Scooby-Dooby doo you expect the unexpected?

Although we live in a cute cabin in the mountains of Western North Carolina, our next-door neighbors aren’t your typical conservative southern family. Visits from the department of social services and police are fairly common due to the combination of drugs, alcohol and violent rages. The husband (I’ll call him Jack), and wife (lets call her Jane) have two great little girls and a cool dog named Charlie.

The only bad thing about the location of our home is a major highway that runs right outside our front driveway. This highway has a ton of traffic and is a very dangerous place for kids or pets to be near, so I’ve always been strict about our dog Eastwood never crossing the fence on our lawn. Jack on the other hand has never been very concerned about this danger and allows Charlie to wonder close to the road without understanding the reality of this situation. I’ve attempted to bring this to his attention on many occasions, yet with no avail.

Here is where the story starts. Yesterday Charlie was hit by a car and died shortly after it happened. I was in the pottery studio when it happened but my wife Nicole heard car tires squeal just before a loud thumping sound ended Charlie’s life. It took about 5 minutes before Jack and Jane realized what happened, but by that time it was too late.

I would like to say my first response to this devastating scenario was one of grief and a desire to “mourn with those who mourn”, but it wasn’t. Thoughts of judgment and condemnation immediately flooded my mind as I recounted the numerous warnings I gave Jack. Even after Nicole told me about the tears that flowed becuase of the loss of his beloved pet, my mind was consumed with thoughts of “Jack, I told you this would happen.”

As I was standing outside of my house today Jack walked over and greeted me. He asked me if I had heard about the death of Charlie and I told him I had. He continued to tell me how he had tried to make it to an emergency vet but that he died before they’d arrived. I told him I was sorry (in a shallow, superficial way) for his loss and then touched his shoulder, careful not to touch his sweaty shirt. Then I began to walk him down the driveway when I noticed a green piece of paper on the ground. This was not a normal piece of paper but more like a laminated card of sorts. When I picked it up and flipped it over, (thinking it was just some trash which needed to be thrown away) I was quickly surprised to see what was on it.

Right in the middle of the green card someone had cut out a square comic strip of Scooby-Doo. In it Shaggy and Scooby are having a conversation which says the following:

SHAGGY- “WELL, PAL… ‘SNIFFLE’… LIKE, IT’S BEEN SWELL KNOWING YOU.”

SCOBBY- “REAH… ‘SNIFFLE’… RIT’S REEN RUH ROOD RIFE!”





As my eyes scanned the words on the comic I immediately got goose bumps and knew the Lord had big plans for this random scrap of trash. At first I was not sure what to say except for “I think this is for you,” but quickly after he walked back to his house I heard the Lord’s voice leading me after him. By the time I made it back to his house he had already showed the card to two other guys who where helping him build a shed.

When I opened my mouth to speak I knew what the Father wanted me to say, however I had to push past an initial fear of exposing the hypocrisy and self-righteousness in my own heart. To be honest, I don't remember the exact words I said to the guys, but I do know it was powerful because when I was finished all three of these “big macho construction workers” were in tears. The basic gist of what I said is this:

Jack was absolutely responsible for the death of this helpless puppy and deserved nothing but judgment and condemnation, yet God has chosen to bring comfort to his sorrow and give him unconditional love instead of punishment. I shared with him that, operating out of my flesh in the natural, I desired to hold him responsible for his action and see him experience justice and the due consequence. But God has granted him mercy, forgiveness, grace, rest and peace instead.

It was then, and only then, when I was able to feel his pain and mourn with him that I wrapped my arms around his drenched body and hugged him firmly while telling him how much his Heavenly Daddy loves him.

So, about 10 minutes ago, I just got back from another visit with Jack, and this time he did most of the talking. He shared with me how exhausted he is at “trying to get it right” and how much of a failure his life has become. A life time of drug abuse, theft, adultery, violence, alcoholism, bankruptcy and a number of other addictions have left him with a life in hopeless shambles. During this conversation I was able to share the incredible good news of Gods Gospel which brings hope to the hopeless and freedom to the captives.

I explained to him how his eternal destiny was no different than his peers who where more successful at their job and family life. Our status of success in God's eyes has notthing to do with our ability to get it right. I told him: “Jack, God’s heart for your life has very little to do with you stopping certain behaviors or doing a bunch of tasks for him. His main desire for you is that you would experience and embrace his unconditionally love. This is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. If you understood and embraced his love and grace then your behavior would change naturally as a result of the Holy spirit working in you. However, no amount of behavior modification will lead to his rest, peace or love.”

God did a super-natural act to show Jack that he loved him. We don’t use that term lightly – the circumstances for Jack to receive that card were super – normal – above and beyond what should have happened. First of all, I (Nicole) noticed that scrap of paper a couple days ago and thought about picking it up but decided I didn’t have enough energy (aka I was being lazy). Second of all, the card was laminated to withstand the substantial rain we’ve been having lately. Third, it somehow managed to stay in our common driveway for days with cars whizzing by at 50 mph. Lastly, the actual message on the card is totally incredible! Jack experienced the love of the Father and it seems now that he has and is responding to his love, his Gospel.

We often hear preachers share stories of miraculous events, and they often involve famous people, as our friend Clayton King likes to share stories of meeting the lead singer for the Red Hot Chili peppers, Hulk Hogan, and Billy Graham. We, however, really enjoy seeing God miraculously love the least of these, the sorrow filled mountain man who just lost his Charlie.

Wow.



Jack posted this on the tree above Charlie's grave.