{"id":7396,"date":"2020-07-04T08:38:27","date_gmt":"2020-07-04T12:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=7396"},"modified":"2020-07-01T14:54:46","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T18:54:46","slug":"our-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=7396","title":{"rendered":"Our Patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191207_140454-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6919\" width=\"517\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191207_140454-1024x768.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191207_140454-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191207_140454-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191207_140454-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191207_140454-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 517px) 100vw, 517px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Prodigal:  I like the pattern in that quilt!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Me:  I reckon it just grows on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I looked at my phone.&nbsp; The time said almost an hour and half.&nbsp; I could not believe I had been talking for that long.&nbsp; Time flies when the conversation is great!&nbsp; It&nbsp;was toward the end of the night.&nbsp; I had decided to walk my dog, Romans,&nbsp;and talk at the same time.&nbsp; Romans needed&nbsp;his nightly walk before bed, so it all worked out great.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I finished the walk,&nbsp;and went inside.&nbsp; I went to my bedroom,&nbsp;and sat in my chair.&nbsp;&nbsp;I took&nbsp;out my bible,&nbsp;and nightly devotion.&nbsp; I sat there enjoying God\u2019s word for the night.&nbsp; As I closed the bible, I looked around for Romans who usually joins me in bed.&nbsp; He was&nbsp;nowhere&nbsp;to be found.&nbsp;&nbsp;I did a quick search of the house,&nbsp;and found him by the door.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was staring at his leash,&nbsp;and was ready to go outside.&nbsp; I thought.&nbsp; How strange, there is no way he has to go out so quick after an hour and a half walk.&nbsp; I did not want any accidents though,&nbsp;so we went outside.&nbsp; Just as I thought.&nbsp; Romans really did not have to use the&nbsp;bathroom.&nbsp; I&nbsp;then began to piece it together.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had changed up my routine.&nbsp; Every night I read my bible first,&nbsp;and then&nbsp;walked&nbsp;Romans.&nbsp; Romans saw me reading my bible,&nbsp;and was just waiting for the usual routine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without realizing it.&nbsp;Romans began to be trained by me.&nbsp; For two years my dog saw me read my bible every night,&nbsp;and then walk him.&nbsp; He thought&nbsp;when I read&nbsp;the bible at night, the next step,&nbsp;meant he goes for a walk.&nbsp;&nbsp;He was just following the nightly routine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Routines are developed daily,&nbsp;and then weekly.&nbsp; Weeks turn to months,&nbsp;and months turn to years.&nbsp; I have been guilty of the&nbsp;desire to prove \u201chow&nbsp;Christian&nbsp;I am\u201d.&nbsp; I need people to see this,&nbsp;or understand this about me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I need to tell people I do this.&nbsp; I need to show people I do this.&nbsp; Then they will see what a great&nbsp;Christian&nbsp;I am.&nbsp; I think I was way off track&nbsp;with these thoughts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;I developed the habit of reading my bible every night for a lot of reasons, but I was determined to make that a goal&nbsp;that stayed with me for the rest of my life.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It really was between me and God,&nbsp;this&nbsp;goal&nbsp;of reading the Bible.&nbsp; I knew that if His word was so important to me, I would have to make&nbsp;it&nbsp;a&nbsp;priority&nbsp;to at least read part of it&nbsp;every day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I praise God that the habit has been developed.&nbsp; The things we create that are consistent do not need to&nbsp;be shouted out.&nbsp; They speak for themselves.&nbsp; Even a dog figured out that&nbsp;I&nbsp;can be faithfully relied upon to read my bible every night.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Others have watched you too.&nbsp; They can see what you are faithful about.&nbsp; You don\u2019t have to list them.&nbsp; It will show itself to others.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I love when I can talk,&nbsp;and show others what I have done,&nbsp;and accomplished.&nbsp; I think this night though God was showing me something else.&nbsp; He was showing me that just by seeking&nbsp;Him, others&nbsp;will notice.&nbsp; I don\u2019t always have to&nbsp;be&nbsp;focused&nbsp;on who is seeing,&nbsp;and who is listening,&nbsp;and who&nbsp;understands.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I read the bible that night and saw God words.&nbsp; But the Lord used my dog that night to understand what his words look like in action.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luke 12:2-3<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jennifer Van Allen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>www.theprodigalpig.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>www.faithincounseling.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prodigal: I like the pattern in that quilt! Me: I reckon it just grows on you. I looked at my phone.&nbsp; The time said almost an hour and half.&nbsp; I could not believe I had been talking for that long.&nbsp; Time flies when the conversation is great!&nbsp; It&nbsp;was toward the end of the night.&nbsp; I &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=7396\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Our Patterns - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a devotion from Jennifer Van Allen on the way we develop patterns in our life. We sometimes do not realize how they really stand out.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=7396\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Patterns - The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is a devotion from Jennifer Van Allen on the way we develop patterns in our life. 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