After about four hours of sitting and observing teaching, Denny and I decided to walk about 3 miles home. It’s in the walking time that travelers can really experience the culture of a country. Taxi rides are quite nice, but if you want a bigger picture then walk.
We walked, overheard rapid Chinese speaking, hummingbird honking and took in the authentic Chinese aromas, when all of a sudden I heard….”WAIT, STOP,” my husband said loudly while pointing to a live creature behind a hedge of bushes. Stepping forward I saw a……puppy.
Chocolate
A mutt with no tags and no owner to be seen. My heart melted for the fellow. In the time frame of meeting this dog I named her Chocolate. I quickly asked Denny if we could take Chocolate home. The id (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_super-ego) in me wanted to adopt Chocolate for a year but that wouldn’t have been the most responsible thing to do traveling. Thoughts raced across our brains. We prayed for God to give us an answer. I interjected that maybe we could keep the dog a year and then find a place for Chocolate. “Well, you couldn’t just leave this sweet defenseless creature.” Thinking a little more. Well, maybe… better yet, we could at least take Chocolate home and clean, feed and find her a home. During the whole time of us discussing Chocolate’s fate she just sat there, not running away.
We finally came to a decision on taking Chocolate home with the intent on finding her a new family. Denny handed me his stuff, climbed over the hedge and steadily walked toward Chocolate. With every step Denny took Chocolate took three more back, quickly the Grand Canyon divided them. I was surprised. Chocolate looked helpless, we could have provided a cozy home, with food and love. Chocolate continued to distance herself from us as we in our eyes were trying to rescue her.
While walking away I wondered why God would put Chocolate in our life. Maybe to test us. I discussed this with Denny and he gave me a profound statement, “Maybe it shows that if we’re willing to adopt a stray dog then maybe we are willing to adopt a 50 year old person.” Now when he said that I realized he meant helping the homeless.
What does this incident mean? I’m not sure, but it definitely speaks volumes we have more to offer than we think.
Reader: Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation?
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