Faith

People have asked where the inspiration came for Rill’s dog, Faith, in Charm Wars. The inspiration was our rescue dog that we had named Faith because she had the faith to come to us. Rill’s faith was loyal to him for her entire life just as our Faith was loyal to us. How did we get her? While Lisa and I were living in Tennessee, someone dumped Faith in the nearby woods when she was two months old. Workers who were working nearby tried to coax Faith to come to them, but she refused to go to them. So every day the workers would leave food for her and then put distance between themselves and her. After spending a month in the woods, she left and for some unknown reason ended up going to our house and sitting in front of the garage door. We tried to bring her into our house, but she refused to go in and would sleep on the front porch. So we set up a bed for her there.

Faith slept on the front porch for quite a few days. Gradually, though, we were able to coax her into the garage, then into my downstairs study, and finally into our living room.

Faith refused to leave the living room for over a year until Lisa and I finally managed to lure her out. Despite her multiple hang ups and phobias, Faith was a wonderful, loving member of our family.

We also found out that she could get along with other dogs. So we found a dog named Mac so she Faith could have another companion. They both got along wonderfully.

Unfortunately, Faith and Mac died within a couple of months of each other. Lisa and I both still miss them. But we’re happy they both had wonderful lives together and with us.