Thursday, December 11, 2014

Parable of the Homeless Poodle


The other day while scrolling through Facebook, I noticed the following video clip that a friend had posted about a homeless poodle being rescued.  I don't know why I clicked on the link, I normally don't watch hardly any videos that my friends post, but for whatever reason I decided to watch this one.
The video starts out with the rescuers driving up to where they find the poodle, who in addition to being homeless had just been hit by a car.  The poodle was looking pretty worn, all dirty and scruffy, some blood, and shaking from either being cold, being scared, or both.  As I looked at that poodle, I thought that dog looked how I felt.  It has been a rough semester in many aspects, and while there were many good things that have happened this semester, there have been many things that have literally taken me to the brink of being able to handle life.  As the video continued, the rescuers went up to the dog and talked to it to calm it down, pet it, picked it up and hugged it, and as I watched, all I could think was how I wished I had a personal rescue service.  As I was in the midst of such pondering, the thought came to my mind:  I do have a personal rescue service.  The Savior is my personal rescue service.  As the video continued, the dog was taken to a clinic where he was cleaned up, healed, nourished and strengthened.  This is exactly what the Atonement of Jesus Christ does for us.  It cleanses us, it heals us, it nourished us, it strengthens us.
I am so grateful to the Savior that He is always there for me and is always rescuing me.  No matter how scruffy I look, or how broken I have become, He is there beside me getting me back on my feet again, enabling me to be happy and enjoy all the wonderful things that life can be.

Here's the actual clip of the homeless poodle, from a society that rescues homeless pets: