Rest In Peace my Sweet Ya Ya

On the morning of Friday, April 13th, I said good-bye to my sweet and precious Ya Ya. After having been pulled from a Georgia puppy mill, rescued from sale at a flea market, then a stint in a beautiful, state-of-the-art shelter in Washington D.C., to an FBRN foster home in Virginia (where she got her name), Ya Ya came to live with me in February 2007. After a lifetime of making puppies for pet shops, Ya Ya got to be somebody’s puppy — mine! And I am so grateful that FBRN entrusted her to me. She was treated like the queen of the house, by humans and pets alike. She was pampered and loved, as she so deserved.

It surprisingly took Ya Ya only a short while to trust me and to feel like she finally had a place that was truly home. She bonded with me and made me her special human, just as she was my precious little baby girl. When I got home from work, she would follow my other dog to the door (since she was deaf, that was the only way she knew I was home) and begin hopping with excitement. She hopped until I leaned over so she could give me a frenchie kiss under my chin.

Through the years, I would often use Ya Ya as an illustration in a Sunday morning church message. So the entire church got to know and love Ya Ya. (Matter of fact, she was the honorary mascot of our church’s Dog Walking Club. She led the pack riding in her stroller.) Here is one illustration I used in a message that is particularly special to me:

I have a little dog named Ya Ya. She’s a french bulldog. She lived most of her life in a cage, used only as a breeding dog in a puppy mill. So she was an absolute mess when I got her – and she’s still a mess. I got her through a rescue organization. I paid $250 for a 10 year old, deaf, toothless dog, that pees & poops in the house. Does that make any sense? They should’ve paid me to take the dog. There were many other dogs I could’ve tried to adopt from this organization, BUT I CHOSE HER. Did I know what I was getting into when I chose her – you bet I did! She’s a mess, but she’s MY mess – my little treasured possession.

God’s people today….the church…. we’re a mess too, but we’re Jesus’ mess. 1 Peter 2:9 says: you are a chosen people, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Did Jesus make a mistake? No. He knew just what He was getting when He chose us. As someone once said, “the church is a collection of broken people recklessly loved by God.”

Ya Ya was “broken” in some ways, but she was recklessly loved by me.
I think she knew that.
I hope she did.
I will miss her terribly, but am so thankful for the time I had with her,
and so grateful that
she chose me to be her human.