Today’s Spoonful of Courage discusses what our family has learned through picking up a blind and deaf puppy, Bart. We’ve learned that God’s grace is made perfect in weakness.

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Here’s today’s spoonful of courage. Well a little announcement we
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have a new addition to the Page family. No, it’s not a sixth child it’s another dog. And this little dog…
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I’ll show you the picture of Bart we’ve named him Bart because like blind Bartimaeus, Bart can’t see.
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My oldest daughter, Georgie almost ran over him down the road. We picked him up and he came to the house.
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Little did we know that Bart the dog was not only blind, he was also deaf. I just want to tell
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you, it’s a challenge having a physically handicapped dog in the house. Now you know dad wanted to take him out behind
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the woodshed and put him out of his suffering. But of course
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then I would have been living in the woodshed. I want to remind you that
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it’s been really crazy. Now we have five kids, four dogs, two cats, and a snake. And blind Bart
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is a special little dog. It’s really been interesting. I’ve noticed an interesting observation about this blind
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and deaf dog over the past week. You kno, he initially whined and

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groped. And he grumbled a lot and couldn’t get around. But over time, we began to notice that
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Bart had an acute ability to smell things. In fact his sense of smell
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has been amplified probably because of his deafness. Because of his lack of sight, now
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blind Bart can go all the way around the house, sniffing. He knows exactly where the food
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is. He knows exactly where to go. He’s almost drowned in the pool
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several times, but now he’s able to figure out all of those things. It’s funny how that sense of smell
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has been more acute, more sensitive, more maximized, because of his loss. You two may be suffering
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loss. Maybe it’s a financial loss. Maybe it’s the loss of a loved one or a
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fractured relationship. Maybe it’s the loss of health. Whatever it may be I want to
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encourage you that you’re not alone. You know it says in Second Corinthians chapter 12
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Paul reminds us that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. It’s funny how God’s
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grace works. Isn’t it so often the give all take all God gives us more grace
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when we need it. When we lose those things that are precious to us, God somehow begins to give us more
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grace. Just like blind Bart that little dog. You know, God gave you more grace.
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The funny thing now is that Red and Rico and Doodles, the other dogs now they’vetook uh old blind
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Bart in. They’re kind of helping him out instead of growling at him. They understand his
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issue. You know I just want to encourage you that if you’re suffering loss today God’s grace
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will make up the difference. So whether he delivers you or whether he gives you the power,
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the courage, the strength, the equipping, to be able to meet your challenges –keep going. His grace is enough.