Faith In Fiction | Dog Versus Gopher

Have you ever had a mole, gopher or groundhog in your yard? Those pesky little creatures dig holes and leave messy piles of dirt around them. Sometimes my backyard looks like Swiss cheese; other times, it looks like a miniature mountain range with peaks rising up from the ground. This past week, different sized holes and stacks of dirt appeared in my yard, hinting that  moles, or gophers, or possibly even groundhogs, have likely taken up residence there.

Not only do I have visiting rodents, but I also live with two dogs. Buddy, the 11-year old terrier, has no interest in other animals (other than cats) roaming around his yard. Molly, my white-as-snow curly haired Maltese puppy, had no clue what a rodent was until this week when she decided to become a hunting dog.

Thanks to my burrowing guests, Molly has developed a new daily routine. When I let the dogs outside for their early morning pre-breakfast playtime (and to be honest, a bathroom run), Molly’s curiosity peaks and she takes great interest in the annoying dirt mounds left by the uninvited pests. It’s so entertaining that I can’t stop laughing as she runs from one mound to another, stopping at each one to yip for only a moment before running to the next pile. It’s like watching an old-style cartoon in fast-motion on TV. See mound, yip; see mound, yip; see mound, yip; over and over and over.

Before the appearance of gophers, doggy afternoon playtime in my yard was mostly nap time for both dogs as they soaked up the afternoon sun while lazing together under a lemon tree. This week has been different though. As soon as Molly runs into the yard for her afternoon exercise, her sole focus is those ever growing mounds of dirt. As she approaches one, she starts gracefully moving the dirt with one paw, stops for a moment, sniffs, then digs gingerly with the other paw. She’ll spend up to five minutes at a mound, staring, moving dirt, sniffing, then digging before giving up and moving to the next mound. Buddy, unaware that anything has changed in the yard, still spends his afternoons sleeping soundly under the lemon tree.

The new evening routine is fascinating, yet frustrating for this doggy mama. As Molly runs haphazardly around the yard, she digs furiously at each mound. Maybe she sees or smells a gopher; then again, maybe she’s just being a dog who likes digging in freshly tilled dirt. Every night this week, no matter how many times I call her name, she’s resistant to abandoning her new hobby. She is persistent to a fault, not wanting to leave those mounds of dirt without something to show for her efforts. Eventually, I walk outside, chase her around the yard and when I finally catch her, I take her back indoors with me. Unless you’ve had or seen a dog mired in dirt and mud, you can only imagine what she looks like after all of that digging. This little white Maltese looks like a different dog with all four feet, legs and underbelly completely covered with soil; sometimes even her face and ears are caked with mud, a clear sign that she’s buried her head deep into those mounds as she madly flung mud in every direction. Instead of resting on my lap after dinner like she did in the pre-gopher days, Molly now endures a nightly bath as I struggle to clean the grime that has become deeply embedded into her curly hair. After her bath, Buddy, ignoring the mess that his sister has caused, cuddles on my lap while Molly rests in a corner, exhausted from a long day of rodent hunting.   

Molly’s new pattern of continuously digging, more aggressively as the day wears on, has become an inspiration to me. Pondering it, I hope to imitate this pattern in my prayer life and in seeking God’s will. Too often, like Molly, I waste time on fruitless activities (like social media) or look in the wrong places for joy and as a result, end up covered in mire. How I long to be like Buddy at the end of the day, cuddled closely to the One who loves me ever so deeply.

The Lord has told us:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

Early in the morning, like Molly, I want to yip (in human terms, that translates to “ask” in prayer). In the middle of the day, I want to be excited to commune with God as I “seek” to move dirt (in human terms, serve others as well as pray earnestly). As dusk falls, I desire to “knock” (in human terms, pray, serve, and support others, my local church, missionaries and Kingdom work) relentlessly until He chooses to pick me up and tells me it’s time to rest.

So while Molly may never catch a gopher, I can ask, seek and knock, knowing without a doubt that I will “catch” an answer from my faithful Heavenly Father, knowing that the answer will sometimes be ‘no.’

By the way, I was thinking about hiring someone to catch those bothersome rodents that are making such a mess in my yard. Then today while trying to get Molly’s attention, I saw a gopher (or was it a groundhog?) pop its head out of a hole. The little guy disappeared underground just as quickly, almost as if he had been frightened by his own shadow! Yes, he’s a pest but now that I’ve seen him, as long as he lives in my yard, why not let Molly have fun and let her behavior be a daily reminder to me to be persistent in asking, seeking and knocking at the throne of grace.