Prayer and Proverbs

During our last winter at our country home, we enjoyed a family gathering consisting of  two Lozanne’s siblings and their spouses.  Our visitors called ahead and offered to treat us to a takeout supper of fried chicken.  We thoroughly enjoyed our evening and after our guests left rather late, we decided to clean up all the dishes in the morning.  I placed all of the chicken bones and other disposables in a large garbage bag, as I have often done from time to time in the past, beside the waste pail in the kitchen and went to bed.

I am a restless sleeper and I could hear sounds that I mistakenly interpreted as middle of the night personal grooming which Marley is wont to do from time to time.  Of necessity, last year especially, I was up and around every two hours.  As I was moving out of the bedroom, I heard the same smacking sounds I had heard earlier.  As a I approached the kitchen, Marley slinked past me rear end close to the floor and with her tail decidedly firmly pressed down between her legs.  Her guilt was so evident that it was palpable.  As I continued into the kitchen, I was shocked to find the garbage bag in the same position that I had left it hours earlier; however, its contents were now all over the floor.  A closer inspection confirmed my worst fear.  Marley had eaten every last chicken bone that were the remnants of a meal by six adults.  She had never touched a garbage bag before in her five years with us, but the temptation was just too great this time.  The amount of bones she had consumed was staggering and scary.

My heart rose to my throat.  I had always believed that soft cooked chicken bones, which actually splinter when chewed, would surely cause a dog a horrible and painful death.  The quantity consumed conjured in me a belief that a death sentence loomed over the head of our good friend.  My immediate reaction was to pray for what I then believed to be a miracle.  My second act, since it was the middle of the night and emergency wards do not exist for our canine friends, I consulted the internet by way of Google.  I was surprised to find several websites dealing with the same problem.  Much to my relief, another myth was debunked by the website of an eminent American veterinarian. In most cases, I learned, the bones simply pass with a possibility of diarrhea.  In some, but not many, cases the bones cause intestinal distress and may require expensive and extensive veterinary intervention. The welcome advice was to monitor her carefully for forty-eight hours watching for signs of intestinal distress or blood in her stool.  I felt marginally better and indeed watched her very carefully for the two day period.  

It occurred to me several days later that my actions in the middle of the night were very biblically based.  I did two things in the face of what I initially considered a catastrophe.  Most importantly, I started with prayer and then in response to prayer and I sought expert advice.  Jesus tells is in Matthew 7: 7-8 just exactly what we as believers should do.

7 ¶ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

 8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

In the face of difficulty, we should always start with prayer.  In this case, I was convicted to seek the advice of an expert which in this digital age is a not a difficult thing to do.  In Proverbs 18:15 we read just that admonition.

15 ¶ The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

In seeking that knowledge we should search out wise counsel as we learn in Proverbs 11:14

14 ¶ Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

Marley was closely observed for the next two days.  She suffered no serious ill effects.  Despite her cast iron digestive system, I learned a very valuable lesson.  All edibles, including chicken bones, should be properly sealed and left out of reach.

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