It starts in Chapter One!

During the past few months I have listened to friends, students and family who are struggling with a part of life....just like me. Our struggles are not always the same nor do they come at the same time. I have prayed for families who are going through a divorce, those who have a child whose doctor's report was not what was expected and there are still unanswered questions, one who sat by the bed while her spouse took God's hand, one who watched her young husband code blue more than once, and is driving him home today, one whose teenager wants to be an adult way too soon, and one who has struggled with drugs, but continues to stand firm. And I thought Kauy getting 5 marks in class was the rough! I know better.....I have been there.
Each year we read Where the Red Fern Grows. I love that book. I cried the first time I read it and the first time I saw the movie, and I have cried each year in between then and now. There are thoughts in that book that reach deep into my soul. Some years it is the end of the book, but some years it is just a sentence that I didn't see before! (That happened in church on Sunday when the preacher read the story of Naaman. Have you read what happened to the servant who stopped Naaman after he left to go home?) Anyway.....I have read the story of Wilson Rawl's life and the writing of this book. The following (which is one of MANY in the book that I love) is soooo him! But...it is soooo you and me! Or so my simple mind thinks so.

Scenario: Ch. One when Billy is grown and goes out to find a dog fight going on. The Red bone hound goes home with him for the night, then leaves after being fed and loved.

" Whatever it was that had interrupted his life, he was trying to straighten it out. He was going home to the master he loved, and with the help of God, he would make it.
To him it made no difference how long the road, or how rough or rocky. His old red feet would keep jogging along on and on, mile after mile. There would be no crying or giving up. When his feet grew tired and weary, he would curl up in the weeds and rest. Water from a rain puddle or a mountain stream would quench his thirst... or the offerings from a friendly hand would ease the pangs of hunger. Through the rains, the snows, or the desert hear, he would jog along, never looking back."
" Some morning he would be found curled up on the front porch. The long journey would be over. He would be home. There would be a lot of tail-wagging and a few whimpering cries. His warm moist tongue would caress the hand of his master. All would be forgiven. Once again the lights would shine in his dog's world. His heart would be happy."

Our lives will have interruptions. We will get off course. We will travel rough and rocky roads, need to be watered and fed with whatever, we don't give up, and sometimes we just need to stop and rest. But if we just slow down for a moment, we will find the warm caress of The Master's hand..... leading and protecting. AND Some day...we will rest on His front porch, and all will be happy.