Siouxsie shared my bed, always lying near my feet when I went to bed, and hogging my pillow by morning. One night, about 3:30 a.m., Siouxsie decided that she was thirsty, so she got up to get herself a drink of water. The problem was, the bed was right by the wall, and she was lying on that side of the bed. She tried to gently sneak over me without disturbing me, but she stepped right on the spot on my stomach where I had just had surgery for a hernia. Needless to say, a dog weighing in at 122 lbs. is going to wake her sleeping master, hernia surgery stitches or not. As I awoke, in pain, disoriented, confused, and frustrated, Siouxsie jumped off of the bed and scampered around out the bedroom door, into the next room. All that I could do was say, "Siouxsie!", irritated by the rude awakening, and still in pain.
That precious dog then poked her adorable face around the edge of the doorway, peeking back in at me. I just looked at her. She then walked right back into the bedroom, right up between my knees, sat down and laid her head gently on my lap, looking up to me with those sorrowful eyes, obviously apologizing for waking me and hurting me. "I'm so sorry, Daddy" is what she was telling me. It was so sweet. She knew that I was unhappy with what just happened, but she still came right to me and repented. That is when GOD spoke.
The Holy Spirit told me, "See, this is how I want you to be with Me. When you sin. When you do something that you know makes Me unhappy, I want you to come directly to Me, lean on Me. I always love you, no matter what. I'm 'Abba Father', your 'Daddy God'. What you are feeling right now for this dog that just hurt you is called love and forgiveness. I have that for you, and so much more, always. Always. I love you. Never be afraid to run to Me."
After I was married, God obviously chose to use my wife and kids to reveal His nature to me, and to teach me about Himself. Still, however, He did use a few lost dogs to teach me, and my family, even more about himself.
In June of 2001 we loaded up our 35' 5th wheel trailer, our crew cab GMC, and headed out on a very cool adventure, touring with a band that we were blessed with the opportunity to be the executive producers (primary financiers) of. We set up our trailer at a KOA campground near Bakersfield, CA, then drove into Bakersfield to meet up with the band for the first stop on the tour. It was hot. REALLY HOT! The concert was part of an all day outreach put on by a Christian Biker group, and was taking place in a city park (in a relatively "rough" neighborhood.
The event was going well, the Good News of Jesus was being shared by several bands and artists throughout the day. Our daughter was six years old at the time, and our son was five years old. They came up to me during the event, and pointed out a little stray puppy to me. He was roaming around the area, looking for food scraps, and trying to lap what little water he could get from the drops of melted ice draining from a cooler under a picnic table.
It broke my heart to watch how that poor little puppy was being ignored by most, kicked by some, and just so lost. He looked so sick, and almost dead. He obviously had not eaten in quite a while because he looked more like a dog skeleton with skin wrapped tightly around it, than he did a dog. From the appearance of his long legs and big feet, I could tell that, if he ever survived, he was not going to be a small dog. He was covered with hundreds and hundreds of ticks and fleas, emaciated beyond belief, and his future was obviously bleak.
I picked the little guy up and held him. Our kids wanted to pet him, and I let them pat his head for a moment, but, because of the parasites on him, I took him away from the kids. I showed him to my wife, who is not much of a dog person, but was obviously moved by this little guy's plight. I told her that I was going to get the poor little guy something to eat. I walked across the street to a convenience store/liquor store. There were quite a few dudes around that store, both inside and out, that were obviously of questionable character (gangsta's, thugs, drug dealers, pimps, etc.) The outreach across the street was for them. They were watching and listening from what they thought was a "safe" distance from those "crazy Christians".
I took the dog into the store with me. I found a can of dog food, and got a bottle of water, and went to the counter. I was given a paper chili bowl when I paid for the water & dog food. I immediately opened the can of dog food right there in the store, and dumped the dog food on the floor for the little guy to eat. It was too hot outside for this little, weak puppy. I figured that this may be his last meal, so I wanted him to have something good to eat, some cold water, and to at least to know a bit of love. The people in the store looked at me like I was nuts. I poured the water from the bottle into the paper bowl. The puppy ate all of the dog food, and drank all of the water. I then picked him up and took him back across the street to the park. I put him on the ground, and he ran off. I figured that was the last we'd seen of him. It broke my heart, but at least he had a meal and some water.
