God Provided on Time - UBM [David Eells]

I have a great testimony! In my humble opinion, it's a true miracle. I will start by saying it all started a few days before Father's Day this year; I was concerned for my dad. He had recently separated from the woman whom he married three years ago. (They have had a very turbulent marriage, due to drugs and alcohol, and infidelity on her part. I am very happy to say that since she left my dad has stopped drinking and has kicked his three packs a day habit! He gives all glory to God and so do I.) He was very lonely and she had broken the court order by taking the dog he had owned since before they were married. He needed companionship and I knew that he loved boxers, so I prayed to the Lord to let me buy him a boxer for Father's Day. As the day approached, I did not have the money that it normally costs to buy a full-blooded boxer, which can run around $300-$500. But I believed in faith that God put that desire in my heart, so I diligently looked for a boxer for sale.

The night before Father's Day, I had a dream where I saw a beautiful male boxer standing on some train tracks. He was brindle in color and a very fine specimen. I awoke the next morning and Father's Day had come and it was getting late in the day and I still did not have a boxer for my dad. Sure, I could have saved up money and bought one a week later, but it would have not been what I prayed for, which was getting him one on Father's Day.

About 7:00 I found a young couple on Craigslist who were looking for a home for their boxer pup left over from a litter. They only wanted $100 for him and that was exactly what I had to spend! (He was brindle, just like the one I saw in my dream.) I drove the 40 or so miles to them and rushed back to my house, only to find my dad was just down the road from my house at a church for some group meeting. (He lives 25 miles from me and at the opposite end of the county, so him being so close was all God.) It was nighttime now, like 9:00 pm and I was able to give him the dog just in time -- Father's Day would be over in three hours, LOL. He was so touched and cried because he needed that dog and really wanted one but could not afford one. It was like all the bad things I did to him growing up, all the stealing, lying and fighting was forgiven in that very moment. I felt a huge weight off my shoulders because I felt that I actually did something right and it felt good to see him so thankful.

Over the next month or so, my dad got really attached to him and really loved him like a son. We called him Billy and he turned out to be a big sweetheart. Dad and I both agreed he was an answered prayer. About 10 days ago Billy got out of the fence and by the time my dad came home he had already been gone for three hours. My dad lives in a very rural area and it's filled with country roads and crop fields. So much time had passed that it was almost impossible to find him at that point. We spent the next couple of days making flyers and literally posting them everywhere, even the surrounding towns. I told my dad that I had full assurance the we would find Billy; I knew that God would keep his promise and my dad agreed with me. Over the next week we did not hear anything, but I continued to speak faith to my dad and I could tell he was still confident, too. It seemed hopeless but the situation did not affect me because I have seen too many miracles in more hopeless situations than what I found myself in at that point.

Days went by and we heard nothing, Then, yesterday, I must say that I did waver a little bit and, although I still would have said I believed Billy would come home, I began to think maybe this was God's will and he would not come home. I even inquired about a boxer someone was giving away because I thought we needed a replacement for Billy.

I don't know the significance of this but the same day I doubted my dad got a call from his next-door neighbor; he said, "Mr. Crawford, I have your dog!" It was amazing. It turns out that Billy had wandered almost to the next town when a young girl found him walking on the side of the road. She took him home to her parent's house and the next day she left town. The whole time we were waiting on the person who found him to see the signs, which were everywhere. But she wasn't in the area, so she never saw them. The day she came home she saw all the signs and called her friend just on a whim to talk to him about it. She said, "According to this sign, the dog that I found was lost around your road".He said, "Yeah, that dog is my next door neighbor's!" (What are the odds of that?) That is when he called my dad and the rest is history.

I pondered on what happened and began to realize no matter what it is, if God has answered a prayer and it truly was Him that gave you something and then it gets lost or stolen, you have a legal right to believe in faith for the return of it. My thinking was this: Why would God give a good gift, only to take it back? (I understand if you are disobedient or wasteful, you may lose it but that was not the case here.) I called my friend C.J. and began to explain this and told him about the miracle. I told him I had prayed for the dog for my dad and received it on the day I asked. I knew God had ordained it and I realized that God was showing me that He keeps His promises. I tried to share a parable with him to help explain this, but he did me one better by reminding me of the elderly woman and Elisha. She asked for a son, God granted it and then he died. But God was faithful and, even though the odds were against her, she was able to get back her son. Even death could not hinder the Word of the Lord.

I praise God for this because this has helped my dad's faith, as well as mine.

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