A puppy tale __ a puppy antidote __ a puppy story! Anyway you look at it, it is a brief story about a puppy that had no tail, which once belonged to two little boys that I knew very well.

Their dad had brought home an adorable little Australian Shepherd puppy. He was the cutest, cuddly, chubby, blue gray puppy we had ever seen. Tuff, as we called him had come to the perfect home. Oh how the boys loved him.

These two little guys, (my sons) age seven and eight and a half were full of fun, ideas and a bit of mischief. They were very responsible for their age. They had been taught well that work comes before play. Farm duties must be done. Calves to be fed, straw bedded, watered and vaccinated if any were sick. 

Then there were laws that were laid down by mom and dad. There were things that they were not to do at anytime if one parent or the other was not there with them. They understood well the consequences if laws were broken. 

During those early years the boys and I lived alone much of the time. Their father worked away and did not spend a lot of time with us. So that meant that I would have to fill the place of their father and try to be mom too. We had so much work to do on this place. We took care of all the cattle, milked the cows, irrigated the pastures and made sure everything was done to the best of our ability. 

And yes, I held down a full time job with an hour drive to work every morning. Those two little boys were ready for the school bus by 6:30 am. When we arrived home from work and school it started all over again. Many were the nights after the chores and homework were done we would fall into bed. A lot of mornings I wished 3:00 am could be extended a few more hours. It was tiring, mind-boggling and exhausting to say the very least. 

My parenting skills failed on more than one occasion. Sometimes I let it happen on purpose so that the boys could have a wee bit of fun. We had an old Ford N tractor that was so much fun to drive. For those of you that don’t know about a Ford N tractor, it could be considered a garden tractor or very small light duty machine. 

While I was hard at work irrigating the boys decided to take the little tractor for a spin. I have good hearing so I knew what they were doing. They were having fun. But, the next sound I heard made me drop the siphon tubes and head for the tractor as fast as I could get there. 

Oh my__ Oh my! My heart sank as I saw what had happened. There was little Tuff yelping out with pain. He had been run over by a tractor tire. We were scared spit less. What would dad do when he found out I had let the kids drive the tractor and then to top it off, kill his prized dog. 

We picked little Tuff up and saw that his leg was broken and the bone was protruding out from the skin. The boys were crying and frightened of the consequences that lay ahead when dad found out about this.

There was only one thing to do and that was to put everything that I had taught the boys about Jesus and His great love for them and all His creation to the test. Through tears, we began to pray for this yelping, hurting little pup. We put Matthew 18:18, 19 and 20 into practice. It wasn’t long and Tuff quit crying and wanted to get down. We carefully set him down on the ground as not to hurt him. He took off running and the broken leg was going around in a flopping circle. But, as he ran the leg went back into perfect place. Tuff never hobbled or walked with difficulty throughout the rest of his life.

It would be senseless to tell my sons that Jesus doesn’t heal puppies and that childlike faith doesn’t work.  They grew up knowing the wonder-working power of Jesus.

In recapitulating this story, tears again run down my face. I thank the Lord a million times for His mercy and loving-kindness to me as a parent when I didn’t do everything right. Sometimes I wondered if I did anything right.  I thank the Lord for protecting us these many years. 

If perchance you weren’t aware of God’s healing power and love for you, read these scriptures and believe. Simple childlike faith is all that is required. God will do for you what He has done for my boys and me.

Suggested Reading: Exodus 15:26, 23:25, De 7:15, all of chapter 28, Psalms 107:20, 118:17, Jer.30: 17, Nahum 1:9, Mat 8:2,3, 18:18,19,20 and Heb 10: 35.