REDEMPTION

While I’ve been home sick for almost a week with the “nasties” (e.g., flu), I’ve been spending time cuddling with my many dogs (10 total), which got me thinking about this topic...

My sister & I have been involved in dog rescue & rehabilitation since the late 1980's. She has personally rescued & rehabilitated over 100 dogs. Me, not nearly so many, but I've worked with quite a few. Of the 12 dogs owned by my sis, my bro, & me, 7 are rescued dogs.

In a life already packed with activity, I’ve been asked why I invest time in this specific area. My answer is simple -- REDEMPTION.

I have the ability to act on behalf of a creature who cannot speak for itself. I am able to transform a needy dog's situation into something wonderful. Instead of being kicked, beaten, or neglected, I can bring them to a safe place where they can feel loved & cherished. I can help them to grow in self-confidence, & teach them the basics that they need to know in order to function in a new “forever” home. I can feel the righteous anger toward their abusers, & work to make changes to a system that treats such abuses far too leniently.

I’ve been blessed to taste the smallest hint of what it means to bring a creature back from the brink, a throw-away life that would have been snuffed out, & help to give that creature a new future of hope. Who WOULDN'T want to be part of something like that?! This doesn’t absolve me from my responsibility to live Christ to other humans in all areas of my life, but this specific focus is because I have already tasted redemption for myself, & know its intoxicating sweetness.

Because doesn't REDEMPTION describe exactly what Jesus did for me? He took me out of a life of darkness & degradation, with no future in front of me except for more darkness & degradation. As Michael Card said in his song “Joy in the Journey”: “Remember the hopelessness when you were lost...” From that lost wasteland, He brought me into His marvelous Light. He took a life with no meaning & filled it with His presence.

Redemption. Think on that precious word today, & what it means to you. Because it means EVERYTHING to me.

I once was lost, but now I'm found
I once was lost, but now I'm found
So far away, but I'm home now
I once was lost but now I’m found
And now my lifesong sings.

I once was blind, but now I see
I once was blind, but now I see
I don’t know how, but when He touched Me,
I once was blind, but now I see
And now my lifesong sings.

And now my lifesong sings,
And now my lifesong sings

I once was dead, but now I live
I once was dead, but now I live
Now my life to You I give
Now my life to You I give
Now my life to You I give

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Let my lifesong sing to You
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Let my lifesong sing to You

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Let my lifesong sing to You
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Let my lifesong sing to You

~~”And Now My Lifesong Sings” by Mark Hall/Casting Crowns (Album: Lifesong, 2005)