We were at the farm with some friends like any usual day. But this day would end quite differently. The kids were off in a corner of the farm playing, the gardeners doing their weekly clean-up of the property. My girls, during their play, noticed the gardeners moving something quite heavy by their standards out of the way with a stick. The walked over after the gardeners had moved on and noticed it was a puppy.
They promptly picked it up and brought it over to the picnic tables where I was sitting. He was so scared and tired, he was shaking. He was so cute, I just couldn't leave him there nor could I bring myself to call the pound to pick him up. He was tugging at my heartstrings for sure.
So I took him. A comedic error was McKenna putting him down next to the car to open the door. He immediately scurried under the car, completely afraid. So, with daughters' and friends' help I slowly backed the car out of our space to grab him. Thankfully he wasn't too scared of the car moving, so he didn't move. Phew!
Our first stop with him was the vet. On our way there, we decided to call him Charlie. The vet told us that he was 4 months old and a mix of shepherd, rottweiler and beagle. $50 later, we walked out of the vet's office and took him home.
Over the course of the weekend, I realized I couldn't keep Charlie, even though it had really been my heart's desire. Since we live with my mom, she became the deciding factor, which was a firm “no”. So I spent the weekend and first part of the week finding Charlie a home.
Ads on Craigslist produced strange people calling me and offering to pick up Charlie right away. This made me extremely wary about handing him over to just anyone, even though I was desperate to find him a home. That Sunday I got wise to the ways of Charlie and created a series of questions in hopes to find the BEST new owner for a puppy to which we had grown quite attached.
A cute new picture of Charlie posted on my Facebook page proved to be the ticket. Within hours of posting, Charlie had caught the eye of two interested parties. After interviews of each, both seemed to be amazingly good homes.
I was torn.
leaning more toward the family but not sure it was completely the right decision because of the fact that the husband hasn't had a job in 2 years, i needed a sign. and guess what? God have me one.
the kids and i went to a couple thrift stores that night looking for a dog crate for charlie. in the process, i came across this box that housed a ceiling fan, the very one i had been wanting for the girls' room. woohoo! score! so i asked a guy who worked at that particular store to open it up for me so i could see if all the pieces were there. he did and i took out the pieces. it was a completely different fan! what?!? at that very moment, i heard a still small voice say: things aren't always what they seem.
well, that was the confirmation i needed. 2 days later we headed out to the family's home to deliver charlie, though i was still a little unsure about it because every man charlie had met in the short time we had him he had bitten. how would he react to the the man of this family?
well, my fears were quelled almost immediately. the dad leaned down to pet charlie and after a slight hesitation, charlie went right up to him and allowed dad to pet him. woohoo!
a little later, i called to charlie and he came over and sat on the mom's feet. another total answer to prayer! no hesitation here about letting charlie be adopted in to this new family.
these friends invited us to stay for dinner and then for their small group, which we did and what an incredible evening it was. i did the math and it has been 7 years since i have been involved in a small group. i almost cried right there in their living room. the night -- in fact, the entire day -- was a complete blessing. [i think it's about time to think about being a part of a small group, don't you?]
God is taking care of everything and everyone -- especially me!
