“My dearly loved brothers understand this: Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” – James 1:10
I built a log cabin on our property. I call it my writing cottage. It’s where I write most all of my songs. The first one I wrote there was called “Moses”. It was about my dog, my dream dog.
He taught me patience
Prepared me for children
And never tried to bite anyone
He was forgivin’ no matter how I treated him
And loved to sing us all a little song
He was the picture of a man’s best friend
Right on up until the bitter end
Moses
I had wanted a bloodhound for as long as I can remember. So, in 2004, I went to a breeder and picked out the one I wanted. I bought him when he was nine weeks old, and I named him Moses. I brought him home, gave him a bath, and then he fell asleep on my chest. From that point on, we were best buddies. Moses had the sweetest spirit of any dog I’d ever been around.
Well, Moses died six years later one September day in 2010. It was one of the saddest days in my life. I lost not only my best friend, but a good teacher. You see, Moses taught me how to be a better husband and father.
Initially, I was not a patient owner. I had a short fuse and was quick to anger. It took him awhile to break me down, but Moses finally taught me some patience. I learned that short-fuse-anger stuff had a lot more to do with my shortcomings than his. Imagine that! I can still get pretty worked up about some things, but I’m a much more mellow man these days because of him. My wife benefits daily from that, as do my boys. And they have a dog to thank – not just any dog, but a bloodhound named Moses.
For six short years, he was my dream dog, my best friend. For the rest of my life, I’ll be a changed man.
*Excerpted from Josh Turner’s book, Man Stuff: Thoughts on Faith, Family, and Fatherhood (p. 72)
Watch Josh Turner Sing “I Saw The Light”: