“God’s
Spirit makes us loving, happy peaceful, patient, kind, faithful, and gentle."
~ Galatians 5:22
Amy couldn’t quite put her finger
on why, exactly, but she’d been feeling far away from God lately, like He
wasn’t really listening. A case of the
spiritual blues perhaps.
The sweltering heat didn’t help – August in South Carolina
gets pretty unbearable. The temperature
seemed to match the humidity – an even 100.
She cranked up the car’s air conditioner heading home from a few
errands.
That’s when she spotted the dog walking aimlessly down the sidewalk. Flies surrounded his rotting, matted fur as
he searched desperately for something to eat.
Amy knew the old pooch was dying with every step; yearning for a home, a
prayer, or maybe his master.
She aimed the car for the curb. His knees cowered in fear as Amy approached
the medium sized mutt. “Hi, fella. Let’s call you Dawg for now. You thirsty?”
Amy loved dogs and they adored her. But her son Adam was deathly allergic to
animals; she simply couldn’t bring this one home. Amy gently coaxed Dawg toward her car where
he devoured an entire packet of lunchmeat and gulped bottled water greedily
from her cupped hands.
What to do now? she
worried.
As always, God answered the
rescue call by suggesting she look for some homeless people. Amy remembered seeing several of them gathering
under a bridge for shelter from the heat and drove off in that direction; Dawg
as co-pilot.
Dawg enjoyed the many sites and scents that flew by his nose
with the car window wide open. But his
tail seemed to wag more vigorously with each homeless stranger they approached
under the bridge. Could Dawg have been
here before?
None of them seemed interested in the old fleabag, but one
homeless character told Amy to look specifically for a one-eyed man with long, wavy
brown hair and a goatee.
It didn’t take long before the duo spied a young Viet Nam
vet who’d likely been on the streets for some time. When asked if he’d like a new friend (Dawg),
the man was ecstatic! Seems he'd been
praying and praying for a dog that would love and protect him! Last year he’d been jumped by a gang of boys
and one of them had stabbed him in the eye.
Amy left them to get acquainted and drove to the store for a
hefty bag of Dawg food. She returned to
find Dawg cuddled peacefully against the young vet’s shoulder occasionally
licking his face and beard. Dawg had
completely bonded and trusted a stranger. It was love at first sight for both of them. God does answer prayers for everyone . . .even
dogs!
Lord, thanks for rescuing
me. You know I’ve prayed non-stop for a
new friend to love and share my life with.
Something about my soulful eyes touched a loving part of him. Help me to honor Your gift by being the best
dog I can possible be. ~ Love Dawg
