My Little "Princess of Nothing"

I wanted to call her "Sadie," which means "princess, member of a royal family."

My wife wanted to call her "Dakota," which means nothing - as far as we know.

So, we compromised and named her "Sadie Dakota," which being interpreted is (according to one of my friends), "the Princess of Nothing."

She came into this world one year ago this July.

She came into our world about eight weeks later, just before Labor Day weekend, 2006.

She was a "gift" to me from a friend who wanted to show his gratitude for some help we had given him. Win was opposed to having another dog (we've already got two labs - a 12-year-old yellow lab named "Max", and a 10-year-old chocolate lab named "Lucy"). I was finally able to convince her that we needed a black lab puppy, too. As I saw her resistance weaken, she finally blurted out in resignation (and desperation?), "I'm just glad they don't come in any more colors!"

At first we thought we might "breed" Sadie and raise other black lab puppies (incredibly, that was Win's idea). I mean, we thought we had the perfect puppy. But when we tried to find out from her breeder what her exact birthdate was and who her "parents" were, because we wanted to make sure we had all the right "papers" - well, she never returned our calls. After several weeks passed, Win and I began to realize why the breeder was willing to give her to my friend so she could be given to me. It became painfully clear to us that our sweet little lab would probably never be a blue-ribbon champion show dog. The fact of the matter is that she has way too many, shall we say "imperfections", not the least of which is that she must have been the "runt" of the litter. She's just about a year old, and is still a petite little lady lab, no where near as big as her "siblings" (or, at least the one sibling that we know . . . she belongs to that same friend who gave me Sadie). I suspect that anyone looking for a show dog, guide dog, helping dog, and/or bird dog might not have chosen Sadie to be their dog. But, do you know what? I am so glad she is my dog. I love her just the way she is. And don't think for a moment that she is just a "Princess of Nothing." Oh, no, she is definitely a "Princess of Something." I mean, just visit my home and you may get the distinct impression that "Sadie Rules." She has her "master" wrapped around her little finger . . . er, paw.

Come to think of it, I guess that from the world's perspective I, Joe Lombardi, would hardly be considered a blue-ribbon, gold medal-winning kind of person - in any category. Talk about imperfections . . . I'm overstocked with them, all in a short, squat 5'6" body. Although I was not officially named "the least likely to succeed" in high school, I'm sure there were those who would have at least nominated me for the title. (As I recall, whenever we divided up for teams, I was usually the last person left. And even then I wasn't really "chosen" - I was just sort of given as a consolation prize to the other team).

But do you know what? My Heavenly Father loves me the way I am. In fact, there isn't anything I can do to make Him love me any more than He already does. (Not only that, there isn't anything I can do to make Him love me any less than He already does). To be sure, He loves me enough not to let me stay the way I am, but to transform me (slowly, sometimes almost imperceptibly) into the image of His Son. But beyond that, He actually chose me to be a servant of His Gospel. Isn't that incredible? Oh, make no mistake about it - I know He did not choose me because I deserve it. In fact, I can totally relate to these words of the Apostle Paul, "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8). In response to a comment on a previous blog, I even suggested that Ephesians 3:8 should be my life verse.

Why did He give me this glorious privilege? I know that ultimately it is for His glory. Again, it was the Apostle Paul who said, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

As I said in my very first blog entry, for me, the main thing about my life is that it must bring glory to God. I am motivated to live that way not only because I believe it is the most reasonable response to His grace in my life, but also because it is the best tangible indication of both my gratitude to Him and my love for Him.

But there is one other thing that motivates me to live a life that gives Him pleasure. You see, the Bible makes it clear that those servants who faithfully persevere and endure will also "reign with Him" (2 Timothy 2:12). Just the thought of the possibility of being able to have a part in His reign during His millennial kingdom boggles my mind. I know that when I stand before His judgment seat to give account of my life and work, I want Him to find me faithful.

Just think: Out of His love for me and because of His incredibly amazing grace which He has already made abound to me, He might actually take this ribbon-less, medal-less, and trophy-less unknown preacher, and make him a "Prince of Something!" Imagine that. "Jesus rules" . . . and Joe Lombardi might even get to rule with Him, too!

I am STILL amazed by His grace.