Desperately Seeking

I thought I would begin my first blogging experience by sharing my first short story that ignited my love for writing.

One Saturday morning during a festival in our town I woke to a strange sound coming from the back yard.  I looked for the source as I let my dog, Oscar, out but I didn’t see anything and went back inside, when I returned to let him in he was gone and I could still hear the sound.  As I stood there yelling for him, I spotted several hot-air balloons passing over head.  It scared me because they were so low I could talk to the pilots, then I realized that they must have scared my dog too.  It had only been minutes since I let him out so I walked around the yard calling his name for several minutes with no response.  I went out the back gate and called for him around the block but still nothing. By this time people were starting to get out for the day and I grew scared that I would never see him again because many people were in town for the festival and I thought someone would take him home with them.  My husband and I didn’t have children so Oscar was like our baby and the thought of losing him was devastating.   Hours had passed with no sign of him, so I decided to go to where the people were with some recent photos; surely someone had seen him.  I asked around the crowd but not a single person recognized him.  I was so desperate to find him that I began to walk the main street.  Traffic was backed up for a couple of miles and I showed his picture to every car asking, “Have you seen this dog?”  With everyone shaking their heads “no”, and tears rolling down my face I responded with, “If you see him will you call the shelter so he can come home to me?”  I said it over and over to everyone.  Finally, I got a break!  A nice couple stopped and told me where they had seen him earlier that day.  I was so excited at the thought that he would still be there.  I was near my house so I ran to get my car.  I stopped inside to check if the shelter had called and at the very moment I was walking in the front door Oscar was coming in the back.  It was so great to have him home; he had been missing for six hours and we were both exhausted.

I had made plans to go to church for a special Saturday evening service but at that point I was simply too tired.  But when the time came to leave, I decided that I would go after all.  The nation had just experienced the awful tragedy of September 11th it was less than two weeks old and everyone’s lives had changed.  The preacher began to speak to us about being desperate and asked, “are you desperate?”  I thought to myself, I was earlier today.  As I spoke those words, I saw myself walking down the street so desperate to find my dog.  Then I saw Jesus walking where I had been and He was showing pictures of all the lost souls asking, “Have you seen this lost sheep?”  As tears rolled down His face He responded with, “If you see them will you ask them if they know Jesus so they can come home to Me?”

This changed my life!  God took a physical experience and gave me a spiritual application.  After that Saturday service, I told my pastor what had happened, and he said, “You need to write that down!”  And I have been writing ever since.

Sharon Hoskins