Dogs and Missing Children

About three months ago I adopted a Maltese-mix from the South L.A. Animal Shelter. It was because of her that I ended up taking our team to a women's shelter. The women’s shelter we visited provides housing for women who have escaped abusive relationships. It all began when I took my dog, Hurray, to the local dog park. There I began chatting with a gentleman across the fence in the large dog section. At some point in the conversation I noticed that his dog was wearing a name tag with a USC logo on it.

Soon we had exchanged stories about our respective organizations, and he invited us to come and sing at the women's shelter with which he was affiliated. When the day of our performance arrived I told the story of how my new dog had led me to this audience. I showed them pictures of how my dog looked the first day we picked her up, and how she looked after we had her groomed. It was a light moment in the midst of a program that involved profound emotions.

The women's shelter we visited is a Christian organization so we sang many hymns, including “It is Well With My Soul.” I explained to the women that the lyric writer had penned this hymn while visiting the spot where his four daughters had died in a shipwreck. The hymn expresses hope in his resurrection day reunion with his daughters.

After my explanation I noticed that several women were crying, and I realized that many of them had been separated from their children. That hymn brought back memories of their longing to be reunited with their children. Although we knew that our performance caused them to reflect on their pain, we also saw that the atmosphere had changed and had become hopeful.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5c19d4I3OMY

By contrast, one woman had two children with her. She had just found a job and was in the process of moving out. She loved our program so much she said, “Please tell the staff to contact me the next time you come to perform here. We want to come back to hear you.”