The Bouvier des Flandres dog is about 28 inches high and weighs over 100 pounds. It is high energy, with a powerful muscular build and very strong willed.
 
My parents were caretakers for a small number of cottages on three lakes situated on a 2500-acre estate. One of the owners was Mr. & Mrs. David Holbrook, who was the President of Algoma Steel. They were wonderful people, who for some reason owned not one but two Bouvier des Flandres. 
 
Late one summer afternoon, they came out to our home from the lake and were very distressed. Both dogs had run away. Was there any way, that Bruce & his brother Glen could go and find them? We were in our early teens at the time and Dad actually was working a shift at Algoma Steel. My mother who worried about everything, felt this was just too much for her two young sons. I overheard and said to Mrs. Holbrook, sure, we can do this. No problem.
 
For the next 10 hours, we tramped through heavy woods, hearing those stupid dogs, barking in the distance. We became hopelessly lost and about 3 am finally made it to a bluff, where we could see in the distance the light of a fire tower, which we knew was Tower Lake. Since I was in charge (which was a major part of the problem), I announced to my younger brother, we are going to stay here until daylight and then find our way home. About an hour later, we heard Dad’s voice calling us and then he appeared. He had arrived home from his shift around midnight and came looking for us. 
 
I remember, Dad commending us for finding a sign and then paying attention to it, stay in one place. The red tower light gave us perspective, which we badly needed. I know that lake, for I was baptized in it. I also have climbed the tower (don’t tell anybody, for we were forbidden to do so) and had an amazing view of pristine lakes and forest.
 
I like to think of this image as a “sign glory”. It was built to point us to the majesty of that creation and for Rangers to be on the lookout for fires. Sign glory has a wondrous display of sights, sounds, colours, smells and experiences of this physical Northern Ontario wilderness. Like I wrote last month, it allows one to be a watchman, to look at the real thing, which is God’s creation, yet it is only a sign that points us to the real thing.
 
I remember being in that tower, shortly after my good friend, Colin was tragically killed on his motorcycle by a drunk driver. On a sunny afternoon, I looked at the majesty of the scene and reflected on the quiet and peace. I could not stay in that moment, for I was still grieving my close friend’s death. As I have written in past devotions, I was struggling to live between the already and the not yet.
 
In the not yet, we really have very little control over our own lives. We do not know what will happen next week or the situations we find ourselves living in. Facing my lack of sovereignty over my life results in worry. That is God-forgetting. It is the result of thinking that life is on my shoulders and it is my job to figure it all out and keep things in order.
 
My brother and I sat on that small bluff and looked at the red light on the tower and we talked about how we were running through the bush, going in circles, actually fearful that we were being chased, until we came to this bluff clearing and there was the tower light. We felt out of control and dread was setting in. Kind of connects at times the way I find myself thinking, it is all up to me.
 
How we need to move from a God-forgetting mentality to that of a God-remembering one. Here are some points to help you focus on being a God-rememberer.
 

• God-remembering rests in the reality, that even when it does not look like it, your life is under the control of One who defines wisdom, power and love
   

• God-remembering remembers that when life is out of your control, it is NOT out of His control
   

• God-remembering is peace and rest in knowing that God’s absolute rule is over everything
   

• God-remembering is knowing that you will never be in a situation, location, or relationship that is not under His control
   

• God-remembering is living with heaven in sight, for we are not home yet. Yes, you still are on the bluff and it is dark, yet the light on the tower is shining.
   

• God-remembering is taking Proverbs 3: 5-6 literally. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

 
God-remembering is remembering that grace has purchased for you a place in God’s family and that, because you are in His family, God rules over all things for your good.
 
By the way, those crazy dogs came back to the cottage after a wonderful night on the “forest”, with new freedom, carrying half the bush back in their long black fur.