When the Lent season began I found myself without anything to give up for the forty days of the season, nor with anything to add.
I was praying on this topic a few days later and then was browsing Facebook. I went to the local animal shelter page and saw that a mama dog came in as a stray and needed a foster home for the remainder of her pregnancy and for the first 8 weeks of her puppies’ lives.
I asked my husband. Then immediately applied to be the foster.
What a great opportunity to serve my community!
But let me back up here and say that when I was younger, I was struggling with my priorities of service. You know, this verses that. And I thought that I should not spend my time of service with animals, animal shelters, animal rescues, etc. because I wanted to serve people, “people first” was my motto. But then after a few years and after serving “people first”, my heart changed. Maybe for the worse. But my heart did change and therefore my motto changed. And I came to the conclusion that lots of people shared my motto of service, and not so many people shared a motto for service to animals. I mean, God put Adam and Eve in charge of the animals for goodness sake! So I need to have a heart for serving animals too. And that’s where this all began. And to be honest, in thinking about my “people first” motto, the reason domestic animals go stray and hungry and in danger is because the people put in charge of their care, didn’t do such a great job, whether on purpose or not. But still, people are the number one reason for animal suffering.
Okay, back on point.
So a few days later after submitting the foster application, I get a call from the shelter that the mama dog had given birth over the holiday weekend and so they are looking for immediate placement of the mama dog and her five precious pups. Oh, and could I come right now and get them?
I was elated! I was so excited! And I decided that even though I was a little late on “adding” something for the Lenten season, getting started late was better than not starting at all. Right?
My Lenten sacrifice has been caring for these six creatures of God.
And I was telling this to some people around church and they said that taking care of cute puppies is not a “sacrifice”. Well. They are right. But, it has not been easy. My husband and I have to use a lot of teamwork to remain on our daily schedule and still have time to take care of the pups and their mom. We are caring for God’s creatures, ones that would most likely have not survived on their own in the wild due to the hungry wildlife around, and the very cold temperatures we have been experiencing. We have been contributing our income to this service in seeing that the mama dog is properly fed and the puppies are safe and warm. We have to be consistent in our service because the whelping box needs constant cleaning to be maintained. And being that the mama dog is a stray, she has some emotional issues that need tending to as well.
All of this “work” adds to the Lenten sacrificial experience. (And you cannot sit there and tell me that people who give up soda for lent are really sacrificing either!)
Every time I go to be with the pups, or clean out the box, or have less time in my day for “me” things since I was tending to the pups, I think of Jesus.
Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice when he died a sinner’s death on the cross for me. And for you. Yes, cleaning dog poop and walking a stray dog is in no way a comparison to Jesus’ sacrifice. But doing those things, deepens my gratitude toward my God and for His ultimate sacrifice that He made for me.
