And We - And I Do Mean WE - Are Off

By Belle the Missionary Dog
The Pocket Full of Quarters Lady

God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. 1 Cor 1:9NIV

We’re on the road. I’m happy riding next to Mommy in the front of Hallelujah. Mommy and I love Jesus and I get to help Mommy tell people about Jesus. Mommy thought I might not get to go on this trip but I wasn’t worried. I’m Belle the Missionary Dog. Helping Mommy is my job. I knew I was going. After all, Mommy always says that God is faithful and that when He calls us to do a job He will make a way.

Everything was fine until Saturday morning when Mommy and I went outside to clean Hallelujah. Mommy cranked the engine, pushed the button to turn the generator on and nothing happened. She pushed it again…and again…and again. Mommy always says that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Why did she keep pushing that button?

When she told Daddy about the problem, he asked, “Did you try cranking the engine first?” I wish you could have seen Mommy’s look. Even I knew to crank the engine when the generator had been sitting for a while.

“I’m just making sure,” Daddy muttered. “What happens when you push the button?”

“Nothing,” Mommy said.

“What do you mean nothing?” Daddy asked.

“I mean nothing,” Mommy said. Now they were making me insane.

“The engine doesn’t turn over?”

“Bob,” Mommy said. “Nothing happens!” Mommy always says Daddy doesn’t like surprises. Couldn’t she tell he was just surprised?

Daddy went outside and pushed the button. “It didn’t crank,” he announced. Mommy got that look again.

Next, he climbed under Halleluiah. “It’s not cranking from the button on the generator either,” he reported.

That was when Mommy said the horrible words, “If I don’t have a generator, Belle can’t go.”

“Why?” Daddy said and I thought in unison.

“If I have to go inside somewhere, I can’t leave her in the camper without air conditioning,” Mommy explained. Mommy always says you are supposed to speak in faith. Why was she even saying I might not get to go?

In our house, when God tells us to do something, we do it. Mommy always says if we know what God wants us to do and have a problem, we pray, ask people for help, continue doing the work in front of us, and wait on God to do the rest. For the next three days, Mommy and Daddy worked hard. They asked for prayer, continued getting ready for the trip, and looked for someone to fix the generator. God is faithful and it looked like they were doing the footwork so I waited.

On Monday, Mommy and Daddy put Hal in the generator hospital. Mommy and her friend, Cathy Tubbs went evangelizing and led two people to Jesus. Mommy always says that when you are worried about something, to sow seeds of faith. It seemed like she was doing that so I kept waiting on the Lord.

We were supposed to leave on Tuesday and on Tuesday morning, Hal still wasn’t ready. Mommy always says God is never late but He is seldom early. We didn’t have to be in North Carolina until Thursday night so it didn’t look to me like God was late yet. I wasn’t worried.

Finally, Tuesday afternoon, they got the generator working. Yes, I was happy but I knew it all along. It cost $600 but Mommy always says God funds what he calls us to do so I knew God was going to send the money to pay for that generator repair.

Mommy and Daddy got Hallelujah packed. They even remembered my treats. We left on Wednesday and drove all day. Tomorrow is Thursday and we are only 3 hours from where we have to be tomorrow night. Mommy always says that if you ask God for knowledge of his will and the power to carry it out, He will answer your prayer. It looks to me like God did just that. Would someone please tell my Mommy and Daddy to listen to what Mommy always says? If they did, I think they would get more sleep.

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We Say Ouch For Jesus

By Belle Touchton – The Missionary Dog
Mommy – Cheryle M. Touchton


Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4:12-14 NIV

Mommy and I spend a lot of time in our tiny camper, Halleluiah. Sometimes Daddy and Rascal the Cat travel with us. Our job is to travel America, telling people about Jesus. Outside of Halleluiah, the word I hear the most is “Jesus.” Inside, I hear “ouch.”

“Bob,” Mommy said. “My head always hurts right on top. It feels like a bruise.” Maybe Mommy doesn’t know how many times she says “ouch” when she steps into Halleluiah. By now she should know to duck her head.

“Ouch!” Daddy said. “You left the cabinet open again.” Daddy wasn’t talking to me.

“Bob,” Mommy said. “I’m so sorry. You’re bleeding again.” By now, Daddy should know that Mommy leaves cabinets open.

I yelled “ouch” later when she left that same cabinet open and everything came flying at me when Mommy turned a corner.

They keep Rascal the Cat’s food up on the counter because they know I like his food better than mine. If Rascal is eating and we stop quickly, Rascal yells “ouch” as he falls off the counter. Personally, I think they could solve that problem by letting me eat Rascal’s food.

The table has 4 corners that pop up to make it bigger. Mommy and Daddy both yell “ouch” about half the time they open a corner because it has a spring that pinches. If they worked less at that table, they’d get pinched less.

When Daddy joins us, he spends most of his time fixing things on Halleluiah. I hear “ouch” a lot when he is working in such tiny places. Those hammers and screwdrivers look like they hurt so I guess I can’t blame Halleluiah for fighting back.

If we’re parked on a hill and Mommy opens a cabinet, she yells “ouch” when cans fall on her. She could solve that problem by eating dry food like me.

Mommy yells “ouch” when she dumps Halleluiah, plugs Halleluiah in, hooks up the water, plugs in cable, climbs on the hood to wash the window, swats a bug, or sits up in bed and hits the light. She stays bruised, bitten, scratched, bleeding, and sore. I yell “ouch” when we stop quickly and I fall off the seat or Mommy trips over me because we try to stand the same place at the same time. Living in a tiny camper is painful. You may be wondering why we are willing to say “ouch” so often.

