Thus Saith the Dog!

Nearly two years ago, we gained another member in our family of 5 humans, an English bulldog, a demon possessed orange tabby and two desert tortoises.

Her name was Pixie. She was a tiny white Chihuahua who was down and out. Her world had been turned on its end. Pixie’s whole life consisted of her biological father and their owner, an elderly woman. One day in October 2008 Pixie’s father died. Two weeks later her owner was taken to hospice and Pixie was homeless.

We found out about her through a coworker of my dad. Now, the last thing that I wanted was another dog but her story got the best of me and I found myself driving to the other side of Las Vegas to meet her.
She was brownish white and tiny, maybe two pounds. She was very scared. Within minutes she was in the car and heading home with us.

She shook with nervousness and about one minute into the drive we knew there was something terribly wrong with Pixie. The car was filled with the smell of stale smoke, like an old Vegas casino, and the pungent aroma of her rancid breath! I now fully understood what the term “that could gag a maggot” meant. It was probably 30 degrees outside but the windows remained rolled down as we all shivered in rhythm with Pixie all the way home.

Once we got home we discovered that she was more than just smelly. She was very thin and malnourished, her legs were atrophied and she was missing most of her teeth and thus the foul breath. Her fur was coated with cigarette smoke residue. After about 15 minutes, our home began to smell like Pixie breath and stale smoke so it was bath time.

The bath reveled that she was not brownish white she was actually more of a blond white. The newly clean Pixie started her new life in our family and was immediately accepted by all our family including the other animals and the demon cat!

Today Pixie is a 6lb fatty who is pretty much the princess of everything! She has her faults. She loves to sneak in my room and do her business and she must be hand fed or she won’t eat. A princess must be treated like a princess after all. Truth is we all love her and she is very happy here.

No one loves this little dog like my Son and she loves him more than the rest of us for sure.

Nothing like seeing a 6’6” 300lb hulk of a man and his Chihuahua interact on the living room floor! It’s priceless.

For the past two years the two of them have lived happily and uneventfully.

That is, until last Friday.

I put Pixie in the back yard to attend to her business and then forgot about her. Two and half hours later my son and I came home from the store and Pixie did not greet us at the door.

That’s when we knew… she was gone.

She squeezed through an opening in the gate and left. My son and I leaped into Search and Rescue mode and combed the neighborhood. For the next 4 hours we looked between houses, in backyards. We knocked on doors and scoured the desert.

I was searching out of guilt but my son out of love. Not that I didn’t care about Pixie but my son had a deep devotion and commitment that I didn’t really have. To me it was a dog and I was sad, but to him it was like his kid and he was committed to find her. He had blisters on both his feet from all the walking but that did not slow him down.

Sound familiar?

During the whole ordeal I could not help but think of God’s love for us as he searches the darkest places to find his children who have wandered off and are lost. We have no idea why Pixie would walk away from her kingdom or her “royal position”. I mean she had dominion here and if she had just waited we would have opened the door and let her in. There was no need for her to leave the safety of our backyard.

The same goes for an entire people group of people who have done exactly the same thing. They walk away from their royal position and the Kingdom of God.

The thing is, our King is the Good Shepherd and he goes to find his people even though they chose to walk away.
Look at what Ezekiel 34:11-12,15-16:

‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.
15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

He is always looking for his kids who have wandered off and are looking for something real.

This is the God we serve. The king is looking for them. The King is looking for you.

By the way, after a 30 hour search, Pixie has been found and is back on her pedestal safe at home. She is restored to her proper position and her daddy, my son, is overwhelmed with great happiness.

Much like God feels when one of his children is found.

~Rude Dog