I Call You Friend

Yesterday was our biannual Hollow Creek Farm dogfood/towel drive that I organize for our neighborhood area. I got a call an hour before I was to start circling the neighborhood and picking up donations.
"Hello Vicky?" said the stranger, who identified herself as Robin, "My husband and I are so impressed by the work Hollow Creek does for God's creatures, we bought 10 bags of dogfood. Can we bring them to you right now?"

In that first sentence, Robin was no longer a stranger. I knew a great deal about Robin. She loved God, she revered His creation, she had a gentle spirit that listened to His promptings, and she acted upon them far above and beyond expectation. When Robin and her husband pulled in to the driveway, I recognized her. I had spoken to her once long ago. She lived on the other far end of the neighborhood. I had commented on her beautiful hair at the time, and she had laughed, and said, "Oh honey, that's a wig! I'm going through chemo and I'm as bald as an egg."
Robin could not help lift any of the bags out of the car because of multiple surgeries, 28 to be exact, with another coming soon. But she said she is doing great, and is blessed of God. When she and her husband left, they first hugged me like I was an old friend.

I went on to finish the dogfood pickup and filled the van. Some folks donated a new dog bed. Others added big dog pillows, towels, and bags and bags of dog food. I added a big can of coffee for the owners. I know sometimes they scrimp on their own needs because feeding the dogs is primary and their budget is really tight, especially in this time of "hope and change." HCF is an hour away, but it was a beautiful day, a perfect day, so I knew a drive in the country would be glorious and I wanted to get the food as soon as possible to HCF. I packed my kayak in the back (the inflatable one since the whole van was full of donations), planning to stop at a little lake on the way home. I cannot yet scrub a counter without pain from my ulnar nerve injury, but joy of joys, it doesn't hurt to kayak. This is an excellent injury to have.

When I arrived at HCF, I saw they had installed a front yard fence so that the dogs that were too weak or infirm to play in the fenced backyard with the rowdy dogs now had a place of their own to be safely outside. This is where Speedy, the little corgi with the paralyzed back legs could roll around with the cart that carried his limp back legs. He had died recently, but he had loved the wide open space to run, like any dog. There was a new puppy there, who had a filmy covering on one eye and a wounded looking area.
"Who's this?"
"He's one we just got in," said N, the founder of HCF.
"Is he blind?" I asked, scratching the pup under his chin.
"We think it might be able to be fixed," answered N, "We are bringing him to the vet and they will remove that skin that grew over the eye. They think he might be able to see when they do that."
As we carried the carload of goodies to the van, we had to step around the old dog who had both eyes removed. He thumped his tail happily as I pet him. He was well fed, I could tell. Another weak and thin dog nudged my knee softly, and asked submissively if I could spare a little petting for him. Before I left, N handed me a special candle that HCF is now offering on their webstore. It is specifically designed to kill dog smell in homes.
"I really need this!" I said, "Our house really stinks."
"It would make great christmas gifts for all your friends with stinky homes," she said.
"How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing," she said, waving me away, "This is just to hook you on it, like cocaine." (PS- go to hollowcreekfarm.org to purchase.Great stuff and helps the farm!)

As I kayaked later, in the peaceful gorgeous day, I had the whole lake all to myself. I was again, the only one on the water. All I had for company were the birds, the new mother goose and her goslings, the turtles, and my thoughts. And what I was thinking mostly about was selfless love. The love of a man and woman battling cancer to help feed creatures they'd never seen, the love of neighbors to donate to a distant rescue farm despite such hard economic times, and the love of the founders of HCF, who would build a special pen for a special dog to run free, replacing his legs with wheels. Above all else, we are to love one another, and care for the world God has given us. What a blessing to me to see sacrificial love in such overflowing measure.

John 15: 15-17
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.





-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org