Meet "Orbus"...

Sunday afternoon, Linda started hearing something like a dog crying, whenever she went into the bathroom. She thought it was the neighbor's a block behind us, as usual.

I heard the same sound a couple of times later in the evening before I went to bed. To me, it sounded like cries of pain, an animal that had been run over or hurt by another animal.

Monday morning, I got up about 6:30. I couldn't believe it... the same wailing was STILL going on! So, I got dressed and stepped out on the veranda, but I could not tell what direction the sound was coming from.

Finally, I got in the car to see which neighbor's house it was coming from. But the howling was not coming from a house... it was coming from the lot on the west side of us, overgrown with jungle. I got out of the car and walked about 15 ft. into the brush, bracing myself to have to put some maimed and scared animal out of its misery.

The whole time, it was nothing more than a tiny puppy, sitting under a tree, waiting for its mama to come for him! He came to me as I reached down to pick him up and take him home. He was not even four weeks old. The only thing wrong with him is that he is full of fleas.

It is nearly impossible that some other animal did not eat him... that he staved off the hunger for so long... that he did not move from the place where he was abandoned... that he had such a strong set of lungs!

So, meet "Orbus". That is a Latin word that means "orphan, deprived, destitute."

How could I not rescue him? He reminded me too much of me!  I, too, was once like him: lost, alone, howling to the four winds, waiting to be rescued.

If it had not been for Jesus, whatever would have become of me?

“10 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” (Isaiah 49:15 AV)

How could my heart break for a silly little animal? But, much more than that, how could Jesus' heart break for a silly little sinner like me?

Have you been rescued by Jesus yet? If so, how is it that your heart does not just break for those who are still out there waiting every second for someone to hear their cry and rescue them, too?

I got home late tonight from a mens' meeting in town. What a joy to come home and find the puppy curled up in a ball on his little yellow towel, snoring away. But that was nothing compared to the joy of being with a group of men that knows exactly how Orbus feels!