Sparkles

Daniel and I were taking a walk around camp late tonight after all the campers had gone to bed and he made the comment, "I wish there were a dog here right now." Over the past few days we have frequently discussed the idea of Penny and Toby running around camp with us. Though Young Life camp is sometimes a picture of heaven on Earth, its complete lack of any sort of canine presence restricts its divine status. Afterall what kind of heaven doesn't include dogs? A dog-less heaven is an oxymoron (I think I'm using that word correctly). Back to my story... so Daniel makes his comment and then... jingle jangle. We start looking around for what I think is a wind chime or something possibly hanging from a tree. And then we saw her. A gray and white figure resembling a wolf. She headed for the back of the summer staff building and disappeared to a chorus of, "Ahh, come-mer, hiiii, sooo cute." The girls had let her into the basement briefly and she made her escape when we opened the door. Daniel and I followed her and eventually caught up with her at the large grilling patio. She had fled to source of all the delicious meat smells. When she saw us she came trotting over and immediately rolled onto her back for a good petting session. I sat down in the wet grass beside her and hugged and petted her with all my might releasing all my pent up doggy affection onto her receptive belly.

Her name is Sparkles and she makes her way into camp every once in a while much to the dismay of Greg the property manager. Today was an emotionally heavy day for me, but God brought some relief with the delivery of Sparkles tonight. I needed her and her smiling doggy face. Thank God for dogs.