Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

These Scriptures will be embedded in the story.

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.

In her leaving, she said someone would come.  I had thought that was Jesus, in His second coming, but a new Babs, a little older, the model for the posable action figure arrived.  While I had no desire to start over with romance, Morrie helped her move in, thinking she was the other Babs who had returned.

This Week’s Question

Last week, Babs and I folded each other’s underwear.  It was just a lesson on what our preferences were, but it was an object lesson also.  We were one step closer to being a married couple.

This week, Babs entered the dining room where I had my office.  She said, “Close your eyes and I will give you a big surprise.”

I had not heard her use this ploy before, but I was ready for anything, or so I thought.  I did as she requested.  I first felt her breath against my forehead.  That was disappointing.  Then I smelled her perfume in my nose.  I was thinking she was going to plant a kiss on the lips.  But no, I then felt her nose flick my ear.  She had nibbled my ear a couple of times, and I liked the way she did it.  Then she brushed her chin past my neck.  Kissing me on the neck tickled, but that meant she wanted to be playful.

That’s when it happened.  I felt a different nose, sniffing my neck and then a lot of licking from a long active tongue.

I opened my eyes and reeled backwards.  “Babs!  Do not tell me you bought a puppy!”

Babs, holding a small to medium hound, said, “No, Harold, Sugar is well nearly two years old.  She is a hound dog, but she is trained.  We should not have any accidents if we keep her in the house.”

I stammered, “But, but Babs, we need to talk about these decisions.  A dog changes our lives dramatically.”

Babs smiled, “I have been talking about having something to replace the fact that I will never know the joys of motherhood.  We could adopt, but we are getting older.  We will have the grandchildren, but they will eventually go back to Mom and Dad.  And a dog can be our companion as we get older.”

I sighed, “Unless the dog dies first.  But where will the dog stay?”

Babs smiled, “The dog will stay with me, but by Christmas, we are having a ‘Design by Tenzie’ special dog run in the backyard.  I have a kennel twice the size that Sugar needs so that she can walk around when we go to the food banks around Tracy.  When the dog run arrives, it will have automatic feed and water distribution with a feature that allows us to dispense a treat.  But if we are detained in some way prior to the dog run arriving, Tony and Joe will come by to give Sugar a walk.  They will feed and give her water.  All her needs will be met, Harold.  And you do not have to do anything.”

I asked, “How did you get a ‘Design by Tensie’ dog run?  Design by Tensie has no catalogs.  They basically design something when they see a need, or he does.  No one knows who Tensie is.”

Babs scrunched her nose.  “I was at the Niblick’s house the other day.  You know.  We went to their kitchen for a big dinner one time.  Anyway, their beagle started howling and I said that I was thinking of a dog, but since you and I are always going from one food bank to another, we needed a stress-free area to house the dog.  She talked about the huge invisible fence that they had to connect four backyards and two front yards.  And Elroy and Irusya have three big guard dogs that patrol the area.  Then, she showed me Beauty’s dog run.  I was very impressed with the Tensie logo.  Pauline simply said that she knew someone who knew someone.  They had not set the dog runs up as a retail item, but they were stuck, not knowing if they should sell the design and have them premade or sell them as kits.  Pauline gave me a price, and I was thinking that you couldn’t buy the parts for that price.  I mean, electrical and water hook-ups, computer interface.  This thing is high-tech, but Pauline then said that I got that price if I told her my thoughts about the equipment.  So, I am becoming a beta tester before they go to market.  Tensie is having Darrel Driver and Blake Williams install it.  Blaise Yeggs is going to do the electrical and computer checkout.  And they will train Tony Painter in the basic maintenance.  If we get an invisible fence in the backyard, they have a doggie door arrangement so that Sugar will know to go into the run for meals or for bed.  But the doggie door will lock if we do not have an invisible fence.  That means we will have to walk her to give her exercise, but the run is good enough for weeks on end, enough room to run back and forth.”

I nodded, “Okay, Babs.  From now on, these big decisions that change how we do things everyday in our lives have to be joint decisions, but I will let you have this one.  But you know what Matthew 7:6 says, ‘“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.’”

Babs cuddled Sugar, “Don’t listen to this man, Sugar.  You are no Philippians 3:2 dog. ‘Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.’  No, you are a sweet dog.”

“Okay, so that is how this is going.” I grumbled.  “You were prepared with Scriptures if I did not like the idea.”

Babs giggled, “Of course, Harold.  Genesis 1:26-27 says, ‘Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’  And then Proverbs 12:10 says, ‘The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.’  We are supposed to have dominion over the animals, but we are to care for them also.  And don’t worry, Sugar, we are not wicked or cruel.  But Harold gets a bit grumpy.”

I countered, “But Proverbs 27:23 says, ‘Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;’ Are you ready for that responsibility?”

Babs scratched Sugar behind the ears, “Don’t listen to Mr. Grumpy, Sugar.  You know I have everything taken care of.  I will do as best I can to be like our Heavenly Father.  Psalm 104:14-27 says, ‘He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax. He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening. How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.’  How is that for being safe and secure?”

I laughed, “Okay, Babs, you win.  You have a way of winning.  When your heart bubbles over with love, my heart seems to melt.  As for Sugar, she’ll have to grow on me.”

Babs snickered, “Don’t worry.  She is a hound.  She likes to run and hunt, but she likes to cuddle.”

Babs and I kissed, and Babs took Sugar to the oversized cage downstairs.  She set up a nanny cam to see when Sugar stirred.  Within a couple of days, Sugar’s schedule was set.  She had set feeding times and walking times.  That gave us windows to go to the food banks.  If we had a puppy, things would be a lot different.  I relented and paid for the invisible fence to cover the entire yard, but that might have to wait until Spring.  The ground was starting to get frozen.  The Spring rains would soften it up a bit, and Sugar was fine for the moment.

When Babs let Sugar run around on the main floor, mostly staying with her upstairs, Sugar would put her front paws on my thigh while I was reading something on the computer or listening to music.  And without realizing it, I found myself scratching her behind her ears.

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

I grew up with outside dogs.  They were hounds that needed to hunt.  We had a dog run that my Dad designed when we lived in Tupelo, MS. For most of that time, the dog that lived in that dog run was named Sugar.

We had hard times when the boys were young when it came to dogs.  They had one dog or another, and a gerbil for a while, but something always went awry.  The landlady in Pennsylvania refused pets of any kind, but my son in Tennessee has five dogs, a snake, four chickens, and their eldest son brings animals from the school home with him during the holidays – a hazard when you have live animals in the classroom.  He has had a rabbit and rats.  I have no idea what will be next.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.