God Meant it for Good

So we had an adopter all set to get the puppy Jasper, but he couldn't arrive from his home, a 12 hour drive away, until Tuesday with work constraints. In the meantime, the animal shelter said they could not hold him, even if we paid the "pull fee". So, unable to sleep Thursday eve, I told the adopter (Josh) on Friday that I would pull Jasper from the shelter and foster him till Josh arrived Tuesday evening. I could not stand the thought of that sweet frightened pup in there another moment. And what if the shelter got deluged with dogs? Would they euthanize Jasper at this high kill facility?

I called the shelter and told them I would be there at 1:00, after my daughter's class ended. They promised to hold him for me. I helped Josh find a hotel that was dog friendly for Tuesday night. Then I waited with mounting excitement. The little pup had really captured my heart and I wanted to help him. Truth be told, I couldn't wait to play with him and show him the world was not a horrid place...not always.

Around 11, the animal shelter called me. They had a family standing there that wanted to adopt Jasper. "We can't hold him," they told me, a little regretfully. So Jasper went to the unknown family, and I had the sad burden of telling Josh the adoption was off. He had a great attitude, "That must be God's way of telling me this was not the dog for me."

I pray it is a wonderful family, and that the sweet puppy gets the forever home every dog wants. At least tonight I will be able to sleep again. The skinny puppy is safe.

God does work in mysterious ways. All the heartache over the homeless dogs at the shelter, and sleeplessness over Jasper's safety, and angst about whether I should foster, even briefly, with my dog Honeybun's medical concerns....and then it all falls in place, just in time to be snatched away! But really, while it was snatched from Josh, and in a funny way, from me, it was not snatched from Jasper. In the end, Jasper got what he most needed - a home. It is tempting to look at disappointment only from our own perspective. We perceive the tragedies and calamities that befall us as God's punishment, or chastisement, or even His perfect will that is withholding something from us for our benefit that we just don't understand. However, maybe it has nothing to do with US at all! Perhaps it is about what is best for our fellow sojourner here on earth. In our egocentric world, that is not always easy to accept.

"Hooray!" wrote many of my fellow dog lovers, "Now you will have room to help another dog in need!"
"I really wanted him," said Josh, "But what really matters is he is safe now."
**********************************

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. (Genesis 50:20 NASB)





-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org
http://www.amazon.com/Vicky-Kaseorg/e/B006XJ2DWU