For the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to sit with Nisa and help her feed over thirty strays every day (Read Nisa’s story here)
I have watched her call each one of them by name, I have watched her feed each one of them according to what they need and what they want. She knows each one of them personally and she knows exactly how, what and when they eat.
Husky is one such stray dog – the biggest of the lot, but the most timid. Being the wuss that he is, he gets picked at by the other dogs quite often.
I have watched Nisa feed him, hug him, tend to his wounds, yell at him – and all this with the belief and hope that one day, he will be adopted. Yet, I did not realize how much she loves him until one particular night.
A huge tree had fallen in the middle of the road, in front of Nisa’s house. When I got there that evening to feed the dogs, I heard that Husky was the only one missing. Nisa was worried – and honestly, with all the trials that she faces every day, I had never seen her that scared before. Her guess was that Husky had walked further up the road and was unable to return because of the fallen tree. I offered to look around for him.
I ended up taking three rounds around the park but was unable to find him. When I got back to Nisa, I could see she was almost in tears. She said, “I’ve always wanted him adopted. I don’t know where he is but I hope that even if someone’s taken him, he is safe and I hope I’ll find out soon.”
We sat down on the street and said a quick prayer. We prayed that Husky would be kept safe. When we were finished, I hugged her, asked her not to worry and got back home at around 11 pm.
At 2 am, I get a text from Nisa – “Praise the Lord God Almighty. He came back just now. Thank you for your prayer.”
The following day, I met her again – and it surprised me to see how happy she was – and I don’t know why it did. After all, it is in human nature to be overjoyed when something or someone you’ve lost returns to you.
But I can’t help think to myself – If Nisa cared about Husky, a stray dog, to an extent where she stayed up all night looking for him, praying for him, does it not make sense that there is someone who cares so deeply and loves us so immensely, who is staying up all night looking for us when we are lost?Is it really just human nature? Or is it something much bigger than that…
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” – Matthew 18:12-14