Timing is indeed everything! Lee Ann and I have dreamed of the day we can own enough property to provide a loving home to rescued cats and dogs. Today I wondered if the time had come with benefit only of love and a fenced in yard. Allow me to tell you about Annie Parker and what God is asking you and me.

If you’ve seen the movie “Up” then perhaps the interjection “squirrel” has become a part of your vocabulary too! Well this week we’ve said “squirrel” quite a bit in the church that houses our office. One (we hope it’s just one) furry friend found its way inside and has been scampering the halls since Monday. Yesterday a humane trap was set and within a few hours the visitor had taken the peanut butter bait and wanted o-u-t! Two of us took him to the nearby city park to release him.

As we entered the park I noticed a small scruffy dog near the road. Its once white coat was gray and although it didn’t look malnourished I sensed it was homeless. We released the squirrel and didn’t see the dog again. We didn’t see the dog but I did again this morning… on a bridge on a busy street literally stopping traffic.

I allowed the cars around me and the now wet, red-mud colored dog (it rained all night) to stop me from at least trying to get the dog in the car. But a picture of the, I assume, abandoned dog stayed in my mind. I talked with Lee Ann not long after the sighting and I told her about the dog. When I started crying just thinking about him I headed her admonition to do something.

I called our vet for advice and to be sure they could see the dog, found a soft cloth, and headed out for my first animal rescue. By the time I traveled the two miles to the last place I had seen the dog I had named it Annie Parker … Annie for Orphan Annie if it turned out to be a girl and Parker for finding it in the park if it turned out to be a boy.

I slowly drove and walked around the area but no dog. I called as best I could (I am sure anyone hearing me had to laugh since I am accustomed to calling cats!). Discouraged I was about to drive out of the park when I felt an urging to go back to one area again. I did and there was Annie Parker! She/he was not glad to see me. I did all the things I thought I should to lure the dog to me but A.P turned tail and ran deep into the woods. At the break in the trees where she/he dashed in I saw three bowls – evidence someone else cares about the dog with no home.

The story of the lost sheep came to mind as I drove, dogless, out of the park. The good shepherd left the entire flock to seek out the one lost sheep. One is valuable … especially to God. So I said a prayer that God would protect Annie Parker and I vowed to keep coming back to see if I could befriend A.P. to the point of providing safety and a home.

Where are the lost “sheep” around you and me? The cats, dogs, little people, old people, families …. Even one is important to God. How do we let them know they matter to us and God?

Anticipation

Anticipation … there’s a lot of it connected with Christmas and a New Year … and I’d like to think in waiting for a new blog post (LOL).

I confess that I had some trepidation as the holidays approached. In the past I have found myself on Christmas afternoon staring at the “naked” tree with no more colorfully wrapped gifts under its branches feeling a sense of remorse that it’s over for another year. But not this year. Advent and the start of 2010 were very satisfying and poignant for me. I share just three snippets with you.

Our Christmas season started with a trip to New York City! Everyone who loves this time of the year should experience it there… nothing can compare with seeing “the” tree in person (both at night and during the day), the store windows, the millions of tiny white lights decorating countless trees, snow in Times Square, the shoppers, and the show the “ringers” put on during their shifts attending the Salvation Army’s red kettles! So many people and so much money to prepare for the season. But where did I see the true spirit of the season? In a small sign, in an ordinary store window, cleverly explaining they were using money not for lavish holiday decorations but for donations to a charity for the homeless. What a wonderful way to honor the homeless babe in the stable.

This is my only child’s first year in the Navy and it looked like he might not get leave for the holiday. What would it be like for his bed to be empty for the first time in 26 Christmases? I found my memories drifting back to years of peeking into his room while he slept. As I did a question began to haunt me. What if the manger had been empty? But it wasn’t and baby Jesus has changed my life and all of human history!

A new tradition we had anticipated adding to Christmas this year was bringing Lee Ann’s mother from the nursing home to spend the day with us. What a reminder that our plans are not our own! As she struggled to breathe just days before December 25th, Mom would cry out a prayer for God to help her. Although her healing was not in the way we had hoped for, her prayer was answered and amid the sorrow there was peace knowing she celebrated Christmas in Heaven this year.

No matter how intimate our relationship with the Creator, God’s ways and God’s timing often baffle us. Accepting God’s plans challenges us. Yet surrendering our anticipation to living one day at a time walking with God is the best way to begin every new day!