All We, Like Sheep...

On Sunday morning we let Kooper out and he ran off....he must have taken "Spring Forward" literally...because he bounded away somewhere (probably after a squirrel).   He was only out for a minute before we checked to let him back in, but he was nowhere to be seen or heard. Brad had already gone to the church to prepare for the service, so the girls and I separated into teams to try and find him.  McKenna and I drove slowly down Miner Rd, Palmer Rd, and Brown St calling for him and listening to see if we could hear any other dogs barking.  Savannah stayed at home with the other girls and she called out the back door while the others called out from the front porch.  We checked in with them a couple times, but we were not successful in finding him. (It is hard to find a white dog in the snow.)  I was not crying...but, I had that panicky feeling.  The girls were already starting to lose it.

After about an hour of looking for him, I thought we needed to eat some breakfast and just pray we could find him or someone would find him and let him in their house.  I called Brad to tell him we couldn't find him and he asked me if we were going to come to church.  I said, "Well, with the emotional atmosphere here and the possibility Kooper might come back on his own...we probably should stay home."  

The girls started eating breakfast and were in better spirits, but I still felt sick about him being lost and kept looking out the windows for him.  I was starting to think about if it was a good time to start knocking on doors of neighbors or talk with the girls about making signs.  All the sudden I saw this little white dog hobbling along by the road in the front of our property and I yelled..."I SEE HIM"...all the girls were screaming and I ran out the front door, but the snow was too high to get to him that way with the retaining wall there....so Savannah and I ran around from the backyard to try to get him....when we could see him well we realized his legs and stomach were bleeding and he couldn't walk very well....I wasn't sure if that was because of the wounds or that his legs were so cold from being caked with snow.  At that point I started calling out orders..."Savannah carry him in, I am going to run a warm bath, Kenna get some towels...girls get him a treat and put some food and water in his bowl"...after the chaos of those moments to get him in, warmed up, address his wounds, and make sure he was OK....I realized I had acted and felt a little like the father that watched for the prodigal son to return....not exactly the same, but a taste of it.  I smiled as I remembered calling out directions to all the girls like when the father calls out to the servants things to do to celebrate the return of the wayward son.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ~Isaiah 53:6

 

He sort of resembles a sheep, doesn't he?  He was tired after his BIG ADVENTURE.

I told Kooper after I hugged him he was going to be in trouble...but, with his injuries...maybe he learned his lesson...?  We'll see...I guess when we decide to go our own way for a time, we come home a little wounded. I am so grateful we have a Father that loves us and takes us back...and we have JESUS who has taken the punishment for our "wayward acts" upon Himself.  We are so glad we have Kooper home now!...I kind-of wish I would have had a mini camera on him, so I could see where he decided to venture.