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Lost and Found

A few weeks ago I was having a rough day. The rug had been pulled out from under me and I was devastated. In the blink of an eye my circumstances changed and I felt out of control. I was walking around wanting to fix things, even blaming myself "I should have done this or that better or said that, if only......" There was nothing I could have done or could now do to fix it. My head was spinning and my heart was hurting. 

The weather had been nice out so Jim had the sliding door to the screened in porch open for Annie, our semisweet chocolate lab. Although, he had been mad at her for tearing through the screen again. She wants those squirrels on the other side in the worst way. So, I was surprised that she was out there unsupervised. I asked him if he was trusting her? He laughed and said " oh, I guess I forgot she is out there by herself." She wasn't on the porch. 

When I went to the backyard to call for her, she didn't come and I couldn't see her. Jim immediately went to the front to look for her. We have an invisible fence that, so far, she fully respects and knows her boundaries (literally). She wasn't out front or anywhere in sight. My heart sank and I just could not imagine her running away like that. She has separation anxiety when I go to the bathroom how could she run into the woods and leave me? But those stupid squirrels tempt her every day. Maybe this was the day she decided to take one for the team in order to get one of those squirrels? 

As I felt panic start to creep in I told Jim I was going to walk down the street and could he get in the truck and drive the neighborhood? Annie runs three days a week with me now and I was hopeful she had just decided to go on a solo run on one of our usually routes. That's about when it hit me that our neighborhood is so much bigger than I realized. She could have gone any direction, either around the neighborhooor towards the lake and a main road or the woods behind us. Either way, there was no telling where she could end up. 

I prayed that God would bring her back to me, I was feeling so beat up already I just didn't know if my heart could take it. Stupid dog! How can a person love a fury, slobbery pain in the neck so much? Because she is mine. She belongs to me, she brings me so much joy and I love her more than I should. I tried not to freak out and just kept breathing and praying. I saw Jim pull up in the truck and I was so hoping to see her wagging tail and drooling tongue hanging out. The back seat was empty and he just looked at me and shook his head. I saw on his face what I was feeling. He loves her probably more than I do and he might have started thinking bad thoughts about what could happen to her.

He said, "I can't believe she would do that." He told me he would go walk the woods behind the house and for me to get the truck and drive my running routes. I was really on the verge of tears now, I had that horrible lump in my throat and a sickness in my stomach as I thought of how lonely she would be if she couldn't find her way home. Stupid dog! 

I continued praying as I went back into the house "please God let her be ok and bring her back to me". I headed out to go through the garage to get the truck, as I opened the door a big brown fury rocket jumped at me nearly knocking me to the ground. The instant joy that flooded me was like a tidal wave of emotion. I have never been so happy to see that stupid dog! I held on to her and thanked God. Then I ran outside and called off the search party. I literally lost it and cried all over my husbands shirt, tears I had been holding in became tears of joy.  I really thought we had lost her. 

Nothing else mattered in that moment. Not my uncontrollable circumstances or my broken heart, not my head that had been spinning a few minutes ago. My Annie was found and I wanted to bake a cake and throw a party! I wanted to celebrate. 



It made me think of the stories Jesus tells in the book of Luke about the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. We will go to the ends of the earth to find our beloved dog because we love her, she belongs to us and she is priceless. God feels the same about His children. He will go to the ends of the earth to save the lost. He wants all of His lost sheep to be found. There is a huge party going on every time one is found and brought back to Him. Because He loves us, we belong to Him and we are priceless in His eyes. 


God pursues His people and He uses others to point the lost to Him. He even used a stupid dog to remind me of His great love for me! I was once lost. I am so thankful He brought me to Him! He continues to show me how much He loves me. He is always in control and isn't freaking out when I am because things in this life aren't going as I expected. I want to live with purpose and be used by God to help save the lost. As I celebrated finding Annie I couldn't help but think of how much more so the Angels celebrate each time one more lost soul is brought back to the Father. That is what matters more than anything else on this earth! 

- Pressing On



“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep."
Luke 15:4-6 NIV

“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””
Luke 15:10 NIV


"For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”
Luke 15:24 NIV

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