Need an object lesson? It's no further than looking out your door!

Thus far, my posts have been pretty much school-related, but this one goes a little deeper. You see, a few weeks ago, our little flock of Buff Orpingtons was decimated by neighborhood dogs. What does this have to do with anything of interest to y'all? Well, what makes the situation extra tragic is that my big ol' German shepherd could have, but didn't stop the culprits. They were his running buddies, friends he explored the woods near our home with, dogs he enjoyed being around and trusted. Yet, on that fateful morning, I looked out the door and saw him running around, befuddled, as his "friends" massacred our flock. I ran off those hooligans (as one of them made off with a hen in his mouth) and then turned my verbal wrath upon him in full force. Why hadn't he stopped them, or at least warned me? The biggest part of his job is to alert me to situations like this, but why hadn't he? At first, I wanted to give him away, but we didn't, and in the weeks since, a valuable lesson has emerged as the feathers of the dearly departed have scattered on the wind. Let me say before I go any further that I want y'all to understand that I know animals are not human nor do they possess the ability to choose right and wrong like humans, but we can still learn a lot about ourselves from the highjinks they get into.
My big dog cultivated friendships with the wrong kind of dogs, and, caught up in the situation, the ties he had with his friends clouded his judgment of what was the right thing to do. And, as a result, eight hens paid the ultimate price for his foolishness. How about us? What are we teaching and modeling for our kids? Will we be wise in the relationships we cultivate, with the relationships that we encourage and allow our children to pursue? Will we surround ourselves with friends who build us up in our faith, in our convictions, or will they lead away from what is right, what is wise, what is safe for ourselves and those we love?
Yeah, it was very sad for our family to lose those hens (who had just started laying the week before, I might add), but in real life, there's much more than scattered feathers and lost chickens at stake! Just a little lesson we're learning here at the barn!