A Loss was the Answer to Prayer I Didn't Know I Needed

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Learn more at elevancehealth.com. And we're back with our American stories and another Christmas story all month long we're telling them. Up next is author Leslie Leland Fields and she hails from Kodiak Island in Alaska and she's been on our show before. Be sure to check out her stories at ouramericanstories.com. Today Leslie shares with us a story she's entitled, The Miracle of Sir Nick.

Here's Leslie. The dog's full name was Sir Nicholas Alexander. The pup was knighted shortly after birth by its 20-something owner. The dog came through our doors unexpectedly that fall. I had four babies, one just a few weeks old and the others older and louder and always up to mischief. After my son's birth, I had no idea how I could care for four little humans. And then came the dog.

Surprise! My husband was rescuing the dog, the story went, or rather rescuing a young man. It was a strange but true case of a friend of a friend who was getting married but he was not. He was a young friend of a friend who was getting married but his bride loved her dog, Sir Nicholas, more than her groom. Friends staged an intervention shortly before the wedding and we got the dog. Nick was a beauty.

He was a Sheltie, a miniature version of Lassie but fluffier, cuter. We imagined the kids romping with him in the living room. We expected the beautiful chaos of three kids learning responsibility and palling around with their new best friend. But Nicholas wasn't interested in my children or any of us. We tried repeatedly to capture his attention and his affection but he was resolute. Ignoring an entire household can keep a dog busy but Nicholas found other means of entertainment as well. He peed on my bed at least every week, ruined my leveler blinds, but the worst habit was his frequent escape out the door to play in traffic.

My furious neighbors called regularly and animal control and pounded him again and again costing us big money to spring him. I was keenly disappointed with our new family member and I was struggling. My youngest was now two months old, my eldest seven years old. I was thankful to be down to just two nursings a night but every day with my daughter and three sons was a marathon. One thing kept me going.

As soon as I got the three-year-old and five-year-old safely down for a nap and then the baby snuggled in his crib, I've ran to my bed and collapsed breathing thanks be to God in anticipation of a few moments of sleep. But this momentary quiet seemed to evoke Nick's one great gift, barking. I tried everything to make him happy and silent but nothing seemed to work nor was my husband movable. He liked the dog and wouldn't consider giving him away. Desperate, I spent nap times devising humane ways to usher this dog out of my life. Then as the weeks passed in a rising chorus of nap time soliloquies, not so humane. Until finally two months later near Christmas utterly sleepless, I fell into fervent prayers asking for a rescue, any kind of rescue. I had never before prayed for the disappearance of any living thing. Why would anyone listen to such prayers? I felt foolish and guilty.

A week passed since my new prayers. This night was our school's Christmas program. The elder two were in it. We couldn't miss. We scurried around excitedly getting ready but Duncan, my husband, took sick.

He remained in bed upstairs knocked out with a stomach bug. Luckily I had help. A friend was visiting for the whole week and this night he was wrestling on the floor with Noah, five, while I put dinner away.

Suddenly I heard, ow! Ron was now flat on the carpeted floor holding his jaw painfully. I ran to his side, helped him up. He shuffled to the couch, sat down all the while holding his jaw.

What happened? I asked alarmed. My jaw, Noah hit it.

It's out of place. He spoke muffled through his hand. Ron was holding his jaw in pain. Overhead Duncan was noisily throwing up. The baby was crying and we were supposed to be at the Christmas program in 15 minutes. I stood paralyzed. Then the doorbell rang.

What? Who could it be? I hurried to the door wondering what on earth could possibly happen next. I swung the door wide then incredulous, Jim what are you doing here? It was our friend who lived in Anchorage, a plane ride away. But we hadn't seen Jim for five years. Suddenly he's on our doorstep tonight.

I'm in Kodiak to go deer hunting. I thought I'd stop by and surprise you, he smiled brightly. The best thing about Jim at that moment was not just that he was here at my door but Jim was a dentist. Come in quick a friend just got his jaw knocked out of its socket.

Can you help? He strode into the room, placed his hands on suffering Ron's face, made a few subtle movements and soon Ron was sighing with relief. I turned to Jim astounded when the doorbell rang again. What was going on here tonight?

I never had visitors. I swung the door wide. It was my neighbor Gretchen but something was wrong. Her face was white, her eyes pinched and red. Leslie, she said ominously struggling for control. What? What happened? I'm afraid it's Nick, she bit her lip nervously.

Nick? I said, my voice rising. Yes, I'm afraid he was, he was hit by a car.

I'm sorry, he's gone. She sucked in her breath looking carefully at my face to make sure I was okay. Oh my, I stood frozen.

He's lying right near the turnout. I don't think he suffered. She sniffed and wiped her nose. I don't know what my face looked like at that moment but my heart was crackling with shock. Thank you so much for letting me know, I said slowly.

I thanked her again and softly closed the door behind me. Jim looked at me with concern. I didn't know how to feel. Our dog had just been killed.

I had a house guest, a vomiting husband, a crying baby, a recovering friend, two kids to get to a Christmas program and now a dead dog on my hands just minutes before the program started. What now? Jim put a hand on my shoulder. I've got this, Leslie. You go on to church and I'll find the body and take care of him, he said kindly.

What? I blinked with wonder. I could have cried.

I would cry later alone as I relived these moments. In a few minutes, we would go to the program to celebrate a God who came down as a baby to deliver his people. But can it be he also delivers his people from broken jaws? He delivers his people from sleepless days and errant dogs? It is not the ending I wished or even prayed for. Who does not mourn the death of any beautiful living thing? But the miracle is this. The dog did not come back to life, but I did. In a dark season of my life, the prayers of an exhausted mother were heard and mysteriously answered on a Christmas night, in a barreling car, in a wandering dog in the nick of time, and an angel of a man sent to a faraway door to heal the sick and bury the dead. Can prayer reach this near, this far?

This far it can. And a terrific job on the production and editing by our own Madison Derricott. And a special thanks to Leslie Leland-Fields for just another gem of a story. By the way, her story, Forgiving My Worthless Father, is one of the great forgiveness stories we've ever done here on this show. Type in Leslie Leland-Fields and listen to her work.

It's terrific. And she lives in Kodiak Island in Alaska. And our stories come from every hamlet and every precinct in this country.

Celebrating Christmas in Kodiak Island with Leslie Leland-Fields here on Our American Stories. Imagine air travel that's simple, hassle-free, and fast. That's Surf Air. Save hours on every trip. Avoid busy, crowded terminals and fly from airports closer to your home.

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