Things Aren't Always What They Seem...

A couple days ago I "felt like it was the end of the world".  Things just weren't going well... Family problems, house problems, health problems... you know the drill... "when it rains it pours."  (And, by the way, it DID rain - lots and lots - all weekend and all day Monday.) But the last straw was when Moxie went missing.  I got up Sunday morning,  fed all the animals, then the people, as usual.  After I fed Moxie, she went outside like she always does.

On any given day, Moxie would go in and out of the house all day like an eight year-old boy with spring fever.  Ohhhh, but not Sunday.  Moxie went out to play that morning and didn't come back.  I kept looking for her all day, busy with whatever all I did that day, but often realizing that I did not have that usual dog underfoot.  Most days, except when she's outside, Moxie is in the same room with me.  I've often joked by singing "Me and My Shadow" as I enter a room, dog in tow.

So, by about three o'clock in the afternoon, I was quite distressed about Moxie.  I feared the worst, imagining her injured somehow and lying alone in the woods... Or, hit by a car... Or taken away by some stranger... We got in the Jeep and road all around the neighborhood looking for her to no avail.  Periodically I would go outside and call her;  I would walk the perimeter of the house,  peering into the woods, hoping to see or hear her.  But, nothing.





Monday was the pits.  I cried a lot.  I've lost pets in the past, but I have never had a dog before, so this was a new type of loss.  I remember my mother called that day to chat;  I wanted to tell her about Moxie, but I was afraid I would burst into tears.  I cut the conversation short.  I wasn't ready to talk about the dog. And the dismal rain.  And...etc., etc., etc.  Monday was pretty much a wasted day - dark, dismal and rainy all day.  I did the bare minimum...  and went to bed early, sad and longing for the escape of sleep.

Tuesday is errand day, so off I went to town.  On the way home I prayed, "Lord,  please give me a sign that everything is gonna' be alright.  A sign.  Any sign."  A moment later, still talking with God, I said, "Y'know how I asked for a sign, any sign.  Well, I have a specific request.  I will 'know it in my knower' that You are listening to me and that everything will be okay if You send Moxie home. I'm not trying to be presumptuous, but You are God  and with God nothing is impossible."

Me, watching a movie with Moxie and Pickles

Ten minutes later I pulled into the driveway.  Moshe came up to the Jeep to help me carry groceries in. And, he said, "I have a surprise for you in the house."  The surprise was Moxie!  Moshe explained, "About ten minutes ago, she simply walked down the hill and into our yard.  She was real dirty and real hungry, but she's okay."

And so we have our little household back in its rightful order.  And, once again God has proven that He will never leave me or forsake me.  Is life perfect?  No.  Is my health perfect?  No.  Is the house perfect?  No.  But God is!
SHALOM  Y'ALL - TWYLA