It’s the sweetest story – if you’re an animal lover.

My beloved rescued a dog three weeks ago.

In Magoffin County, he saw a lady on the side of the road trying to wrangle a dog. She held a can of dog food in one hand and looked like she needed help. He pulled over, quickly calling out, “I’m Pastor Tommy Reed and am not a crazy man!” He held out a business card.

Paige, the lady with the can of food, had been on her way to work. She had been seeing the dog for four days. Today, she was trying to feed her. As my beloved spoke to Paige about the situation, the dog bypassed the food, crawled on her belly to him and laid on his feet. His heart melted a little. After some discussion, he put the trembling dog in his truck and headed to a recommended vet.

The dog was a mess, hair matted and wild. They shaved her to get off the ticks and bugs. She looked even worse after. Beneath the fur, she was just skin and bones. Scars showed she had been hit by a car. They bathed her, treated her wounds, and gave her vaccines and antibiotics. We picked her up the next day and named her “Dixie.” She’s about eight months old.

It’s been an adjustment; we haven’t had a pet in 30 years. Our routine has been thrown into an uproar. But we love it. We love her. She goes to sleep on the couch (is sleeping by me as I type) and exhales loudly. It’s the sigh of contentment. Then she quickly begins to snore. I am a silly goose. I take videos of her snoozing because of all the noise she makes. They are the sounds of happiness and safety. She has a home now. No longer trying to survive on the side of the road, she is in a good place. She knows she is OK and loved.

Dixie adores my beloved. She loves me, of course, but is over the moon about him. You know why? He rescued her. So, she follows him everywhere. She wants to walk with him, sit with him, just be with him.

I was rescued, too! In August 1971. Psalm 18 describes it perfectly: “The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help…He reached down from on high and took hold of me…He rescued me…He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

While those words sound similar to what happened to Dixie, it happens to anyone who accepts Christ as their Savior. God rescues us from sin and gives us a new life. We can rest in His never-ending love. I can give a contented sigh, too, when I read Isaiah 46:4: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Dixie’s whole life has changed. She desperately needed help. If she had stayed where she was, she would have died. My husband has driven on that road several times a week for months. That day. That very day, Dixie needed to be rescued. We are thankful God brought her into our lives. He is using her to teach me so many lessons about Him and His love.