Have you ever gotten dressed, climbed in your car and headed out for an appointment or a meeting and upon arriving, wondered where everyone else was. A double take on the watch proves that you are on time and not too early, so where is everyone. Then…..it dawns on you…..”I am a day early!” You chide yourself, thinking, I went to all this trouble and now I have lost an hour and a half of time that I sure could have used working on an important project. Oh well, you say to yourself; I’m dressed and out, so I may as well go to Wal-Mart!
For me, this experience was this very evening. Running late, I dabbed on a little make up, put my hair up, threw on some decent clothes and headed out the door. I was running a little later than I should have been because I couldn’t find my house keys. Oh yea, I finally found them, locked the door and headed out to Wednesday evening prayer service at my church. You guessed it, I was 5 minutes late and so was everyone else. Why would everyone else be late? They wouldn’t!!! Uh Oh, this is Tuesday night, not Wednesday night. How dumb of me; too much on my mind!
I was glad it was only Tuesday night because with what I need to accomplish this week, all of a sudden I have an extra day!!!! I wanted to head on home and grab a bite for I had forgone food for the day not wanting to take the time to eat. I will make myself a sandwich, pour up a glass of ice tea, settle in front of the TV and catch some of the Olympic games. After all, I have an extra night! Thinking things through a little further though, I am already dressed to be in public and I had told my granddaughter, Jacquee, that I would buy a small cup cake pan…..the kind that makes tiny cupcakes. I have several of the normal size but we need little ones for an up and coming 50th anniversary party. This is good, it is still daylight and I will save myself a trip out tomorrow. My mind was in a whirl trying to think of what else I might need while at the store, and “God, is there some special reason that I should be out of the house tonight?” Approaching a traffic light, the car in front of me made a sudden swerve to the left. Then right in front of me was a little dog, yelping and struggling to get up. He had just been hit. Before I could pull over, he quit struggling and laid deathly still. I knew that I had to do something. I found a way to pull over so that I could determine what to do for the little dog. A battered old pickup stopped and blocked traffic. The gentleman inside jumped out and armed the little one up and put him in his front seat and took off. I decided to follow him in an effort to be of help if he needed me. He made it one block and started slowing down and pulling over into a parking lot. I was thinking, “The dog has died, now he is not in a hurry.” I pulled my car up beside his and rolled down my window. His windows were down, it was obvious the old truck had no A/C. He looked over at me and I asked him if the little dog was alive. “He’s breathing,” he answered.
“What are you planning to do for him,” I asked.
“I’ve got to get him to a Veterinarian some how,” he answered, with as much compassion in his eyes as you could ever imagine, “but I have just run out of gas.”
We were not by a gas station. Asking him where he would get gas, he pointed up the road. I would walk up there to a station but I don’t have any money.
“Do you have a gas can?” I asked. Confessing, I must admit, that I thought….”sure he does, poor guy probably runs out all the time, by the looks of the situation. “I can go and get you some gas,” I offered.
He interrupted me, “Excuse me ma’am, but let me check on my little buddy here. I really need to check him out.” I was touched by the young man’s concern for this little animal.
Coming back to me he repeated his need to see that the little dog get to the doctor. He took me up on the offer to buy him some gas.
“Yes, I have a container, but it doesn’t have a cap on it.”
I was so relieved that he had that plastic gas can. I took off to the nearest station, filled up the little can and plugged it up with paper towels and headed back to the little dog and his hero. He had checked the little one out further, and felt that possibly he could make it. The dog had a collar on (and a leash!). He had called the owner but no answer. He had called the veterinary, no answer.
I stood at the open car door next to the little dog who was struggling for breath, and talked to him and whispered a prayer for him, while the gentleman, that I later learned was David, put the gas in his tank. He reached for his phone and tried the owner’s number once again. (I was so glad he had a cell phone, as I had left mine at home in the rush to get to church!) Someone answered the phone and I heard him say, “Your little dog has been hit by a car…….. Oh, I am up here at, at, at…….I jumped in and said you are at the U-Haul parking lot across from Kentucky Fried Chicken. I realized then that his heart and mind had been so concerned about this dog, that he didn’t even know where he was. He repeated the information that I had said, into the phone and within 5 minutes a man and woman came up crying, to get their beloved pet. I declare to you; that dog smiled when his mother picked him up. It was like he had a new life. His breathing eased.
Now, how does the heading of this blog relate to this story? God knew ahead of time what this evening had in store for a young man who would run out of gas, for a couple who loved their pet, and for me, a lady who was wondering, as I rode down the driveway of the empty parking lot of my church, why God allowed me to make such a mistake.
I will never forget the kindness of the man who stopped to help this helpless little dog. I just know he would have been hit again, as no one else was stopping. He made the comment to me, “You know, I hope we can find his owner because to some people, their pets are like their children and I have two children of my own, I wouldn’t want to lose one of them.” I was able to give him enough money to get more gas and he was so grateful. “I am the blest one, I told him, and the dog’s owners who were also trying to express so much gratitude. God had me come to church a day early for this very reason. His love is awesome! and I needed to know that he has his eyes and compassion on all of us and on those we love.