Sadie took a long walk...GOD knew

So, last Saturday we had a wedding to attend.  None of our dogs have ever left the place as there is a barrier they don't cross.  They live on 3 full acres and indoors and outdoors and are truly pets.   Well, I do take them for walks and Joelle takes them for runs at different locations and travel in the car with us.  But, we have never had any of them leave on their own. ...until last Saturday.  

We came home from the wedding and Sadie was nowhere to be found.  We checked everywhere.  She is the princess of the house and at times I think she thinks she is not a dog but one of us.  My heart hurt so badly.  I couldn't imagine that we had lost her or someone took her or she got hit on the road.  So, we each took off to find her.  but, no Sadie.  Sadness.  It was dark and our neighbors were not awake so we had to wait til morning to talk with them.  No information.  Of course I checked the animal control, humane society, facebook, and craigslist but no information. 

I stayed up til 4:30 am.  Still drove the neighborhood since there were random fireworks heard and I could hear young voices.  But, I sensed GOD saying to me that I had to trust HIM no matter the outcome and there was nothing I could do until daylight.  I struggle with trusting when things may not go the way I want, but I gave in and trusted.

At daylight we learned from our neigbors that someone had seen her just by the road and people were trying to coax her to their cars so she would not get hurt.  But, she headed to a little town nearby about a mile away.  So, Kent and I headed there.  I took Casey along and walked the streets of this village asking anyone who was up if they had seen Sadie.  

As I walked by a house, a woman was coming out to her car. I waited for her to finish her conversation on the phone and then asked her about Sadie. It was obvious she had been beaten and her face was bruised with both red and purple colors.  Her eyes were vacant and I realized she was not really listening so i asked her if she was ok.   She walked toward me and said "don't make him mad".    I tried to convince her to leave and told her she needed to get out.  But, she was concerned about her belongings and I guessed it was hard for her to leave for other reasons too.  I offered her my phone number but she gave me hers instead and I dialed it right away so that she had it.  She told me to call her later.

As I walked away thinking about what just happened, my phone rang. It was a girl who said she thought she had found Sadie!  It began to occur to me that losing Sadie was not really about losing Sadie.  Elated to have Sadie back, we went  and go her.  I had posted an ad on craigslist that this girl saw.   We brought Sadie home and she has been near me since.  But, my mind was now on this woman I met.

I called her back several times that day without any answer.  Then I got concerned.  Though I didn't want her to get it worse from the guy we called the police and they reassured us.   They went to the house and  after seeing what I saw they talked with her and arrested the man.  This woman is out of there, he has been charged and she has a restraining order.  She called me this week several times thanking me for calling the police.  She said she had called 911 but they told her they couldn't do anything unless something was happening right then.   

It was not my plan to go by that house. I  didn't hear this woman's cries and I knew nothing about it.  But, GOD did.  He is willing to even let a dog wander off to help a person.