Homecoming

This is Heidi. No I don't remember why she's sitting in a kitchen (or bathroom) cabinet. I also don't particularly care for that scarf (or any clothing for pets). But this is the best picture I could find of her. So get past those two things for just a moment so I can tell you this story.

Heidi has been Crystal's dog longer than I have been Crystal's husband. She got her 8 years ago, before we were even dating. Heidi is shitzu (be careful how you say that). Crystal is very attached to her little Heidi, but not in a weird kind of way. Just in a "this is my pet, and I love her because she has always and continues to provide wonderful companionship to me" kind of way. I have often joked that if Heidi and I were both drowning in a pond, I'm not sure who Crystal would throw the rope to first. She loves her dog, okay. And over the years, I've grown to love Heidi to, even though she sleeps on the bed and sheds on the couch and stares at me when I eat. Reed especially loves her, and refers to her as not just Heidi, but as "my friend Heidi."

So Saturday when Heidi disappeared, it was devastating for the entire family. Sometime Saturday evening she sneaked out the front door. We didn't notice until later that night that she was gone, because frankly, with a three year old, you don' t notice a lot of things. But when we did, the search began. I searched the roads around our home for almost two hours Saturday night into Sunday morning, to no avail. Crystal went back out and searched Sunday afternoon, again to no avail. We'd placed an ad in the paper, but were not very hopeful.

And this morning, she showed back up. We still don't know what happened. Reed and I went to turn on the pool filter before we left the house, and we heard her barking in our storage shed. Someone, probably our neighbor, had put her in there while we were getting ready. Our only assumption is that either she came back on her own, or someone brought her back, our neighbor recognized her, and put her in a safe place for us. Needless to say, Crystal and Reed, were beside themselves with excitement, and okay, I was pretty excited too.

So what to learn from all of this? I don't know. People lose their dogs all the time, and sometimes, they come back. I know God has some way of using this to his glory, I just don't know what it is yet. I do know this; He's getting much thanks right now from a very happy family, and a glad-to-be-home dog.