About an hour later, my wife walked up to me with the little puppy in her arms! I was amazed! She asked me if we could take him with us. This was the first tour date of a six week tour that would take us from California to Utah, Wyoming, Iowa, Illinois, Idaho, Oregon, and back to Washington. I was not sure what she meant, and I told her that we'd try to find a shelter or something for him. I said, "Come here, Bakersfield" (that's how he got his name) and took him from my wife's arms and carried him to our truck. I put the puppy in the back seat of the truck with another dish of cold water, and left the windows open. Later, we left the concert, and went to a Target store that was open 24 hours. My wife loaded the shopping cart with 20 pounds of puppy chow, 2 nice ceramic dog dishes, a cool "Harley Davidson" dog collar with flames on it, a nice leash, a tie-out cable, and a dog carrier kennel. I knew that we had a dog, and he wasn't going anywhere but with us. It would be a challenge, especially on the road, but I couldn't be happier.
We drove back to the KOA campground, and, as my wife got the kids ready for bed in the "house" (BIG trailer), I opened the tailgate of the truck, hooked the dog's tie-out cable to the tailgate cable, put the dog carrier kennel under the tailgate with a dish of dog food and a dish of water beside it, and hooked Bakersfield to the cable. I then spent about 20 minutes just petting him, talking to him, comforting him, and letting him know that he had a family and he'd be OK now.
When I finally went into the trailer, our kids said, "Is Bakersfield going to be alright, Daddy?" This is when the really cool, "ONLY GOD" part happened. I said, "Yes, kids, Bakersfield is going to be alright. It's just like how Jesus saves us. We're lost and alone. We're dirty, starved, basically dead, attacked by parasites, worthless, rejected, neglected, and abused. Jesus swoops down in all of His love, picks us up and holds us. He rescues us. He takes the time to show us His great love, to clean us up, to care for us, and take us Home with Him." That's when it hit me. That's the simplicity of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, and again He used a dog to show me the depth of His love, the simplicity of His grace, and how I can share Jesus with my kids. I almost cried, I was so moved. Jesus is so good!
Fortunately, the next stop on the tour was Lancaster, CA, and we were to be in that area for 4 days, so every spare moment I had was spent with Bakersfield. I purchased a flea comb and some medication to treat dogs for ticks and fleas. I then carefully, painstakingly, gently went over Bakersfield's entire body, inch by inch, hair by hair, even deep into his ears, everywhere, removing every last flea and tick, applying the medication, and showing him as much love as I possibly could. My wife and kids were right there the whole time, talking to Bakersfield, petting him, and making him a part of our family. That entire time, the Holy Spirit continually reminded me of how much GOD cares for us, how He takes the time to clean us up, to remove every last bit of what harms us from our lives, all the while healing us, loving us, and making us part of His family. Adoption. That's one of the best words in the world! :)
Several weeks later, at the very end of that same tour, we ended up finding another "lost dog", a beautiful Chesapeake Bay Retriever, while at an RV park. Needless to say, and to make a long story short, she joined our family as well. Maybe I can tell that story in another LOST DOG BLOG. Her name is Cocoa. She's another example of the grace, mercy, and love of ONLY GOD, Jesus the Christ.
Today, Bakersfield and Cocoa are very much part of our family. They live in a nice 50'X25' kennel in our back yard. They have two "Dogloo" dog houses, but they sleep together in one, and use the other to store "prizes", you know, things like balls, rocks, sticks, bones, etc. Every moment that I spend with those dogs reminds me of how faithful God is, and how much He loves us. It reminds me of how much that God does for us every single moment of every single day.
Yup. dog spelled backwards is... what???
:)
There's just something about Lost Dogs...
(yes, and the band, "Lost Dogs" was great, too! you can get their stuff at the iTunes store! good stuff. I have actually been listening to "Lost Dogs" the entire time that I was writing this Lost Dogs Blog)
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