Missing Dogs and Lost Sheep -- Reflections on God's Love

Missing: White husky with blue eyes and a pink nose with one freckle on it. 

The post on Craigslist tugged at my heart for several reasons. First, because although I’ve never had a dog go missing, I have loved one enough to know what it would feel like if he were lost. Second, because this wasn’t the first post I’d seen about this missing (and feared kidnapped) dog. His owner has been plastering the area with notices for more than three weeks. 

What grabbed my heart and wouldn’t let go was the last part of his description – a pink nose with one freckle on it. 

Anyone could have described a white husky. And pink noses often accompany white fur. But only someone who had looked long into his beloved dog’s face, studied it, and maybe even kissed its pink nose a few times would have noticed that single freckle. It’s obvious this description was written by someone who loved his pet enough to notice everything about it and commit it to memory. 

I recently watched a young mother with her newborn baby. She nestled him close in the crook of her arm and studied him closely. The downy-soft fuzz on his head. The plump curve of his cheek. The delicate arch of his eyebrows. With her tender gaze she committed every detail to memory. ‘Twas a holy thing, those love glances. 

I’ve been blessed to love a dog and a child this much, but I’m even more blessed to belong to a God who loves me this much – and a thousand times more. You do, too. One who notices everything about you, right down to the very last freckle. Luke 12:7 tells us, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” 

Isaiah 40:11 describes his nurturing, shepherd’s heart. “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart . . .” I suspect, as God the Good Shepherd carries us close to his heart, he looks upon us with deep, adoring love. How sweet is that? 

I’m sad that my neighbor’s dog is missing. I hope he finds his way home soon. 

But lost souls make me even sadder than lost dogs. If you’ve wandered far from home, I hope you’ll find your way back. The God who knows the number of hairs on your head longs to hold you tight, carry you close to his heart, and welcome you home.

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UPDATE on Nesta, the missing Husky

Since I wrote this post, Nesta and her owner have been reunited. 

I don't know the details, but this picture says it all.

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What Painted Pottery Taught Me about God's Care

“Good luck getting them home,” Emily said as I showed her the painted plates I found in Seville. “Everyone who comes to Spain falls in love with the pottery and tries to take it back in their suitcases. No matter how carefully they wrap it, it always breaks.” 

“What if I put bubble wrap around them?” I asked. 

“Tried it.” 

“Wrap them in clothing?” 

“Tried that, too.” 

“Surely there’s some way I can get these home?” I insisted. 

“The only way they’ll make it intact is if you carry them,” she said. 

So that’s what I did. 

I wrapped them in bubble wrap, tucked each one between several layers of clothing, and hauled them halfway across the world in my carry on suitcase. 

When a TSA agent tried to lift my little suitcase onto the screening belt, I did it myself. When a flight attendant offered to stow it under the plane, I declined. When another volunteered to place it into an overhead bin, I refused. On every plane, I gently tucked my carry on beneath my seat where I knew it would be safe. 

I wheeled my suitcase from Jerez to Madrid, from Madrid to Dallas, from Dallas to Charlotte, and from Charlotte to home. Six thousand, six hundred, and eighteen miles. 

But Emily was right. My pretty painted plates arrived safely. Now they hang in my kitchen as a beautiful reminder of my trip to Spain. 

“Why would you go to all that trouble?” my husband asked when I described what I’d done. “Were they very expensive?” 

“Not really,” I told him, “but I like them. They make me happy. They’re valuable to me, and I think they’re beautiful."

My plates remind me of Spain, but the trouble I went through to get them home reminds me of the way God cares for me. Isaiah 40:11 paints a beautiful word picture to describe how God relates to his children: 

“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” 

He carries them in his bosom. Carefully, like objects of great value. Gently, like precious, fragile heirlooms. Lovingly, like a most treasured keepsake. 

When we by faith place our trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, he commits to carry us all the way through our lives. But unlike the checked luggage that I sent on ahead of me under the plane, God doesn’t just promise to get us there. He promises to carry us every step of the way. Because he loves us. And values us. And thinks we’re beautiful.

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you,” he promises. “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (Isaiah 46:4). 

If you’re feeling devalued today, I pray this simple metaphor will help you realize how much God treasures you. May you feel God’s tender arms beneath you, hear the beat of his loving heart, and rest in the comfort and safety of his embrace. You can rest in the confidence that he won’t let you go until you’re safely home.

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