Teddi, the Miracle Dog

After my divorce, my 17 year old daughter and I moved from a three bedroom, two story house in the country to a one bedroom walk up apartment on a busy street. One Saturday, she decided to go shopping. On her way out, she yelled, “Mom, if Teddi (her dog) needs to go outside, make sure to put her leash on!” I had a bad habit of not doing this and she knew it.

A little later Teddi barked at the door – her signal for “Let me out!” I instinctively opened the door and let her out (no leash). She did her business and then the phone rang. Without thinking, I ran up the stairs to answer it – leaving Teddi. Fifteen minutes later, I hung up the phone and it hit me. I’d left Teddi outside. Alone.

I flew down the stairs. No dog! By this time it was getting dark and thundering. Teddi was terrified of thunder and would hide when it was going to rain. At that exact moment my daughter pulled in the driveway with her boyfriend. She took one look at my face and knew what had happened. She became hysterical. I couldn’t blame her. This dog had been her best friend for the last eight years – through everything her dad and I had put her through. She loved this dog.

She screamed something as they drove down the street, going house to house searching for her lost dog. At each house they described Teddi – a brown poodle with red and white polka-dot ribbons on her ears. Hours later she came home, went into the bedroom and slammed the door. I knew what she was thinking.

“How irresponsible.”

“How selfish.”

She was right. The next morning, she didn’t speak to me. She went right out to look for her dog. It had stopped raining, but still no sign of Teddi.

I began to pace and cry and then cry out. Somewhere in the midst of it, I realized I was crying out to God; pleading with Him to help me, admitting how wrong I had been, and because of my selfishness, my daughter hated me. I told God I knew He was a miracle worker and could do anything. And even though there were more “important” things in the world – war, disease, starvation – this was the most important thing in our lives and if he would just bring Teddi back, I would not be afraid to tell everyone and anyone who would listen how real He is.

Then I did a crazy thing. I told God I was going to sit on the porch steps and not move until He brought Teddi back. Looking back, I realize it wasn’t that I was demanding this from God, but that I had reduced my faith to that of a child. I believed anything was possible. I plopped down on the steps and covered my eyes.

About thirty seconds later, a van pulled in the driveway. I didn’t recognize it but there was a man driving and a woman next to him with a brown poodle with red and white polka-dot ribbons. The man rolled down the window and said, “Hey lady, is this your dog?”

I barely was able to whisper “Thank you” as he handed me Teddi who was panting as if to say, “Where have you been?”

But wait! That wasn’t the miracle. What happened next is. The man, I didn’t even get his name began to tell me the story. Every Sunday, he and his wife drove 25 miles to visit her mother, who lives on the street behind us. They were visiting her while my daughter knocked on the door and told them about her lost dog.

They felt bad for her; but never giving it another thought, drove home, watched some television and went to bed. The next morning, the wife said, “Let’s go visit mom again today.” Right away, she looked around as if she couldn’t believe she’d said it. The man, equally surprised, said “I was just thinking the same thing.” They got into their van and drove the 25 miles all the while thinking, “Why are we doing this? We never do this.”

About a block away from their destination the man noticed a brown dog with ribbons in its ears trotting down the sidewalk. He stopped, turned to his wife and said, “That’s the dog the girl was talking about. Let’s pick it up.”

At first, his wife was unsure – what if it was the wrong dog? But her husband persisted, so they stopped and put the dog in the van between them. They both miraculously remembered the address and brought her home exactly thirty seconds after I had put all my faith in God and sat on those steps.

I don’t remember what happened next. I looked up and they were gone. No people, no van, just an empty space where they had been. I don’t know how long I stood there; but the next thing I knew, my daughter pulled into the driveway, jumped out of the car, and began hugging and kissing Teddi. Now, I won’t say this mended all the problems between the two of us, but it was the beginning. And today, we have a wonderful relationship.

Even though Teddi is long gone -- dying of old age -- the story is as fresh as if it happened yesterday.

I don’t know why or how God did it, but I know He did. Was it to grow my faith and rebuild my relationship with Him? Or to let me know how real He is and how much He loved me and my daughter? I don’t know. All I do know is that day I became a child, crying out to her Father, He answered. He scooped me up and cradled me in His loving arms. He continues to do so today. The Bible says, “Come as a child.” The faith of a child is pure and unconditional. And until my voice is too weak to be heard, I will tell everyone who listens the miracle story of Teddi, the dog.