“How was I
going to carry a 50-pound dog with a broken leg all the way back up the Feather
Falls trail?
By Susan Weidman, Feather Falls,
California. Guideposts (on March 2012) ( pgs.16, 17)
“I don’t know who was happier to be out
hiking that beautiful autumn day, my dogs—Sophie, a nine-year-old white
standard poodle, and Tex, a five-year-old parti-color miniature poodle—or me. We
were out in the Sierra foothills on one of our favorite trails, by Feather
Falls, the sixth highest waterfall in America. A mile down a wooded canyon to a
creek, then two miles back up to where I had parked the car. A good, vigorous
hike.
We were almost to the creek when a
squirrel darted across the trail and into the trees. Sophie bolted into the
canyon, hard on the scent of her elusive prey. The chase was on!
Sophie loved going after squirrels.
Not that she ever caught one, but she kept hoping. I had to admire her spirit.
Tex looked up at me as if wondering whether or not to follow. ‘You stay here,’
I said. ‘She’ll be back soon.’ I knew the routine. In a few minutes Sophie
would admit defeat, pop up on the trail again and trot back to my side.
But 15 minutes went by and she wasn’t
back. I peered down into the canyon. The brush and fallen trees were too thick
to see through. ‘Sophie!’ I called, then paused, listening for an answering
bark or rustling in the brush. Nothing. She
can’t have gotten lost, I thought. We’ve
hiked here a hundred times. What if she’s hurt? Or worse? I didn’t want to
even consider the possibility but I couldn’t keep my mind from going there.
Not long before, I had lost the oldest
of my dogs, my Rottweiler, Sadie, to bone cancer. I couldn’t take it if
something happened to Sophie. ‘Sophie!’ I yelled. ‘Come here, girl!’ I looked
uphill and down. No sign of her. My cell phone was useless this deep in the
woods. Should I hike back to the car and
find help? Ahead, the brush stirred. Tex yipped. Sophie stepped onto the
trail. Whew! Wait…she was hobbling.
Her left hind leg dangled uselessly. It looked broken. ‘You’re a brave girl,’ I
said.
Her tail wagged. She hobbled a few
more steps, then collapsed on the trail to rest, panting. Sophie weighed 50
pounds. How was I going to carry her two miles uphill back to the car? And I
couldn’t leave her here, injured and alone, to go for help. Help was going to
have to come to us.
I bowed my head. God, this is an emergency. Please send someone to get us out of this
fix. I’m still not over Sadie. If I lose Sophie I don’t know what I’ll do….
I had to admit, though I had serious doubts. We hadn’t seen another soul on the
trail all day. Sophie had just struggled to her feet again when I heard voices.
Two hikers, a strapping man and a slender woman, came striding down the trail.
‘Can you help me?’ I asked them. ‘My
dog…’ The woman took everything in with a single glance. ‘Her leg is definitely
broken,’ she said. ‘We need to put a splint on it.’ Before I could ask how, she
shrugged off her backpack and took out scissors and surgical tape. My jaw must
have dropped because she said, ‘I used to be a veterinary assistant. Go find a
straight stick we can use for the splint.’
I found a small branch and brought it
back to the woman. She used it to stabilize Sophie’s leg. ‘My turn,’ her
companion said. He hoisted my dog onto his broad shoulders and carried her all
the way uphill to the parking lot where he gently placed her in the backseat of
my car.
We were at our vet’s within the hour.
It took a while since Sophie’s getting up there in age and the break was pretty
bad, but her leg healed just fine. A few months ago we hiked the Feather Falls
trail for the first time since the accident. I don’t know who was happier,
Sophie or me. I do know, however, who to thank for her incredible rescue—the
One with whom all things are possible.”
“And we know that all
things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the
called according to His purpose.” (Ro. 8:28)
“Yet
in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who lived us. For I
am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, not things present nor things to come not height nor depth, nor any
other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Ro. 8:37-39)
HOW
TO GET A NEW HEART by Our Daily Bread
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