missing my puppies

Yup, I am missing my “puppies” Elijah and Eve. Every time I have to wipe the crumbs from the table into my hand and not on the floor, I think of my puppies. And there is just something about having them in the house, around. There for the kids to jump on or whatever at any minute. Someone to look up when you talk and want to know what you’re thinking. Our dogs have always been allowed in all the main areas of our homes, just not the bedrooms. So they were just always around.
So I think of them and miss them. I was especially saddened to hear that they are still up at the house alone and they bark all night. I wasn’t clear on where they were during the day, just around the house I think. Last we also knew, John was still working for the school taking care of the front garden there-easily a two person job to keep up with the watering during the hot dry season, and weeding during the rainy season! I am sure he is giving them love as he can as he got to know them and enjoyed them and they knew him well too. I know he got really worried about them when we went on our 7 night trip before we left Zambia.
With everything else we did and how fast it all went, we didn’t have a lot of time to find them another home. We were hoping another missionary family would take them, but we wanted them to go together so that kind of makes it tough. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that a national family can’t be a good family for them. It’s just that Zambians view dogs very differently than we do. Dogs, like most other animals there, usually have to fend for themselves for food, and being called a dog is about the worst insult someone can dish out. They also have no problems throwing rocks or kicking the dogs.
Lucy (who bought them) has known Elijah and Eve since we got them, they know he pretty well. And Christine’s father raised dogs so I know that they know and understand more than any of the other locals how to treat them. I am not sure why they are still at the house alone. I know there are still things that need guarding up there, and since Lucy and her family are the ones who will be moving into the house, maybe they figured it wasn’t a good idea to move them down to their current house just to have them move back to the house we built. I don’t know. I just remember how sad John said they were when we were gone. There have been American teams there the last month and a few things need to be done to get it comfortable for a family again, so I am sure they just haven’t had time to move up there yet. Once corn is planted I am sure they will get up there as soon as they can. I just hope it won’t be too late. They (E &E) are both getting old and sometimes you hear of dogs just laying down and dying, or getting really ornery. I just remember how they looked when we came back from our trip.
You can pray that once the Mutenekas get moved in everyone will adjust well (the dogs will have different rules-they may not be allowed in the house for example). Pray that their kids won’t be afraid of them (most Zambians are afraid of dogs, especially large healthy ones like ours) and give them lots of love; but yet have the healthy respect for them that is needed to treat them well. There were times our kids pushed the line and the dogs let them know. Just pray it will turn out to be a good fit.