Rescued

A number of years ago I received an email from a neighbor about a lost dog spotted repeatedly in our neighborhood. I immediately sent out an email alert to my neighbors to be on the lookout for this little creature asking them to leave out food and water.

I worried about this little dog exposed to the 100 degree temperatures that week, all alone without any food or water, frightened, and vulnerable to snakes or other dangers at night. I prayed a lot for that little dog and was determined to catch it and return it to its owner.

Each day I looked for it while on my morning walk and also after emails of sightings that also occurred daily. But it would always run away out of fear. One day there were several of us trying to corner it, but it ran into and out of a storm drain faster than lightning. On day six of this saga, a neighbor saw the dog in her yard but couldn’t catch it.

I found an article that suggested if you see a lost dog, sit down and let it come to you. I emailed this information to the neighbors. On day seven, the neighbor who had previously seen the dog in her yard emailed me. She had seen the dog in her yard minutes earlier, so she sat on the grass and endured the 100 degree heat and waited for the dog to come to her just like the article suggested. After a few minutes, it approached her, and she was able to grab it. I went to see her right away. She was an adorable Chinese Crested female that weighed about ten pounds. Sometimes one ear pointed up and the other pointed down.

Another neighbor who had a small dog volunteered to give her a bath and feed her while I tried to locate the owner. I called the local Animal Shelter giving a description of the dog to see if anyone had reported theirs missing.

“We had a call seven days ago from someone about a mile away looking for their dog who fits that description,” the officer said. “I’ll give you their phone number.”

“My name is Mary,” I informed the prospective owner moments later. “We found a dog that fits the description of yours who has been hiding in our neighborhood for about a week. Is your dog still missing?”

“Yes she is,” she said.

“Can you text me a photo of your dog right away to see if it’s the same one?”

“Of course,” she replied.

As soon as I saw the photo, I knew it was the same dog, but I wanted to be sure.

“Also, she has a distinctive feature about her. Can you tell me what it is?”

“Sometimes one of her ears points up while the other one stays down,” she said excitedly.

“That’s it! Well, we have your dog.”

“It’s actually my boyfriend’s dog” she informed me. “He’s been crying for a week.”

She told me that while they were away, their pet sitter found the gate open and their three dogs missing. The other two were located right away.

Shortly thereafter, Taylor was reunited with her owner.

I’ll never forget the efforts we made to rescue her. Her fear of us prevented her from being rescued much earlier.

Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me.”

Taylor’s story reminds me of myself when I tried to avoid my newly converted Christian friend who kept telling me about Jesus many years ago. But, six months later I became a Christian. I learned that all Jesus wanted was to “rescue” me by having a relationship with me.

I’m glad Jesus had the patience to wait for me to go to him, just like my neighbor had the patience to sit in the sun waiting for Taylor to go to her.