A Rooster, A Cemetery & Two Dogs
Family Reunion in Wild & Wonderful West Virginia
A few summers ago I spent a long weekend at my family reunion in Belington, WV. My cousin wanted to find the cemetery where her Grandma and our great aunts and uncles are buried. We got up at sunrise the next day and took off for what we thought would be an easy drive. I had been there before and thought I remembered the way there. It was peak summer and as the sun rose over the mountain, shining light onto the car, we were greeted by the mountain mist passing through our cracked windows. We were very excited.
We were driving for while before we realized we were lost. We were deep in the mountains, and we decided to turn around and find our way to our destination. A few yards before us there was a gravel and dirt driveway. As we were making the turn we saw something us city folk are not used to: a screeching rooster. He was hostile to our entrance into his territory. I literally got scared for a minute, I just did not expect a rooster to be guarding this road. He was so vengeful and aggressive. As we were headed the opposite way he chased us until I convinced my cousin to put it into high gear.
Our new route with the steep cliff to our left, and the mountain on the right brought us down the road where we could see in the distance a small driveway and a wooden post sign. As we got closer we realized that this was the place, and pulled in. To be honest I had only been there once before and I definitely was not sure where to find the graves. My cousin and I split up, her to the front of the field, me to the back. We searched for a good 45 minutes until we reunited at the front of the cemetery. Now that might not seem like a lot of time, but this was not a spacious cemetery. It was in a curve on the side of a mountain.
We gathered our thoughts and I prayed that we could find their graves, like I had been doing the whole search. I turned towards the mountain and I immediately see what I believed to be two dogs hurdling down the mountain straight for us. I yelled to my cousin who then hid behind me. I guess they were afraid of wild mountain dogs! I was a little scared too. As they approached they looked something like a lab, and did not look viscous at all. In fact, they both had collars on. The two dogs came right up to us, and let us pet them. Then they started to slowly walk away, but not in the direction they came from. I thought, what the heck, might as well see where they are going. After a short walk through the cemetery, the dogs stopped and sat. I thought this was rather odd. When I looked up I saw that the dogs brought us directly in front of our families graves. I was completely astonished and turned to give the dogs a thank you pet, but they had vanished. We could not find them anywhere, but what we did do is stand there, in respect to our ancestors, and give gratitude for this crazy journey.
This whole journey absolutely blew my mind. At no point were we going in the directions of our families plots, until the dogs found us. I could simply say here that God answers prayers. Instead, I would like to point out every second of this story was Gods answer to my prayer. From the sunrise, to the rooster, and then to the cemetery, God was moving with us and for us in everything. The small circumstances that most would say are hardly worth noting, are the exact means God uses. If and when we call on Him it’s not a matter of whether or not He will answer our prayer, but if we see as God sees.
So much of life is just mindlessly moving through our day whether work, school or even church. I beg you not to settle for being awake but not alive. Each moment is a precious gift, and we truly do not know how long we have. Take a drive through the country, smell the roses, pet the dog, and go do battle with a rooster. God gives us Himself as a gift every second of our existence. Do we let the sunshine and mountain mist take hold of us, or are we just getting done what needs to be done? God can use everything to bring about His healing, freedom, love and peace. We just have to let Him.
God can use every part of our life and experience to bring about His presence and action in our life. We all have those mountain top moments where we are elevated and clearly see God working in our life. It is essential to remember that God can use everything, even our pain and hellish moments, to bring us closer to Him. Dealing with my depression and mental health challenges at times have made me experience the pit of despair, a hellish experience. But that has never been how the story ends in my life. God meets me in the mess, and walks with me to freedom. I have found there is always hope, and that God is faithful through everything. Call upon Him, He wants to bring you peace.