God Gave Me a Dog

It’s true, God gave me a dog. Not the one that is waiting for me back home, although Dudley is an incredible gift in his own right. God gave me a random stray dog for just an hour. At that moment, that was what I needed most. I’ll start at the beginning…

It was the last week of ministry in our village. I had slowly but surely began to feel better. Not a hundred percent, but definitely better. Our contact had told us the night before that we would be hiking for two hours to preach at their sister church. He asked if any of us would like to give the sermon. I quickly asked God if that was what He wanted me to do. I knew I could give a sermon easily enough. Surprisingly, God told me not to. I thought it was strange, but okay. That morning I was trying to psych myself up for the hike. I didn’t feel like my body was ready, but I also felt good enough to not have an excuse to stay behind. Before we headed out, I went downstairs to check on our squad leader Andrew who had joined us two days previous. He had gotten sick and would be staying behind. So I left him with some chocolate, Advil, and my iPad in case he wanted to watch a movie or something. As I got up to leave, I told him that I didn’t think I could handle today. Just an honest confession. He said I’d be fine, I braced myself and headed out the door.

Our team took a short bus ride to the beginning of the trail. I looked up and sighed. It seemed the word “hike” was an understatement. As we began making our way up the trail, I realized I was walking significantly slower than everyone. Katie stayed back to go at my pace. Which was good because she said she liked walking slower anyways. We slowly but surely wound our way up the mountainside. I was worn out when our contact said we reached the 1/5 point. By the time we reached the 2/5 point, it was taking all my will power to put one foot in front of the other. I was no longer confident my legs would support me. Thankfully at the 3/5 point we stopped for a cold drink. It made me feel better, but not good enough to think I could go on. Katie continued to walk with me and encourage me every step of the way. I told her that I didn’t think my body could keep going, she assured me that our bodies were capable of more than we think. I now know that to be true, but at the time I wanted to scoff, sit down and not move until it was time to go back down the mountain. I didn’t do that obviously.

In effort to keep going, I tried to think of other things. I remembered that I left my iPad with Andrew. And then I remembered that Dudley was the background on my iPad. Then I was hoping that Andrew wouldn’t judge me too much for having my big teddy bear of a dog’s face taking up the entire screen. Then I couldn’t help but miss Dudley. I know he’s just a dog with an exceptionally simple mind, but he’s my friend. He lives to be by my side. As I’m walking and missing my dog, we round the corner. What is chilling beside the road? A random, stray, dirty black dog. He looks friendly enough, so I scratch his head, tell him hi and keep moving. Pretty soon, Katie and I realize that the dog is following us. Katie looks at me and excitedly says,

“Look, Melissa, God sent you a dog.”

I knew she was right. This random dog stayed right behind us for the next half an hour. Stray dogs in foreign countries don’t do that. When we finally got to the church, he disappeared and we didn’t see him again.

Perhaps it’s the small things that are encouraging to me. At that moment, God gave exactly what I needed to keep going. A furry little friend to walk with me when I thought I was finished. What a good God we serve. A good God with a sentimental side and a sense of humor.

 

ps. God also knew why I shouldn’t give a sermon. By the time I arrived at church, I was so worn out I barely made sense in my own head. It probably would’ve been an extremely interesting sermon to say the least.