Gifts

"It really is not my fault . . . they found me, I didn't go looking for them."

I had stopped in the country near our farm to visit with my aunt when two beautiful, but severely malnourished black lab puppies came running up to me from the nearby field. I didn't know whose they were or from what direction they had arrived, but figured the folks at the neighboring farmhouse might know and, after finishing the visit with my aunt, I picked the two bony little puppies up (quietly chastising the owners who had paid these two so little care) and carried them towards the house. Upon ringing the doorbell at the front door, a voice sounded from the side of the house, "Their yours!" Turning, I saw a fairly good-sized older gentleman heading towards me and I replied, "No, they're not mine. They just came running up to me on the road while I was visiting with my aunt. I figured I was bringing them back home."

"Heck, no!" he said. "While my son and I were watching the flood waters go down from the rain the other night, these two and two more just like them, four in all, came meandering along the creek looking for something to eat. All four are females and none of them had eaten well for quite a while. We gave them a couple of hot dogs from my frig and, after deciding they had probably been dumped, my son took two of them to his house . . . a friend of his will take one and he'll keep one . . . and the other two are what you just put down on the porch. And, they are yours! I'm leaving in two hours for Sturgis, South Dakota, for the Harley gathering and, I probably should take them to the pound, but I'm riding a motorcycle, so . . . if you don't take them, they'll probably just have to fend for themselves."

This guy had no earthly idea that just a month or so ago, I had talked with Nancy about beginning the process of searching for another black lab to replace our beloved Licorice (our first black lab) who had died about three years ago. I justified the suggestion by pointing out that our collie, Trajan, was all alone and needed company for those long days when we were both at work. Nancy, just looked at me and rolled her eyes and said, "We'll think about it", which I took to mean we would discuss it later. I recently found out what she really meant was, 'I could think about it all I wanted, but given that she did most of the work with the dog in terms of grooming and vet visits, it really wasn't going to happen until the Cubs won the World Series.' (Which is the Christian way of saying, It will be a cold day in _ _ _ _!)

So, I called Nancy on the cell phone to 'ask her opinion of what I should do'. If you listen to Nancy tell the story, I sounded like a little kid in the toy store on Christmas Eve, though I thought I was rather reserved and contemplative. Either way, a few short minutes later, two 9 or 10 week old black lab puppies were on the front seat of my car on their way to their new home in Lebanon, visa via the veterinaries clinic in the nearby town.

Their names are Mulligan (taken from a golf term meaning, 'A free second chance') and Birdie (simply because she is a 'bird' - into everything) and they are quickly making it clear that they are an answer to prayer . . . . maybe not Nancy's prayer, and not exactly what I was thinking about, but clearly an answer to a prayer for Trajan. He has more company now than he really appreciates, frequently looking at me like, 'Are you mad? Do you have any idea what these two are capable of wreaking in this household? What happened to my quiet time?'

Sometimes, God has a way of answering thoughts, suggestions and prayers in ways that we are quite simply incapable of imagining . . . and Mulligan and Birdie are two of the latest examples God's great sense of humor. Other than getting up through the night every 3 hours to let them out so that they will become kennel trained by Fall, they have been a ray of sunshine for all of us in our family . . . . gifts of a very loving and knowing God.

Nancy tells our friends with a wink of her eye that I somehow engineered all of this and fabricated an elaborate ruse to make it all happen, but deep down, she knows I will never vary from my original story and she will only fall more deeply in love with these two beautiful dogs with every passing day.

"It really is not my fault . . . they found me. I didn't go looking for them." That's my story and I'm sticking to it! (Thank you, God, for the gifts with which you surprise us!)

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don