The Wiener Dog

Our neighbors in the 5th wheel next door, Jean and Dee, have two wiener dogs. First, to settle any confusion, Jean is the man and Dee is the woman. I know, it puzzles me too since Jean is my middle name and I thought Gene was the way to spell the male version. But they have a sign on their porch that says "Jean and Dee" and that is the way it is. Life is very interesting here in the park, don't you think?
Back to my story. So they have these wiener dogs, Buddy and Cricket. Buddy is the male and he is brown. Cricket is his wife and she is black with longer wiry hair and she looks like a muppet. A muppet with no legs.  Jean takes the two for a stroll around the park every morning and evening. They are a very nice pair and never nip at Tiffy like that brown poodle who bit her in the face that Craig took to calling "Cujo" which I think may have offended her owners since they moved away. These wiener dogs are quite civilized.

The other morning as we were backing out of our drive we noticed Jean with his dogs, and Buddy didn't look so great. We were concerned, so we prayed for him on our way to church. I believe that God made all creatures great and small, don't you?
When we returned home later on that day, I saw Jean out in the yard with Cricket but no buddy. He looked sad too. So I continued to pray for them....for Buddy, for Jean and for his wife Dee. I wondered if Buddy had passed away as I saw no sign of him the rest of that day.

When I took Tiffy out the next morning for her walk around the park, I ran into Jean and Cricket and got up the nerve to ask the question "So, what happened with Buddy?" to which Jean replied, "We don't know yet. I have to take him to the vet at noon." I was very relieved that Buddy was still with us. I shared my good wishes with Jean, and Tiffy and I went on our way.
But afterward, I was having some regrets. Honestly, I wondered if I should have offered to come over and lay hands on dear Buddy and pray for God to heal him, because after all I had laid hands on the refrigerator last week and the ticking noise it was making stopped......but then I wondered if my neighbors might decide I was a mental case and want to move away like Cujo's mom and dad. And then I beat myself up for caring too much what people might think of their crazy Christian neighbor, and then I just continued to pray for Buddy and his family, and asked God to heal him and to reveal His love to Buddy's mom and dad.

Much like Peter and the other disciples, I fell asleep on my watch and therefore missed Jean's return from the vet's office so I had no idea if Buddy returned with him. I knew from what Jean had shared with me the day before, that there was rectal bleeding, it didn't sound very good for Buddy.
So you can imagine my joy that evening when I glanced out my window to see Jean walking by with both of his short-legged friends in tow. I jumped up and ran out to see them, leaving my husband wondering "Where's the fire?"
As I saw Buddy loping along, my heart swelled with relief. I talked to Jean and he told me that it was merely an infection and Buddy would be fine after a round of antibiotics. That was my chance to tell Jean that I had been praying, and was so thankful God had healed his beloved dog. But the words did not escape my lips. In fact, I don't think I thought of them until I was back inside my trailer sharing the testimony of Buddy's healing with hubby.

Yet here's the thing. I believe that dog was pretty sick. And I do believe that God heard our prayers for his recovery. I believe that our Loving Father cares about all of these seemingly minute details of our lives and the lives of those around us. And I think that I sometimes get caught up in stupid thoughts that I am not "in ministry" or not "on outreach" or maybe my life is too insignificant and I am not making a difference....you know, "changing the world for Jesus." And then I am reminded of the woman with the mites and how Jesus pointed her out to everyone. Such a small offering but yet it was what she had, it was all she had, and Jesus was so blessed by her gift to Him.
I think that every prayer we send up for every neighbor, or neighbor's dog.....no matter how small or insignificant they might seem to us in the grand scheme of life, is precious to Him. And I think that maybe this IS a life well-lived, a life of ministry, a life poured out and given freely to the Lord.
So I say to you this day "Hallelujah!! The wiener dog lives!!" and I rejoice in it!