Radar the Dog Hears his Mamma's Voice

Mike Hosey, Elder

Kelli has a little three legged Min Pin dog we call Ray Ray.  His real name, though, is Radar.  He was named that because of his rather large upright ears, which he can direct to hone in on any sound he deems significant. 

Let me tell you more about those ears in a moment, but first, I want to give you some of his story.  He lost that fourth leg in a dog fight -- a fight that we believe his previous owners sanctioned. The vet had to amputate his mangled limb, and his previous owners did not care to retrieve him, or to pay for his surgery, and so the vet kept him in his office hoping that someone would take him to a good home.  No one ever did. It seems that a lot of people like to look at three legged dogs, but not very many people are interested adopting one. But one day, Kelli, and our oldest son, Caleb, were in the vet’s office and noticed him.  My wife, with her big heart, felt a need to rescue him – without consulting her husband who was away on the mission field, I might add. And so he became a member of the Hosey household.

At first, he didn’t warm up to Kelli very much, instead, he preferred Caleb.  But after the death of another of our dogs, he latched on to Kelli.  Of course I can’t know a dog’s mind and heart, but I have to admit that he seemed to recognize that it was her who had saved him and taken him in. One thing is certain, he bonded with her in a big way.  He follows her e v e r y w h e r e! The most interesting thing, however, is that he knows her voice. The world and all its chatter can be pumping out noise at airport levels, and Kelli can whisper in another part of the house, and Radar’s ears perk up like super-secret CIA cell phone sniffers and pick her signature voice pattern out of the cacophony. Interestingly, her voice brings him comfort, and draws him to her. When it’s lightening and thundering, our little dog is reduced to wiggly mass of furry jello. But if he hears Kelli’s voice, he’s in her lap and calm!

We are just like that! When we hear the harshness of the voices we’ve been discussing this past week, like insecurity, condemnation, giving up, and fear, all we have to do is listen for the voice of Jesus and we’ll be calmed.  If we really know Jesus, then we can pick His voice out of the noisy world and follow Him to peace in every storm (John 10:27).