The Strike

 You could say I had been on strike!

Most workers strike when they are not satisfied with working conditions. In my case, I guess I was no different.  I do not think my strike had been a blatant paint your sign and picket  the employer's business kind because ,in this case,heaven's gate was my employer.

Rather, I had slowly just started praying not as long ,as often or as fervently.  I also had the problem of not knowing what to pray for. I had experienced miraculous events in my life. Were these not enough to carry me through any further storms? I was just tired of the same old problems, the same old injustices and maybe all this would not have mattered so much if I had at least felt good.  I had been running an uphill battle for awhile, working full-time, fighting schools for adequate IEP's,(Individual Education Plans), running to doctor appointments for my kidsand then trying to keep dinner on the table.  When my health started suffering and I met my new companion, "pain", I think I simply lost hope and turned into the crabby old neighbor across the street I swore I would never become! Now I wonder what the Wilcox's had been through themselves? What led them to never smile or wave when we passed by, or even to wag the  finger of shame when we  tried to use their driveway to turn around once in awhile? 

In this state, I was a little surprised when my friend, who I had not seen in months,(friends are luxury items for normal people in normal circumstances...not for moms with 4 kids that have neurological challenges), posted a picture of a cute bulldog on my Face Book wall. I saw it and mused,

"Dang, it's cute! Oh, no and it's deaf. Nobody is going to want it. And it might have to go to the pound. Well, I will just ignore that squishy face and go about my business. God will forgive me because he has already given me a full load on my plate I can't finish, SO THERE!!!"

I went and folded a few socks and then found myself drawn back to the photo again. 

"It's name is "Moo" and it is spotted like a cow! How clever is that! Hey, our neighbor lost a french bulldog. Maybe I will just take this for him. I will tell my husband later. He will say no until he meets the thing. He is a sucker for all animals!"

Secretly,I was almost hoping my text would NOT be productive when I texted the phone number under the squishy dog face's photo.

"Do you still have "Moo"?

"Yes, please call me." came the almost immediate response. 

I called  and a pleasant voice answered and explained that he had inherited the dog from his daughter when she had had to move to an apartment a few years ago. "Now , I have her and she has been living at a friend's house for six months with eight other dogs because I lost my home then. My friend just called me and told me he is taking her to the pound because he can't keep her anymore.

Can I bring her by your house? "

"Does she get a long with other animals?"

"She has been living with all those dogs and I haven't heard anything negative and she does well with my chihuahuas."

"We can see how she does," I said.

when he brought the dog over, the first thing I noticed was it was NOT a french bulldog, but seemed to be a Heinz 57 mutt. Her buggy eye balls and long legs and body also spoke of other heritage than french bully.I figured she was more of a "french ton"(the new Boston-terrier/french bulldog mix). She was not only deaf, but she seemed to want to charge my other dogs and the guinea pigs. As soon as you held her in your lap, she also began some odd dance moves with some "lick-nipping" mixed in. The owner explained that at the shelter they had figured "someone" had hit her in the head repeatedly and had probably caused her injuries and her odd gesticulations. Over the years they had just learned to live with the weird licks and she did respond to a few isolated commands.  

Before I knew what I was doing, I told the man I would keep the dog for the night and see how it went. However, things did NOT go well.

  It kept acting strangely and outlandishly and no one wanted to be around it. I sat it on my lap and tried to massage it's legs and back and I spoke to it softly saying, "Please calm yourself, doggie. It's OK. We have got to try to help you calm yourself so someone will take you to their home. It will be OK! You can do this." I laid it on its back and rubbed it's paws like I read  was calming for them because that is what a mommy dog does. It did seem to help.Then I continued. " I know you have been through stuff, but it's over now, we can teach you to relax." It would relax as long as I massaged it, but then the minute I stopped it would start it's strange behavior again.  One of the girls said, "Mom, why are you talking to that dog? It can't even hear you?" I told her, "Hey, I am talking to her soul! She CAN hear me!"

That I night I slept with it on the couch and everyone else, but my daughter Jessie had left us. Maybe it was my uncomfortable position on the couch that led to me to a very strange night. I had a nightmare where I dreamed my girls were lost in the woods and it was very dark and cold. No one could find them. There was mist, fog, the whole bit...possibly even a swamp...I can't be sure. Anyhow, I was calling their names, but my voice was SO soft and was lost in the darkness of the wood. I was also moving very slow and it was very awful knowing they were lost out there somewhere and I could not help them . I tried to call for help, but others were just passing me by not seeing or hearing me because my voice was too soft. I wondered if they really did see me and just didn't care :(

I awoke crying and sweaty and my wet state was further confounded by the unusual creature that was perched on top of me licking me again! She had, so far, not nipped me and I was not sure why. At that moment I started praying and I told God I was really hoping he could help me find the creature a place. "Surely there is a place for her somewhere, God?" In my heart I was SO worried she would have to be put down. I also prayed that  I would have the courage to fight again for my daughters. They were similar to "Moo" and I realized I was SO fearful there was NOT a place in the world for them either.  The last year had been extremely taxing and I had lost my courage to advocate for them. Just the week before I had received a denial letter for pivotal services for our daughter with disabilities.I was supposed to appeal the decision, but every time I reached for the phone, my hand would shake and my heart would race. I did not USE to hate to make phone calls, but years and years of rejection from various government agencies or fights with schools over the phone have made me gun-shy of a simple communication device.

The next morning I put a simple ad on Craig's List with a picture of the dog. I alluded to some of her troubles, but I said she really needed a home. In 3 hours I had over 10 phone calls and 10 emails! I called Moo's original  owner and we talked. One woman in particular intrigued us.  The owner said he felt good about the lady over the phone and he would take "Moo",  to meet that family.
He picked up Moo and took her for a trial visit with the new family.

The owner called me later very excited and recited the following experience, " I pulled up to the horse ranch and Moo got out of the car.  She licked the lady and wagged her tail. Then Moo met her son who is confined to a wheelchair all day! Moo jumped on his lap and did the strange little dance, licked the boy's cheeks and the boy started crying with joy! The boy was SO happy to have all the attention from Moo that sometimes gets too much for the rest of us! The mother started crying too. She said the state would pay for Moo to have service dog lessons. It is like a dream come true and the perfect home for "Moo".

 I immediately remembered my nightmare the night before and was suddenly hopeful! A lot of my worry for my kids was surrounding the fear that there was NOT a place for them. Missed parties, missed Little league, missed WHATever the world thinks is important raced through my brain. In a  strange way, they were in the woods and we were looking for a safe place. A startling realization hit me when I thought of the weird dog and the boy's reaction to the dog. I suddenly remembered a different lap!One day, my children would find THEIR place and it would also be on a lap that would not care if they dressed in an unusual manner or looked a little strange. This person would probably not even care if they acted funny or drooled or "lick-nipped".

 My kids had been promised the BEST place and "lap" of all! 




 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Moo was just a silly little dog. A silly little dog I had not even known the day before and yet...in the space of three hours God had reached down through the clouds, brought strangers together in "sin-city" and found a place for a strange animal and brought joy to a lonely boy in the process. 
In the process, He had also restored hope to a weary mother's heart and ended her strike.