Zeus

It's now been a few weeks since we had to put Beau down, and everyone's hearts have been healing. We sent him to Heaven and told him when he got there to let Lee's mom know that we did not need anymore dogs and that we weren't ready for another of her rescue treasures. Lee's mother was well known for bringing home the ugliest, most flea bitten, mangy skinny dogs you've ever seen. Even though Lee's mother has long since passed, anytime a stray shows up on Lee's doorstep, she says her mother has sent it her way. We made it a few weeks before Lee's mother sent us Zeus and we fell in love and offered our help without even seeing him first. Beau and Lee's mom surely used all their persuasive powers!

Today we welcomed Zeus into the Apple Hill Farm family. We plan on him being a foster as we rehabilitate him, but if you've met any of us, you know that may not end up being the case! Of course, we can't keep all the wonderful dogs for ourselves, and Zeus certainly is wonderful. Zeus is a Great Pyrenees that has previously been used as a cattle guardian, and that's about all we know about him. We're unsure of his age, but hopefully as his condition improves we can at least guess it. He currently weighs 75 pounds, and our best guess is that he should be around 130. He's actually about 2 inches taller than Knox, who is between 110 and 120.

Great Pyrenees dogs have been bred since the 1600's as a livestock guardian dog.Their quiet and steadfast nature makes them excellent watch-keepers over any livestock, from goats to horses and everything in between. They are excellent with all baby animals and always laid back. However, many people assume that since they have been bred to be in the field 24/7, that they are able to forage for themselves. I feel this may have been what Zeus's original owners believed. As with any domesticated dog, these majestic guardians are not able to hunt and feed themselves, and certainly not within the confines of your pasture. They must still be fed and watered, have their coats and nails maintained, and have human counterparts. This was not what Zeus's history seems to be.

As far as we can tell, Zeus was originally a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) for cattle. The original owners sold the herd, sold the farm (or possibly rented it out) and left Zeus behind when they moved. The next tenant fed Zeus while living there, but probably did little else to maintain his health. We're unsure how much time passed before the next tenant came along. Fortunately for Zeus, they were a volunteer at Horse Helpers of the High Country. They immediately saw he was in dire need of help and rounded up the team. Despite the fact that Horse Helpers has never rescued a dog, Amy (the director) was ready and willing. After a stay in the emergency vet that included cutting all of his hair off, IV's, and a thorough check up and blood panels, Zeus came to us at Apple Hill Farm.

We were forewarned that Zeus was not a pretty sight and that he was barely mobile. We had a stall and bed ready for him, sure that he would not be leaving the stall any time soon. As soon as Amy and her daughter got Zeus out of the car, he was up and walking, much to their delighted surprise. It didn't take him long to settle into his stall for a nap after he had lunch and was outfitted with a coat we use for our baby alpacas to keep him warm. We also set up a space heater to keep the stall warm. His second walk around the barn was amazing- he even took a few trotting steps. This is most likely the most he's moved in days, even weeks. He was eager to explore, but we took him back to the stall where he immediately settled down for another nap. Each walk and each meal seem to bring more and more life into him.

Most of the time, you look at Zeus and see a shell of a dog. But there are those moments where he suddenly looks right into your soul. Or his nose twitches at a scent on the wind.Or his ears perk at some far away sound. And you know he's in there, somewhere. Inside this shell of a dog is an amazing creature waiting to be brought back out. You can already feel the love inside of him. And we are promising to find him, deep in there, and bring him back out. And to never let Zeus disappear again.

Here are some pictures of his first day on the farm. Be warned, they are not easy to look at.

Legacies

We're working our way through Colossians at Alliance Bible Fellowship and I am loving it. Today's message centered around Colossians 1:29 to 2:5 - it's amazing what you can understand from the Bible by actually reading it! Here is what I took away from the message.

In these verses Paul speaks of how he has continuously labored with all the energy Christ has given him. And he's not laboring and striving just for people he knows, but for people he has never met. He willingly accepts his burdens, imprisonments, and torture "so that they might be encouraged in the heart and united in love" and so that they might also understand the mystery of Christ - we have all we need  in Him. Paul also suffers as he does so that no one would be deceived by false teachers. Paul surely has achieved his goals; he is still encouraging fellow believers he could never have imagined meeting hundreds of years after his death. Paul spent every ounce of himself in service to God and His people, even to the point of death by sword. How many of us can say we've left a legacy like that?

What stories and lessons do you hope to pass down to others? A story of finding true love, failed adventures, or college mishaps you hope your children don't repeat? What is the greatest moment of your life, and does it have any spiritual value?

Many of us spend hours practicing, training, reaching for and training for different goals of ours. As we're pouring ourselves into these tasks we need to ask 'Can I point to the supreme importance of Christ in this? Would others?' How much of what I'm doing and spending my energy on is for myself, and how much is for others?

It's very popular today to 'leave it all on the mat' and work til you drop - but only for yourself. If I poured myself out completely for a sporting competition, graduate school any other activity for myself, that's perfectly acceptable. But if I pour out every single ounce of myself into something for the sole purpose of others, people would tell me to take time for myself. I'm guilty of telling myself this! In the last weeks I've often wished for more time for myself. I want my personal time to relax and refresh myself. I don't want to burn myself out on something. But, if I follow Paul's example, that's just what I should do. I should give all I have for the cause of Christ. So that others may come to know Him, be unified in love and encouraged.

I should follow the example of many Christian missionaries and martyrs over the past hundred years such as David Brainerd. His life goal was 'to burn out in one continual flame for God.' And he did just that. He served faithfully as a missionary to the Native Americans until he burned himself out and succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of  28. Many would think this a waste of a very promising young missionary's life. I believe Brainerd achieved his life goal and literally left it all on the mission field.

Will I ever be able to say the same of myself?