So, this is where the panic started! Mandy had gotten out and she didn't have her collar on! Chris drove all around the neighborhood calling out Mandy's name and I walked along the middle grassy area with a flashlight calling her name as well but nothing. We were both worried about her especially since it was going to freeze that night. After searching for her for what seemed like hours and hours, I gave Chris a picture of Mandy and he proceeded to make a "Lost Dog" flyer to post up throughout the neighborhood. He finished and went to Kinkos around 10:30pm and then posted about 75 of the flyers on nearly every tree and stop sign in the area. After a restless and sleepless night of heartache and worry, I went into work and Chris continued putting flyers up at the grocery stores, gas stations, intersections, etc. before going into school. Ella knew something was going on because she gave her daddy an extra long hug laying her head on his chest that morning and reached over and gave him a kiss which is what she always does but this morning it was different. She knew his heart was hurting. I got to work and after receiving advice from Bethal I started emailing, calling and posting Mandy's info to a couple local animal shelters and vet clinics. There was only so much I could do from work though. Bethal was an amazing help (more about that later!)
We just knew that someone would see the flyers on their way home from work on Wednesday and call and tell us they had Mandy and she was just fine! I prayed and prayed and prayed that she would be returned to us safely very soon! I received a daily devotional around mid-morning saying the following (it's a long one but well worth the read and very relevant)...
"It is a nightly routine...someone puts him out, he stays for a while, does his business and then someone else lets him in ...especially if the night is to be a cold one. George the cat! So it was my job to let him back in...and usually he sits on the kitchen window sill and lets me know he is ready to come back in. He does have us trained. But last night was different..he was no where to be found and it was chilly. I went to the front door and the back door and called and called but to no avail. George had made his choice ....to roam. I went to bed thinking well he has his fur coat on and hopefully he will find shelter....but most of all I had hoped he would be safe. We all get in that
roaming mode at times...we roam away from what we know to be a safe environment, we roam away from people who we know love us, we roam away from authority, we roam away from routine, we roam away from responsibilities, we roam away from needless chatter...and sometimes we find ourselves roaming because our lives are so up in the air that we have no grounding place to land. We wonder.. looking for something yet not knowing what it is. Something to peek our interest
or maybe just something to instigate a change of environment...something that kindles a yearning fire within us that is being smothered....or maybe just maybe God is calling us to Himself..and we are being forced out of our comfort
zone.... so that he can get our attention...through silence...an unconscious approach that he adheres to through his Holy Spirit. For it is through silence that we can develop an ear to hear God's whispers...and know of his nudges. Wandering, is an avenue that I think God uses and allows to help us regather
thoughts ...or contemplate life as it is today, replace dreams that have faded, or reestablish set goals that have become unclear....but most of all a time set aside for us to seek His will rather than try to come up with a self directed plan of our own.
Roaming, though it may seem of an adventurous state,...is
also one of a restless state. For in roaming there is no security, no home base, no boundaries..We resort to silence even though we may not have sought it. When we are in that roaming wilderness, we either are able to have a closer view of God or we feel like we are further from God depending on our perspective...I know that sounds contradictory, but perspective, I am convinced, comes down to our faith...and our trust. If we feel further from God then don't you think it is because we are not hanging on to the truth and the promises that God has
given us... God's perspective on us is not altered..he created us and loves us just as he has made us...and he sees the ultimate blessing of His masterpiece that we so often can not hardly imagine or accept to be true. When we are roaming, we are unsettled, and find ourselves anxious and unsecured. It is our
faith that is being tested. Do we trust God? Do we truly have a faith that gives us strength and courage in the midst of silence, or trails, or adversities?Isaiah 40:3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God God has a
direction that he has called us to follow....when we stray from that direction...we lose sight of purpose and we also lose footing of God's plan. We find ourselves roaming with no real direction of what God has for us to do next. I feel like I am roaming right now...seeking God's direction and trying to reestablish what His goal is for my life. He will answer me no doubt...but for
now I treasure the silence...I treasure the reassurance through my faith that God will answer my quest for purpose but I must wonder a bit until he does. The silence is good...but each of us who have found ourselves wondering must be careful to not get stuck and planted in complacency. We may roam...and we
may wait but that does not give us permission to stop living day to day for God and through Him. It may be years before God gives me another passion...But as I allow Him to decide what it is he has for me to do do next ...I will carry with me my home base of Faith....and be content to embrace this day that he has given me, looking for His opportunities and rejoice in them.
George was sitting on the kitchen window sill this morning...just waiting... safe and starved. I was glad to open the door for him to come in. The difference is that when I am roaming...God always knows just where I am....and Home....is...well home is where God is...even in the wilderness.
Dear Lord, Thank you for keeping your eyes on us no matter where we may roam. Help us to see you clearly and seek you faithfully in our journeys and know that whwreeve we are...you are with us. Amen Praise God wherever you are or whatever situation he has allowed you to be in...for His glory will shine through."
My dad planned on coming over to watch Ella while Chris and I rode our bikes around the neighborhood posting up more signs but then right before I left work to go home, I got a call from Chris saying he got a call and that someone had found Mandy! I can't tell you how excited, thankful and just plain happy I was when I heard this! It's like butterflies were flying all around me or something. Chris said that he had maintained himself and didn't cry all day long until he heard that voice mail and then he lost all composure. A woman (Phyllis) and her son in our neighborhood saw Mandy trotting down our street probably right after she got out of the backyard. They tried to get her so she wouldn't get hit by any of the cars passing by but Mandy just kept running away. So, a young gentleman (Travis) pulled over and helped her and told her that he would take her to his mom & dad's house because they had two other boxers and gave her his number. How wonderful is that! Chris got in contact with Travis' dad (Ken) and he and Ella picked Mandy up on their way home from work.
Chris said Mandy didn't look worried at all and that she was basically "shitting in tall cotton" (excuse my language) if you know what I mean. I mean, she had two other boxers to play with and Ken thought she was a baby because she is so small for a boxer. She was basically treated like a little princess. She probably didn't even want to come home....LOL Ken and his wife Nancy are part of the Lone Star Boxer Rescue group...how fitting that Travis was driving in our neighborhood and stopped to rescue Mandy! We got Mandy home and she acted like nothing ever happened. It was a happy ending and we have lots of people to thank for it!
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