Then came a night when the moon was no where to be seen. Clouds covered the night sky and the smell of rain was in the air. Frank went to bed early. The coyotes heard the thunder in the distance. They heard the rain. Then they heard something else. It was like thunder, but slow and steady. It grew louder. It grew closer. The coyotes knew what it was. A flash flood was heading to their valley

The coyotes gathered on the mesa to warn the desert creatures. They all had to get to higher ground. They sang with all their might. As it always did, their song put the animals to sleep in their beds. Nobody knew what was coming their way.

Coyotes are quick thinkers and in an instant they knew what to do. They woke up Frank.

Frank heard the sound of the flood and saw the desperate looks of his coyote brothers. He had picked up some quick thinking of his own, and he headed for the mesa with the pack following close behind.

At the top of the mesa, Frank took a breath so deep, he thought he might float away like a balloon. Then he sang down on the valley like only a Chihuahua can. YIP-YIP-YAP-YAP-YIP-YAP-YIPPA-YAP-YAP!! The yips and yaps echoed across the desert. The animals woke from their dreamy sleep. They woke to the rumble of water crashing toward their valley home. They ran for the mesa.

Frank yipped and yapped until he thought he couldn’t yip and yap anymore. Then he kept yipping and yapping still. He sang his Chihuahua song until every last desert creature was safe on the mesa. The flood came through the valley and as quickly as it came, it left.

There was silence on the mesa. The animals circled around Frank, who was out of breath. They began to clap. They began to cheer. They began to dance. They lifted Frank up in their arms and their cheers grew louder than the very thunder of the storm. Frank was a desert watchman. Frank was a hero. Frank was not a coyote and everyone was glad. Frank was a Chihuahua, and it was NOT a problem.

God had a plan when he made us different. What makes us different makes us special. What makes us special is a gift from God. Don’t be afraid to unwrap your gift.

On Frank’s first moonlit night, he stood with the coyotes on the mesa and listened as their calming voices poured over the desert. Frank smiled proudly, puffed out his chest, cleared his throat and joined in with a startling YIP-YIP-YAP-YAP-YIP-YAP-YIPPA-YAP-YAP!

The coyotes stopped singing. The desert creatures stopped sleeping. Frank stopped proudly smiling.

He hunted with them.

He napped with them, with all the coyote laziness he could muster.

He ate with them.

Played with them.

And went bowling on Thursday nights with them.

He became a coyote in every way, except one.