Runaway Dog

"Frank! Frank, come here, boy!" Zebb stepped back into the house and closed the sliding door with a sigh. "I think he ran away again. I've called him and called him, and he still hasn't come!"Mom looked up from her computer and frowned. "Oh no. Dad must have forgotten to put his invisible fence collar back on after his bath." Zebb was looking out the window anxiously and ringing his hands together, so Mom closed her laptop and gave him an encouraging smile. "Why don't you put your boots on and we'll go look for him before dinner."As mom drove the car slowly around their neighborhood, Zebb looked out the window. "I don't understand why he always wants to run away. Doesn't he know how much we love him?""He knows," Mom assured him. "Frank is just a dog who likes to run."After thirty minutes of searching, Zebb was blinking back tears. Mom reached over and squeezed his hand. "You know what I always think of when Frank runs away and we have to go search for him?""What?" Zebb asked, swiping at tears with the back of his hand."I think of a parable Jesus told in the Bible about a shepherd who goes after one lost sheep. He drops everything to go and save the sheep, even leaving ninety-nine others behind to go search! And when he finds the sheep, he isn't angry. The shepherd rejoices! That's how God reacts when His children are found.""I like that story," Zebb said. "It's nice to think that Jesus would search for me like I search for Frank."Mom nodded. "Jesus is our Good Shepherd who came to earth and died to rescue us from sin. He loves us and will always come find us when we wander off."As they continued searching for Frank, Zebb thought about God's love for him and how big it was. He also prayed that God would keep Frank safe, wherever he was.A few minutes later Mom's phone rang. "Hello?" she said. "Oh, that's wonderful news, thank you. We'll be right there!" She hung up the phone and turned the car around. "That was one of our neighbors. They have Frank safe and sound at their house. Let's go get our boy!" –Emily Tenter