Mickey Went Missing on the Fourth of July


If you have a pet you will know what I’m talking about. During the ten years we lived on board a Mercy Ships we could not have pets. When we moved to Texas the girls found a cat they name Cotton Ball. Then there was Kelly the Dalmatian, more precisely Princes Kelly the 9th. Between Kelly and Engel the German Sheppard, several cats stepped in the revolving door of our house until we settled for Copernicus and Zion. 

Mickey, a mix of Lhasa Apso and Poodle, was two months old when came to our house last year. Vivacious and playful, didn’t take long for him to conquer our affection. Like his ancestors from Central Asia, any noise is enough for him to raise the alarm by barking until something is done. He also has lots of fur, in the spring when he got his first grooming he seemed very small comparing with how he looked before. 

Last Wednesday evening, as the Fourth of July celebrations drown to an end, I let White Dog, our daughter Queila’s dog, go out for a leak. She came back and Mickey had his turn. So far nothing new we go through this ritual every evening, with the exception that I forgot to let him in back. In the middle of the night Carla woke me up to asked if I know where Mickey was, she could not find him anywhere.

In the morning we drove around whistling and calling his name. We called the police and the veterinary with no avail. That evening Carla and I went to bed with heavy hearts. What happened to Mickey, he never disappeared before? Did somebody saw this likable little dog and decided to keep him? All those thoughts hovered over our heads as we tried to sleep.

What happened to him, or where he was we will never know? In the middle of the night Carla woke me up, “look what was at the front door!” After 24 hours missing, Mickey came back peace and joy returned to our lives. 

Mickey’s short-lived disappearance led me to reflect, not that we have not done it many times with our daughters, on how God feels when one of his children goes missing. Jesus tells on the parable of the lost coin: 

 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10
Mickey and White Dog

Comments

Ana Santos said…
What a great story about Mickey. It makes me to go ito lots of reflections as well. Thank you for sharing Marcos. You guys are great. Love, Ana

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