God Cares About the Details

Journal entry:

July 28, 2013

“What a day.  Babe is doing great.  Tanya saw him.  My lawyer got my money and I can get it Thursday.  He didn’t pay everything he had promised.  I’m upset but Pat said not to be.  It just seems like he keeps getting away with stuff-but I know God knows.  ‘Father, thank you for listening even when I’m angry.  Give me patience and wisdom please.’”

Today I’m going to concentrate on Babe. There are other seemingly more important issues in this entry but God taught me a lesson I've never forgotten because of a dog named Babe.  We bought him from a pet store that soon after was closed because the puppies came from a puppy mill. This affected his behavior.  I say he was psychotic.  He would snap at us and had even bitten me a couple of times.  We still loved him like you do any challenging family member.  The following is a piece about him I wrote for a writing course I took a few years ago.

Babe

The hot tears flowed down my face as I lay in my bed in the basement of my friend’s townhouse.  The end of my marriage had left me confused, alone, and afraid.  Yet, right now all of my pain was focused on the welfare of a little dog named Babe.

Babe was a Schipperke (SKIP-er-kee) my husband and I had purchased as a companion for our daughter, Tanya, while we traveled the road in our tractor-trailer rig.  Although he was temperamental, high spirited, and a pest, he had become part of our family.  I called him our difficult child.

Tanya was marrying Roger and his son would be a part of her new family.  She wanted to take Babe but couldn’t because he was nervous around children and often snapped at them.  I had planned on keeping him because I had come off the road when I started working full-time.  My husband’s announcement that he wanted a divorce had suddenly and drastically changed those plans.  I agonized over ways I could take him with me but could not financially afford to do so.  I had to leave him.

One morning at work Tanya told me that Babe, a house pet, was left alone on a chain in the open garage during the week.  Someone would stop once a day to give him food and water.  We knew he wouldn’t live long under those conditions.  As I lay in bed that night, I poured out my heart to God.  “Please, Father, Babe is only an innocent creature who has done nothing to deserve this treatment.  Take care of him.”

That was the first of several days and nights I spent crying and praying.  I even contacted my ex to ask if he would help me pay for Babe’s care if I took him.  He responded with, “I’m taking care of the situation.”  I wondered what this meant.

A few days later an excited Tanya suddenly appeared at my desk saying, “Mom, you’ll never guess what happened!  My friends saw an advertisement for a free dog at the pet grooming shop.  It gave directions to our old house.  She called and arranged to see the dog.  Mom, he gave them Babe!”

I sat in stunned silence as she continued to speak.  These were her friends who lived in the same apartment complex in the building next to Tanya and Roger.  Even though we hadn’t been consulted or even informed about it, God made sure we knew what happened to Babe.  All I could do was close my eyes and breathe a heartfelt thanks for answered prayer.

Babe had a busy few weeks in his new home.  He received all of his shots, had his teeth cleaned, his nails clipped, and his coat was washed and groomed.  He became quite the dapper doggy.

The apartment became Babe’s personal kingdom.  The outside steps were difficult for him to climb because he had arthritis so they built a ramp for him.  Gordon, the tabby, was his playmate.   Because Schipperkes are quick energetic dogs who need to run and play a lead was attached to a line in the yard so he could race around to his heart’s content.  On weekends the family traveled to a grandparent’s farm where Babe frolicked in the open fields.  This temperamental, high spirited, pesky bundle of energy had landed in a dog’s paradise!

I need to interject one funny occurrence here.  One morning soon after Babe was adopted by her friends Tanya was getting in her car when she heard someone yelling his name.  She looked up to see Babe tearing around the corner of the building.  She quickly yelled out “Babe, get back here!”   He ground to a halt and looked around as if to say, “I know that voice.  Where did she come from?”  He spun around and quickly came to her. 

Over the next several months Tanya was able to see Babe often.  I even got to see him.  Early one morning the phone rang.  Babe was not doing well; it looked like a stroke.  Tanya hurried over to her friend’s apartment and as she entered he slowly jumped off the couch and made his way to her.  She spent some time loving on him and saying goodbye.  That day his new friend who had given him such a great life was with him as Babe was gently relieved of all pain.  The sadness we felt at his death was tempered by the knowledge of the good life he’d led in his last year.

My healing has taken me through times of sorrow and joy, doubt and assurance, discouragement and hope.  God’s bountiful answer to my desperate prayer for Him to provide for a dog has become a lesson in faith.  He has blessed me in amazing and numerous ways, but when someone asks me how I know God cares about me one of my first thoughts is “Babe”.  If God cared enough about me to answer my prayer and to make sure we knew that He had provided so richly for that ornery little dog, how much more is He going to do for me, His child? 

God gave me a vivid picture of His love, mercy, and grace when He provided a home for a temperamental dog.  I asked in faith; He answered out of His abundance storehouse of blessings.  I cannot wait to see what He is going to do as I continue this journey called life.         

      

Father,

I am so thankful that You hear my cries of pain and sadness.

You not only hear, You respond in ways that are too magnificent to comprehend.

My smallest needs are important to You, the Creator of the universe.

Thank You!

In Jesus’ Name!

Amen