Writings By Phil

On the day that Jackie brought him home from the dog pound, Pepper was in his terrible twos, an age he never grew out of! He was a black and white Cocker Spaniel. From the beginning, he disliked dog training and, from most people, he would not tolerate a gentle push on the behind to help him remember the meaning of “SIT!”

He led a pampered dog’s life, and was allowed free run of most of the house, even when we were away. The idea was that his barking would be a deterrent to thieves knocking on the door to see if it was a good time to break in and deprive us of our possessions.

He did okay for a while, but when we were gone for more than a few hours, we found out that he was not completely house broken. He was always hungry and roamed the house scouting for food. Often, we found him up on the dinning table looking for leftovers. He stole food off counters. He sorted trashcans looking for scraps, but never put the paper back in them once he was finished. He, also, cleaned the cat litter every time he could sneak into the box without getting caught. Maybe he thought he was helping, thinking that what he didn’t eat, Haley would have to empty to the outside garbage!

As he grew older, he started to stink! Soap and water and vet visits did little to obliterate the smell. Alas, he was vanquished to the back yard. I had disowned him a long time before; Simply, we were just not compatible!

Jackie, on the other hand, had a much bigger and kinder heart than I did, and Pepper would bask in her gentle touch and soft voice and follow her like a little brother every time she entered the back yard. She readily forgave his many sins!

The years took their toll on Pepper’s health. Deafness and poor eye-sight plagued him. However, I was convinced that he would live to be 100 just to spite me.

Hurricane Irma gave Pepper a brief respite from his exile. As it stormed up the Florida peninsula. I was reluctant, but not completely heartless, and as the winds began to bear down on us, Pepper got to come back into the house. First off, Jackie gave him a bath. We brought his dog crate inside so that we could control his roaming search for food and hopefully, keep him out of trouble. He was locked in his cage!

When the power went out, we sat in the hot, still air, the darkness kept at bay by oil lamps scattered throughout the house, We waited, not sure for what- The storm to end, the roof to blow off, the trees to smash our house, all of the above! We didn’t know what would happen.

I don’t think Pepper knew, either, but he didn’t like being locked in his cage. As the wind blew, he howled! The hurricane made sleep difficult, Pepper made it impossible! At last, Jackie said she would bring him into our room so he could be close to her. Pepper and I traded rooms. I had doubts that the move would shut him up, but as soon as he was in the presence of the one who loved him, the howling stopped.

I wished I could say the same for the wind. Outside, the onslaught continued. My heart was howling with a hurricane of insecurity that spawned tornadoes of worry and doubt. I feared, not so much for our lives, but for our house, and our possessions. Had not we prayed that God would spare us? Why didn’t He send it somewhere else? The TV news had built Irma into a most fearsome threat. She would cover all of Florida, ripping trees out of the ground, dismantling houses, and killing people who did not evacuate or run to a shelter! Should we have run? I didn’t know! We didn’t live in an evacuation zone.

I worried about our big beautiful Live Oak trees. Would Irma tear them limb from limb and club our roof into splinters with the huge branches? I had visions of Irma pouring buckets of water though the massive hole she could make in our roof, ruining 13 years of custom remodel and handmade furniture. I was concerned about all my toys in the garage, my cabinet saw and other tools I use. What if water ruined all of them?

In those dark hours, I reminded myself that God was the God of the storm! God loved me! The storm wouldn’t change that. He gave me Salvation though what Jesus did for me on the cross. The storm could not take that away! God forgave my sins. The hurricane could not blow them back on me! He promised a better home in Heaven, one that hurricanes like Irma would never be able to reach! I remembered all the times I had exhorted myself not to hang on to things to tightly as the storm approached. Things could be replaced. Houses could be rebuilt. Trees could be replanted, though I would never live long enough to see saplings grow into giants.

I wished that I could say that I found it easy to focus on God. I prayed and directed my thoughts on Him, but the great gusts of wind that circled our house easily pulled my thoughts back to temporal things. In the wee hours of the morning, I drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, it was morning!

We were alive! We still had a roof over our heads! A stiff wind still blew, but I went outside to survey the damage, anyway. Our Live Oaks still stood, though most of their leaves and small branches littered our yard beneath them. I put the ladder up and climbed to the roof. It appeared that all shingles were intact. In the afternoon, we cleaned up the yard. It took three of us five hours to pile all the debris across the street where the city would pick it up at a later date. We had so much to praise God for, including the cool breeze that blew the whole time we were raking our yard.

We were without power for almost eight days. That was worse than the hurricane! A friend loaned us a generator and we were able to keep our freezers running, and power a fan or two to cool us at night.

Pepper is no longer with us, His old body gave out long before 100 years of spite! Dog gone!! However, every time hurricane season comes around I think of him. Every time I worry about the future I am reminded that I should be more like Pepper. In the storm he was able to rest in the presence of the one who loved him.

That is what God desires for me; rest in the presence of the One who loves me no matter what life blows my way. If I’m trusting God for the big things like eternal life and forgiveness of my sins , then, I should trust Him in the small things, too, like hurricanes!

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