​Thursday Septemeber 10, 2015

When life gets messy and life gets mean, remember - everything is not as it seems. With the flick of a wrist what was upside down is right. May you be blessed with a spiritual cleansing. Refresh. Renew. Redemption.

Psalm 23:5-6

On a Monday night, this time of year, hard for me to believe but it happened 18 years ago, my son Jonathan (who was 10 at the time) and I stood on our screened-in front porch, looking out at a perfect evening.

The temperature was ideal and there was a full moon. I had my arm around my son’s shoulders—all was right with the world. As we looked out over our domain, we spotted some small black animals in the meadow on the other side of our driveway, so I reached for the binoculars to get a closer look. I discovered that they were a family of four skunks. They were so cute, waddling along in the grass. My son and I enjoyed taking turns looking at them through the lens of the binoculars. When it was my turn again, I looked through the binoculars at the rest of our peaceful yard.

As I turned to my left, I spotted our dog Bentley. Bentley was an overgrown, overly-friendly golden retriever. Bentley had grown quite large off of the unique, hand-fed diet of Pizza Hut pizzas and Reese’s peanut butter cups. In the serenity of that moment, I had forgotten that I had let out our overly-social golden retriever a few minutes earlier. I prayed an instant prayer that he would not notice the skunks, BUT it was too late. In the magnification of the binoculars lenses, I saw Bentley appear to smile. Since he was such a social creature, I knew what he was thinking – new friends to play with.

In a split second, Bentley was out of focus and off chasing four very surprised skunks who were not at all pleased to make the acquaintance of the hundred-and-five-pound fur ball that was approaching them at breakneck speed. In slow motion, I saw the skunks raise their four tails in unison. The dog, also caught by surprise, yelped. I saw he had stopped in his tracks and was standing like a statue – like a runner frozen in mid-stride. A gaseous cloud arose and encircled the dog. There was a light breeze blowing from the direction of the skunks toward our home. Within seconds, the worst smell we had ever experienced encircled the house.

The stench was so powerful it made my son cry right along with the dog. I went into the kitchen to get my aerosol can of professional-strength Lysol to spray off the porch and my son. I should have never turned my back. While I was reaching for the Lysol, I felt something brush against me in the kitchen on its way to the back bedroom. I did not think too much about it. I thought it was just Jonathan. Then, the smell hit me. I shouted, "Where is the dog?" Jonathan shouted back, "He is in the house." Unfortunately, when I had gone to the kitchen, Jonathan had let Bentley in. The dog quickly positioned himself in his favorite hiding place – under my daughter Jennifer's bed, in the back bedroom.

Poor Bentley was about as low in spirits as a living creature could be and appeared to be very embarrassed by what had happened to him. When he was in such a state of mind, he squeezed under that bed and there was no removing him. We thought that if Bentley had to be in the house at all, at least his choice of hiding place was Divine order at work; my daughter was away for a whole week at a church youth conference. I moved Bentley's food and water into that bedroom and closed the door, thinking I would fumigate before Jennifer arrived home on Sunday evening. It was past bedtime, so Jonathan and I sprayed ourselves with Lysol, went to bed, and were soon sound asleep.

About two hours later, I was awakened by a thunderstorm. In the back room, Bentley was crying and barking because he was so frightened by loud thunder. I felt sorry for him, but there was nothing I could do to comfort him, and I certainly would not let him out of the back room. I turned over and went back to sleep. In the wee hours the morning I woke up again because the scent of that overwhelming odor was so strong it was bringing tears to my eyes. I turned on the light and found the dog in the middle of my bed, on his back, sound asleep, four paws in the air. Somehow he had managed to get out of the back bedroom. I escorted him to the front screened-in porch to air out.

The next day, he had not aired out at all, and the odor did not age well. My friends told me to go to the wholesale club and buy tomato juice by the drum and bath him in it. Instead, I called Bentley's veterinarian and purchased a product called Skunk Off. It is a clear liquid, for which I was very thankful because when Bentley got wet, he shook until he was dry. Fifteen minutes after I had started treating Bentley with Skunk Off, he was still dry, but I was soaked from head to foot with the chemical. Every time I tried to put it on Bentley he would shake it off on to me. After about an hour, I managed to get enough of the product to stay on the dog to make him presentable again. I washed the sheets and shampooed the carpet throughout the house.

Life is funny. Sometimes everything can be going well, but in a second’s time, you get "skunked." It's okay, as long as you walk with God. That night, 18 years ago, a table of good was prepared for me by God in the presence of my enemies that still makes me smile to this day. Your “enemy” can be anything that disturbs the calm peace of your soul – whether it is four skunks, or another major challenge. God anoints your mind with the oil of well-being, and your cup overflows, even in the midst of difficulties.

Goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life, and you dwell in the house of the Lord your whole life long. I will never forget the Sunday evening when my daughter came home from the church youth conference. She asked what that strange smell was in her bedroom. Jonathan, Bentley, and I simply shrugged our shoulders, and smiled. Some things are better left unsaid.