Lessons from Charles

My dog Charles doesn’t look like much.

He’s just a scrappy little reddish-brown mutt, 25 pounds of tail-wagging energy. He’s bow-legged, missing two front teeth and has no pedigree, at least not that I know of. He has perky, pointed ears and a natural furrow to his brow that gives him a perpetually inquisitive look, whether he intends it or not, and a curly-q tail that makes him appear joyful and ready to play.

He also has a sweet, loving spirit. He’s just as comfortable snuggling as he is running around the yard.

His favorite activities are sleeping, eating and jumping on the furniture -- in about that order.

Charles probably would flunk obedience school, and he’ll certainly never win the Westminster Dog Show.

But God has used Charles to teach me and my loved ones innumerable and sometimes startling lessons about life, love and His eternal promises. And I’m convinced He brought Charles into my life for just that purpose.

Two friends rescued Charles along a busy interstate highway, where he’d been thrown from a car and abandoned. He was a wreck. Bleeding from the mouth, covered with open sores and mange, trembling with fear, snarling at anyone who came near.

Funny, that’s about how I felt when they gave him to me – alone, abandoned, fearful and utterly hopeless.

To put it mildly, I’d had some setbacks in my life. The end of my 14-year marriage left me alone, broken and nearly broke. I lost my pension, my car and my life savings. I was left with an empty house, bitter memories and an oppressive silence. I wandered from room to room, unable to even pray, fearful that an unanswered prayer would shatter what little faith I had left.

My hopes for the future seemed to perish, too. No growing old together. No joyful holidays with the kids. Friends who once seemed close turned their backs. A rebound relationship I foolishly thought would save me also ended badly. It didn’t help that much of the mess I found myself in was of my own making.

A few months later when my stepdaughter died of complications from a birth defect, I plunged deeper into despair and a huge chunk of me seemed to die with her. I

drank heavily and used prescription pills to numb the pain.

A stifling depression that gripped me in the gut agreed with my heart that God
had abandoned me. He didn’t really care. No one did. Spiritually, I was dead.

Then, along came Charles. He was as broken as I was, yet almost from the start, he happily bounded through my house, his face fixed in a permanent smile.

“You’re such a funny little animal,” I’d mutter. He’d just smile back.

Gradually I noticed that through Charles’ playfulness, his inquisitiveness, his joy, God was gently instructing and guiding me, showing me a pathway back to the land of the living.

If you’ve had setbacks, if you’ve ever felt abandoned or alone or simply not good enough, take heart. The lessons God used Charles to teach me can help you, too.

I knew in my mind what Jesus said. That God cares for every living creature, even the lowly sparrow. That not one falls to the ground without the Father’s OK. That He values me far more than a bird.

I just didn’t know it in my heart.

But I began to consider Charles, out on that busy interstate. An eight-lane highway can be a pretty scary place any time of day. During the city’s morning rush hour, it can be a nightmare, especially for a lost and confused little puppy, not yet a year old.

I can only begin to imagine the terror Charles felt. He’d been torn away from the only home he ever knew, from people he thought loved him. Alone, with cars and trucks whizzing by him, he must have been terrified. When my friends found Charles, he was trembling with confusion, scared out of his mind. By God’s grace he wasn’t killed that day.

Yet God was protecting that bow-legged little puppy, looking out for him as surely as he does the birds of the air. Or you. Or me.

At a time when I least deserved it, God sent friends -- angels, I call them -- to help guide and even rescue me, including a discarded little mutt.

When I consider Charles’ life, and mine, I can see God’s hand. He gave me the desires of my heart. He brought me Beth, my loving, Christian wife, who encourages and prays for me. He brought me a new teenage stepson, Shane, a great kid only beginning to realize the depth of his gifts and talents. The Lord led me to a deeper relationship with Him, gave me lasting new friendships and rekindled old ones. He sustained me at work,

giving me a new drive for a job that I love.

Everything I lost during that dark period was restored a hundredfold.

And Charles? Where he once was alone and abandoned, cast away, he got food to eat, a bed to sleep in, furniture to jump on and walks to the park or the beach. He got a teenage boy to play with and two grown-ups who love and care for him very much.

And he has a life full of adventures from which we all can learn. My hope is that the lessons he’s taught me can help you, too. About joy and disappointment. About prayer and forgiveness. About fear and God’s protection.