I had decided to take an extra day off. July 4th fell on a Friday, so I could make a nice four-day weekend by taking Thursday as well. The first thing on my list was sleeping in. You should know that sleeping in for me wouldn’t necessarily equate to sleeping in for someone else. Still laying in bed at 6:30 am would be a wonderful start to this day. So, of course, that didn’t happen.
Kenny was leaving for work as usual around 5:45 am. I raised my head from the pillow to extend a quick kiss and, “Hope you have a great day. I love you. See you tonight”. My head fell back to the pillow, eyes closed, and I was certain that sleep would quickly find me again (even if only for a short period of time). I tossed and turned a bit, not seeming to find my happy place. But I was determined. I was NOT going to get out of this bed yet; for ANYTHING.
I held my stance until around 6:10 am and that’s when the atmosphere shifted. No more quiet morning. The chirping of the early birds was suddenly drowned out. The roosters even had competition. This cannot be happening. A thunderous alarm from the backyard had an urgent tone that couldn’t be neglected.
Our dogs, Ruger and Remington, are German Shorthaired Pointers. That means the following: they have two speeds, asleep or Mach 10; everything they do is like their job, their life depends on it; and literally everything is hunted. They are beautiful, smart, hilarious, and exhausting. In this particular moment at 6:15 am, I wasn’t loving them. I wanted one morning. That’s it. But the tone in their bark told me something serious was happening and I needed to be paying attention. With a fair amount of anger and frustration coursing through my veins, I rolled from the bed, grabbed the gun, and went to investigate.
We live remotely, where a normal day can include coyote, fox, deer, raccoon, groundhog, possum, etc. None of these are cause for alarm of course. But being aware of their presence is important. What the pups were alerting me to was not at all what I expected and took me completely by surprise. Keeping me (and ultimately the entire household) safe was part of their job and they took that job very seriously.
I cautiously stepped out the front door and onto the porch to have the best vantage point. If I was going to be shooting at something I needed a clear line of site. They were losing their minds as they frantically barked (not in their standard pointing posture) at the dinner bell tower. There was no scary trespasser trying to break in the house. No sinister wildlife on the prowl looking for a snack out of our chicken pasture. There was a tiny mouse. A mouse! They ran it up the bell tower and it was now stranded sitting at the top with no means of escape. The one thing we don’t have in this house: a BB gun. The bell tower is too tall for me to hit it with a baseball bat or anything similar. I reasoned that a shotgun was a bit overzealous. I had no recourse. For the next three hours, my potentially quiet morning was infiltrated by the unrelenting and aggressive barking. I finally gave up at some point and went back in the house.
I’m often guilty of neglecting the “little things”. Right or wrong it happens. Not enough time. Too many distractions. But it’s often those little things that really end up making the most noise and causing the most problems. One day not being in the Bible. One week without connecting to accountability. And suddenly it’s been a month. You’re given warnings (some of them subtle and some not so much). But at the end of the day, it’s like the story of the Princess and the Pea. There’s something that just isn’t right and it needs dealt with; no matter how small.
I don’t know where the mouse went. The dogs finally stopped barking. My enjoyable extra day at home was just delayed a bit. But this served as another reminder to pay attention; especially to the little things. They might not be so little after all.
Luke 16:10 ~ One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.