We had decided to spend the day at the farm. So many things to do. Horses to catch, pasture to bush hog, fences to fix. We pulled the truck into the yard, close to the old farm house and a couple of old, barely standing sheds. Piling out of the truck, checking for boots, bug spray, sunscreen, the works. We looked forward to spending time working and playing outside together.
Suddenly, ,my youngest daughter heard some unexpected rustling noises from one of the sheds. She went to investigate, peering deep into the dark shadows at the back of the old building. She started hollering when she finally discovered two tiny puppies cowering in fear, pressed against the back wall of the shed.
They were black and tan bundles of filthy fur. Covered with huge, swollen ticks, ribs showing like washboards, they whimpered, fearful of every movement. They were so pitiful, so disgusting, so unbeleivably filthy.
She and her sister gathered them into their arms, loving them into calmness and peace. They slowly pulled each tick from their irritated skin. Cuddling them on the way home, the pups began to whine pitifully, their little bodies crying out for food.
A vigorous, warm and sudsy bath washed the dirt from their skin and fur. The girls scrounged food for them and they ate their first meal in days. Exhausted, they crashed, falling into a deep sleep.
They had been abandoned days before, obviously wandering through woods and grass in search of food and shelter, finding only dirt and ticks along the way. How could someone desert them like that? Leaving them defenseless, unable to care for themselves in any way.
Why did my daughter choose to find them, choose to rescue them, choose to heal and feed them? We could have found cleaner, healthier puppies. We could have chosen their breed, their age, their background, their genetics.
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. Matthew 18:12-14 NIV.
Why did my daughter choose them? They were lost and she found them. It was as simple as that.
Do you feel lost, unsaved, unloved, unclean, unworthy? Not clean enough to come back to the fold. Not worthy enough to be loved, to be searched for, to be valued? Your Father will cry out with joy when He finds you, not because of your cleanliness, not because of your health or your nutrition. He will celebrate just because you are found. He is not willing to let you stay unfound! It is as simple as that.
Zeke and Sissy still love being saved!