I just started fostering a pregnant mama from the local shelter. She’s a sweet little Corgi mix, soaking up any love you give her. Shelters give their dogs temporary names to catch attention and keep them organized; hers was Rainbow Brite, very memorable, but since you get to name your foster. I named this sweet girl after my mother, Patricia, and an ancestral name, Adeline. I call her Addie, but she doesn’t know her name yet. God showed me some of the sweetest things through this experience.
But now, this is what the Lord, your Creator says, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you [from captivity]; I have called you by name; you are Mine!
Isaiah 43:1
God’s Children
When you foster or adopt your pet, you don’t know their name from their previous life. You give them a new name, but they don’t recognize it because they’d never been called by that name before. I believe God showed me that many of us answer to the name of that inner critic. Maybe the name dubbed by your critic is dumb, looser, weak, not good enough, or unlikeable. Can you think of what label or labels your self-talk puts on you? God has an enemy who knows the best way to get to God is to harm God’s children. If you have been hurt, it’s not God; it’s His enemy.
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].
John 10:10
Pity and Love
We do it out of love and compassion when we decide to adopt or foster a pet. They’ve had pain and trauma, and our heart is to give them a better life. We want them to feel loved, and at home, we want them to heal and find joy. God feels this even more towards us. We live in a fallen world and get hits, traumas, and scars. We often come to God when all else has failed, and we have nothing left. The dog version of this comes to our door with mange, ticks, fleas, and broken limbs, and our heart melts. These things don’t gross us out, we don’t blame them for their state, but that state makes pity, love, and want to help them. Psalm 147:3 says it so beautifully.
He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow].
Psalm 147:3
His Thoughts and Plans for Us
If you wonder what God thinks of you, know that His heart desires to help, love, and forgive you. He reached out to us over 2,000 years ago to pay the price for every sin and shortcoming. He sees our state of being and knows the pain; he has compassion and loves us. I snuggle my sweet Addie every chance, and she leans into my love. I spoil her with healthy meat and treats and want her to know this is a safe and loving place to have her puppies. God loves you and me even more; if He didn’t, He never would have sent Jesus. If it’s been a while, just come to Him. He’s waiting with open arms. You don’t need to be perfect or even good; He knows everything about us and loves us anyhow.
For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
