Pastor John,
Jesus did something else for me this week that I wanted to tell you about because it has really encouraged me.
During the night on Sunday, a dog woke me. It sounded like a hound, howling right outside our bedroom window. I didn’t see a dog on Monday, but I did see evidence that one had been here. That night, I woke up again, twice, to a howling dog. Some sort of emergency vehicle with a siren was going along the highway just before 6am on Tuesday morning and that dog went to howling again. It woke Haskell and me. When Haskell went off to work that morning, we found the dog on our back porch, on the mat up against the door. It was a huge red and white husky with light blue eyes. Haskell had to push the door open to get out, and the dog seemed to cower. It did not seem like an aggressive dog. Later that morning, when I opened the front door to let in the sunshine, I saw a spot of blood on the porch. The dog was still around at the back deck and did not seem to be hurt. I didn’t know if it had killed something or why that blood was there. The dog smelled really bad and was shedding hair. It had left a big fur ball on the mat at the back door. I didn’t want to sweep it up yet, because I knew it would just leave more hair. The dog did not seem to want to leave here either. When the kids woke up and saw it, they liked it. I didn’t want to teach them to hate or fear dogs, so I told them that we didn’t know that dog and it needed to go to his home. It stayed on the deck when the kids left with Haskell’s parents for the day and I was glad that it didn’t try to get friendly with them. It was a HUGE dog, and it really did smell bad. I called the animal shelter to see if they would pick it up and they referred me to the sherriff’s office. The sherriff’s office said that they didn’t have anyone doing animal control that day and to call back tomorrow……… 🙂 I went upstairs and did my work hoping it would leave. I heard it howl a couple of times and knew it was still outside. When I came down for lunch, it was still hanging around. And that big fur ball was still on the mat. I heated up some food in the microwave and walked over to the back door. I would normally go outside and walk around to get some fresh air and maybe eat on the steps. But that dog was there! It had come up to the door when it smelled my food I had heated. Then, I felt like the Lord invited me to tell him what I wanted. So, while I was chewing and looking at that dog, I said, “Lord, I want it to leave.” The dog went to the steps, hesitated for just a second, then slowly walked down the steps. It was walking away slowly and looking around like it didn’t know what it wanted to do. Then I said, “I don’t want it to come back.” It began walking faster, like it knew what it wanted to do, and went out of my sight. I felt hopeful and excited inside. Then I saw that hair on the mat again. Now I felt like sweeping it. I went to get the broom from the closet and heard these words, “full assurance.” I felt like the Lord was saying, “Sweep with ‘full assurance’ that the dog will not be back.” While I was sweeping, I remembered Uncle Joe’s testimony about forbidding Aunt Myrtle to hang out the laundry because he was praying for rain because he didn’t want anything to hinder his faith that God would answer his prayers.
We haven’t seen or heard that dog since. 🙂 And I am very thankful for that experience.
Love you,
Cris