The answer to that is easy. We say “ouch” for Jesus. Saying “ouch” is the price tag for doing what God tells us to do. When someone says “yes” to Jesus, saying “ouch” for Jesus seems like a small price to pay.
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Cheryle M. Touchton is the Director of Pocket Full of Change Ministries. This ministry exists because people like you are called to help fund the work of the kingdom. To help keep the Pocket Full of Quarters Lady on the road leading people to Christ, you can donate at

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They Were Both Right

By Belle Touchton – The Missionary Dog
Mommy – Cheryle M. Touchton

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Eph 4:2-3 NIV

Mommy and Daddy are funny when they camp. Mommy spends more time in the camper so she thinks she knows more about camping than Daddy. Daddy is used to knowing more about everything so he thinks he knows best. When they get to talking about how to do something on Halleluiah, they don’t listen to each other. Being a dog, I know there is more than one way to skin a cat. Most of the time, they are both right and either way would work just fine. I get bored waiting on them to pick a way.

That last time Daddy camped with us, we needed to dump Halleluiah’s holding tanks. Daddy was in our little car and Mommy was driving Halleluiah so Mommy followed Daddy to the dump station. Daddy pulled in first, got out of the car, and waved for Mommy to drive around the circle to the left.

When Mommy pulled to the right, Daddy jumped in front of her and used both pointer fingers to try to make her go left. Mommy didn’t want to run over Daddy and she didn’t want to go left so she stopped.

Daddy got that smile he gets when he explains something to two-year-old Abigaile and walked over to the window. “Honey, the hose is on the driver’s side. If you pull to the right, you’ll be on the wrong side.”

“Honey,” Mommy said. “I know what side the hose is on. I live in this camper five months a year. If I pull to the right, the hose will be next to the dump station.”

“Cheryle,” Daddy said, making a wide circle with his arms. “You have to go that way or you’ll be turned wrong.”

“Bob, what are you talking about? Look!” Mommy pointed to the dump station.

Daddy looked to where Mommy was pointing and said, “Oh. They have two. Look over there.” He pointed to the other side.

It was Mommy’s turn to say, “Oh.” They were looking at two different dump stations. They were both right. They went to laughing and Mommy decided to give in. She went left. Good thing no one was waiting in line behind us.

The Bible says we should be humble. I think part of being humble means you listen to the people around you. Would someone tell Mommy and Daddy that camping would be easier on all of us if they would just listen to each other? After all, they are both pretty smart.
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Cheryle M. Touchton is the Director of Pocket Full of Change Ministries. This ministry exists because people like you are called to help fund the work of the kingdom. To help keep the Pocket Full of Quarters Lady on the road leading people to Christ, you can donate at

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My Mommy Is A Tattletale

By Belle Touchton - The Missionary Dog
Mommy - Cheryle M. Touchton
The Pocket Full of Quarters Lady

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place. NIV

I didn't feel good.I tried to tell Mommy but she was too excited about visiting her friend Julie to pay attention. The winding steep road to Mercer Island in Washington didn’t do much good for my ailing tummy.

“Belle, this is a nice house. Mind Mommy!” she said as we drove up. As if I didn’t mind her most of the time.

This was a big house. When we got there, Mommy’s friend said, “Welcome to my palace.” It was a palace. There were pictures of Jesus everywhere so I liked it right away. Looking out at the water reminded me of our old home, Sanctuary, in Jacksonville, Florida. It was also peaceful like my Sanctuary. I could see why Mommy wanted me to mind. Everywhere, there were things I could play with if Mommy would let me. I knew she wasn’t going to let me so I didn’t even try.

What I didn’t like was that Mommy locked me in the laundry room. I didn’t understand why she kept me on a leash when we walked around the house. We don't use leashes inside. I don’t really mind my leash because it keeps me close to Mommy so I relaxed. I was relieved when she brought in my doggie pen. Mommy says dogs are cave animals. I don’t know what that means but I like my pen when Mommy leaves me alone. Mommy and Julie left me alone on Sunday. They went to church and to tell people about Jesus. I stayed in my pen without even complaining. Overall, I thought I was a pretty good sport.

Over Saturday and Sunday, my tummy got worse. I stopped eating to try to get it better but it didn’t help. I don't think Mommy noticed until it was too late. On Monday, my tummy won. I had an "accident" on the floor and it should have been obvious to Mommy that I was sick.

“Belle, what have you done to this beautiful carpet?” She sounded like she cared more about the carpet than me. I hung my head in shame. I know better but I couldn’t help it.

Mommy started cleaning, but I’d made a big mess. I couldn’t believe it when she said, “Out Blank (I can’t use the word she said) Spot.”

"Belle, don't look so shocked. I wasn't using a bad word. I was quoting a line from Hamlet’s Macbeth"

I still didn’t think it was very nice. She put her face on the carpet. Was she praying?

“Belle,” she scolded. “Why didn’t you come get me?”

I wondered why she didn’t pay more attention to me. She should have figured out I wasn’t feeling good.

“We have to tell Julie,” Mommy said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

I didn’t want Julie to know. She’d only had one dog in her entire life and here I was giving all dogs a bad name. Now another dog would probably never get to visit this beautiful peaceful palace and it would be all my fault. She’d probably never invite me back again.

“Belle, I don’t want to tell her either but it is the right thing to do. We're supposed to always tell the truth.”

She put me in my pen, marched out, and told Julie about the mess I had made. How could Mommy be such a tattletale?

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Cheryle M. Touchton is the Director of Pocket Full of Change Ministries. For more information or to schedule a speaker for an event, go to www.pocketfullofchange.org or call Gail Golden at 904 316-5462.

This ministry exists because people like you are called to help fund the work of the kingdom. To help keep the Pocket Full of Quarters Lady on the road as a traveling missionary, send your tax deductible contribution to Pocket Full of Change Ministries, POB 51205, Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32240.

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