A few weeks ago, I made some chocolate chip energy balls. (If you missed it, you can find the recipe on My Favorite Healthy Snacks)

Anyway, the recipe calls for a quarter cup of honey, and the honey I have is a large plastic jug that’s 1/3 full. And when you’ve had honey for more than a few months (as this is a huge amount and has lasted a long time) it crystallizes.

Which is annoying.

Especially when stuck at the bottom of a plastic jug.

Now I know that I can “fix” it by leaving the bottle in a bowl of warm water.

But What did I actually do?

I shook it. Like a large, heavy ketchup bottle.

I shook it so hard I thought I was going to throw my back out. I mean,I’m not even 30, but it was very possible.

Keep in mind, my dogs are clingy, and are always wherever I am, so they witnessed this whole thing.

As soon as I started the first few shakes, Ellie was out. She wanted zero part of this sticky situation.

Ellie is my best girl, and the light of my life, but, at the slightest hint of any type of discomfort or fear, she will abandon me for safety every. Single. Time. When it seems like something could go wrong in her general vicinity, Ellie is OUT.

But Mollie, my sweet, sweet Mollie, stayed put, curled up between my feet on the kitchen floor, and just looked at me with a somewhat bewildered, but 100% trusting face.

She watched me as I continued shaking the heck out of this dang honey bottle, which at any point, could have flown out of my hands at warp speed in her general direction.

I told her, “Mollie, you’re smack dab in the splash zone - move it!”

She didn’t budge. She was with her mama, and she wasn’t going anywhere, regardless of how dangerous this particular location was.

I wasn't surprised in the slightest.

You see, Mollie is my splash zone girl.

You all know what I'm talking about. At aquariums and theme parks, some aquatics or theatrical shows have a “splash zone”. It’s a blatant warning that water is involved, and if you sit here you will most likely get splashed. Consider yourself warned.

Many of us avoid the splash zone. I know I do. Either my hair or makeup is done, or I just don’t want the discomfort of being wet or cold. I choose to be a spectator from the safe seats.

Here’s the thing.

We weren’t called to be spectators. We were called to be courageous. We were called to love, whether or not there’s a chance we could get splashed.

We are called to be friends, true friends. The kind that are there through the good, the bad and the ugly. We’re called to love others when it’s not particularly fun. We’re called to show up and support each other when things are messy.

I honestly can't believe I'm going to say this, especially in writing, on the internet. But I know that I can learn a lot from this little Stage 5 Clinger. She trusts me completely, and would rather forsake literally everything else to be close to me.

Even now, as I'm writing this, she has squeezed herself under my desk to lay on my feet. She doesn't actually fit, by the way, but she's making it happen.

Like Mollie, we’re called to cling to our Father and each other, even when it puts us directly in the splash zone.

Because we know that the best place to be is with someone who loves us - good, bad and ugly.

Especially in the splash zone.

“But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.” Joshua 23:8

“My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:8