heard several times in sermons. An old preacher was once asked by a younger Christian how it is possible to do what is right when it seems the devil is always tempting us to do wrong. In answer the old preacher said something like this: "I just imagine in my mind that there are two dogs living inside me....a black dog and a white dog. One of them represents my old sin nature. One of them represents my new life in Christ. Sometimes they get in a terrible fight!" The young Christian responded, "Well, which one wins?" "The one that I feed the most!" answered the old preacher. And isn't that true? If we feed our old sin nature, then we will find ourselves sinning most of the time. If we feed our new nature, we will find that it will grow stronger and more mature.

Also while looking at the picture I thought about the fact that one dog is old and one dog is new. That reminded me that when we are saved we become a new creature in Christ and that old things become new.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."(2 Corinthians 5: 17)

Looking forward to getting to know this cute little black puppy Blackie better and enjoying my faithful friend Duke as long as possible.

Marilyn