Scottie the Miracle Dog!

When the kids were young, my wife and I tried to help our kids see the power of God revealed through prayer. We said prayers with them and tried to make a big deal of how and when God answered. At times, we even wrote our family prayer requests on a large sheet of paper stuck to the refrigerator, and then, when God answered we would write down the way He answered, put the date He answered and then we would all celebrate and thank Him for His Goodness. We wanted our four kids to see His power and love displayed in answered prayer.

This plan to teach our kids to pray was going great when my young son decided he wanted a dog. He prayed faithfully and fervently with my wife for weeks at bedtime prayers for that dog. I, however, had just become the senior pastor of a church that had recently survived an ugly split and with four young children, my plate was pretty full.  In my selfishness I justified not getting a dog because I didn’t have a lot more time or energy to add “pet care” to my “to do” list. So, thinking that I would eliminate the possibility of adding a new canine family member, I said, “Well the only way we are getting a dog, is if God puts one in our backyard.”  I felt extra assured that would not happen because the church had just built a 4 foot high chain link fence around the parsonage backyard. My son, however, was not shaken, he knew that God answered prayer, so he redoubled his prayer efforts.

Then you know what happened?  I woke up one morning and looked out the back door and there, right in the middle of the backyard, inside the fence, was a medium sized black dog that looked like a small wolf. Of course, I did a double take and said to myself, “I don’t see a dog in my backyard,” thinking maybe that if I denied seeing it, said dog it would disappear. So, I hoped that maybe the dog would just go away. But my son looked out the door and said, “that is the dog I’ve been praying for!” “God sent my dog!”.  I reluctantly put some water out for the poor mutt that had obviously been on the streets for a while. My animal-loving wife could do nothing but laugh at God’s sense of humor and her pastor husband’s lack of faith in the power of his son’s prayer. My son instantly named the mutt “Scottie”, before we actually knew the dog was a female. And so, from then on she was affectionately  known as “Scottie... the girl dog.”

But God was not through answering the prayers of that little boy and humbling this daddy. After a few weeks, I asked my wife, “how much are you feeding that dog? She’s getting fat.” She said I’m not feeding that dog any extra.  So, at that moment we looked at each other and said, “she’s pregnant!” So my God, “who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,”(Eph.3:20) gave that little boy and his sisters 6 more mutt puppies, much to their glee.  They did recognize that 7 dogs were probably too many to keep for ourselves. So, we all agreed to share the joy of puppies with other people. Fortunately it was the Holiday Season and we were able to advertise Christmas puppies and give them all away. But my whole family knew that God had abundantly answered the fervent prayers of a little boy.

Even now, all my kids are grown and they will call home, share their prayer requests with us believing God for answers, and we thank Him for His response.  The answers aren’t always exactly what we asked for, but we still recognize that God answers, even if He says. “No” or “Not yet.”  

I'm excited that a version of this story has been included in Guideposts: The Joys of Christmas 2019. https://www.shopguideposts.org/joys-of-christmas-2019.html 

The Day Was Anything But UGA-ly.*

What a great Saturday! My 15 year old son has wanted to go to a UGA game for as long as I can remember. So my wife said, "Let’s drive down and see if we can get tickets." We left Chattanooga a little after 8 a.m. We arrived on campus just before kickoff, so the Blonde Bombshell (with Bible Power) jumped out secured a couple of tickets as I maneuvered through the traffic. Then she jumped in the driver’s side and found a parking place, while the young man and I made our way to Sanford Stadium and up to where the air is clear (and hot). We both stood at the rail with chill bumps as the “Ahhhhhh crescendoed into, “Gooo Dawgs, Sick’em, Woof, Woof, Woof” when Blair Walsh kicked off.

It was a great day of SEC football… for my son.. I, on the other hand, was kinda quiet as my grad school alma mater was being embarrassed. It was like a Georgia highlight reel the whole game and a blooper reel for Tennessee. UGA thoroughly thumped UT, 41-14. As one UT fan near us said, “Tennessee was playing ‘flag football’”, riddled with penalties, miscues and mistakes. I wasn't too upset by the loss. These teams have played each other for over 100 years. There is always next year for the rivalry, but having a teen son to enjoy the game with has a shorter shelf life.

I wouldn’t have traded this day for anything – I will never forget the excitement on my son’s face and the chill bumps we had as we watched the teams rush onto the field with the bands playing in loud competition. There was the sea of red shirts and pom-poms with a few orange sections. There where Georgia flags, cheerleaders, and mascots (both real and costumed). This was a memory I hope he remembers fondly. I am so thankful for the opportunity to spend this time with him (I hear the clock ticking… he is growing up).

I am also appreciative of my wife’s initiative in making this memory and her sacrifice to not go into the stadium (she is as much of a UT fan as anyone). She toured campus and window shopped with the 3 girls in Athens instead.

Psalms 127:3 (CEV) Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord.

P.S My wife and I are puzzled by one thing. We have never quite figured out why our son is such a Dawg fan. He was born in Georgia and only lived there for about 9 months, but he is decidedly and passionately a Georgia fan. My wife and I have tried to talk him into becoming a Tennessee fan seeing how his mom and dad both have a degree from Rocky Top, we have lived in Tennessee for more than 10 years, his uncle played football there in the early 80’s and several other relatives have graduated from there. His dad, yours truly, was even a “flag boy” for UT basketball during the Ray Mears years. I dressed in an orange blazer, black pants, white shirt and carried a big sign on a stick. When the ball was shot, another flag boy and I held up the sign that said “ZIP,” when the ball went in the basket, we held up the sign that said, “BOTTOM.” If it was a really good shot we jumped up with our signs and ran around Stokely Athletic center, high fived each other and returned to our place. (We were sort of ancient perambulating Jumbotrons that flashed signs to the crowd as to what say.) If for nothing else, he should follow UT out of sympathy for his dad's fanatical childhood behavior.