All that talk of risk assessing my activities last month has made me have a re-think

 about what I get up to. I guess I just love getting excited. Living life to the full means

 there are bound to be a few broken vases on the way. Instead of worrying, I’ve

 decided to take joy in what I am good at and that’s a lot.

I am brilliant at tracking down squirrels and cats, a very loud and effective guard dog.

 Catching balls in the air is a doddle and I could be on any cricket team. I have a very

 good way of re-sorting the contents of the bins and checking out shopping bags.

 Lifting something juicy out of a pocket comes naturally easily. I can open packages

 and parcels, tear into boxes

and break into almost anything. My teeth are awesome.

And now I have a new skill to add to my CV. My Mum says I am a very good

 negotiator. My ploy is to find something that someone else needs, or thinks is

 precious, or important and run off with it. That might be a slipper, or

a shoe, or a book, or a pen, or a torch……..

Anything that will get attention. I run around a bit and then sit with it in my mouth to

 see if they have noticed. If nothing happens, I give it a bit of a chew, or a slobber,

 then another chew…. And voila, someone yells at me to give it back. I run further

 and ignore all commands to drop, and so on……. until at last I see the treats come

 out. Once the treat is on its way, only then do I give up the item. - I have what I want!

I am very excellent also at sniffing out food and contribute to family life by hoovering it

 up. I can smell a morsel of cheese from another room, a piece of sausage from the

 bottom of the garden. My nose is good in other ways too. Dad saw a sign the other

 day and said that he wanted to get one for his car:

“My window’s not dirty. This is dog art!”

So, I wonder what you are good at? What special gifts and skills has God given you,

 to be the person God has made you to be in the world and within the church family.

 Let’s do what we can to the full. Everyone of us has something special we can do.

Woof, woof, all the best, from Buddy, one of the vicarage dogs.