Have you ever felt so sad and depressed that you could not envision an end to your suffering? It is not easy to always have a positive attitude, especially if you don't have someone near you to give you encouragement and hope. A few years ago I learned an important lesson about not giving up. My story goes like this…

In the spring of 1996 I became the proud owner of a small puppy named Onyx. At the same time I was experiencing some difficult times in my life that included depression and unemployment. Onyx brought a sparkle of life back into my heart.

Fast-forwarding one year to the spring of 1997, I had applied to the Peace Corps and was awaiting my invitation letter. I was visiting my sister in Vermont and my little puppy had grown into a very large one-year-old German shepherd/black lab. My dog, Onyx, was my life.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, she was taken away from me. My worst fear happened. She was hit by a car. Fortunately, she was not instantly killed. She darted off into the woods—to die, I guessed. She disappeared into a dense forest, the gateway to a vast mountain range. I was devastated.

We searched the rest of the day and night for her, but she never appeared. I searched for at least half the next day and finally gave up. I hopped into my car and headed for my parents' house in New Hampshire. All I wanted was to be alone.

Upon arriving at my parents' house, I snatched the keys to the motorboat and headed out on the water. I drove around the bay a few times and returned. As I walked in the door, the phone rang. It was my sister Karen. She was very sorry for what had happened but very disappointed that I had given up the search for my dog. Would I have done the same if it had been my child?

Don't give up

After the conversation with Karen, something inside me said, "Don't you dare give up! Go back to Vermont!" I took a couple of photos of my dog with me and photocopied them in color with a note about her disappearance. Upon arriving in my sister's neighborhood, I distributed about 100 of these "lost dog" posters.

Three days after her disappearance, a neighbor (who lived about 500 yards behind my sister on the other side of the forest) called. She was sure she had seen a dog race across her lawn on the day and time of her disappearance. I decided to venture into the forest behind her house. About an hour after I had entered her side of the forest, I was losing hope once again.

Pushing on, I reached another road on the other side of that stretch of forest. Then I turned around. There, in the distance, was Onyx lying on the forest floor, licking her leg. I couldn't believe my eyes! I stumbled a few times trying to get to her. I think I startled her quite a bit. She even growled at me as I approached her.

I understood why in the very next moment. Her right leg was torn open from her knee joint all the way down to her foot, right down to the bone. Somehow, even though she had such a devastating injury, she had been able to run at least 1,000 yards to where she was. It must have been the shock of getting hit.

The end of the story is all good. I was able to carry all 80 pounds of her out of the forest and hitch a ride to the veterinarian's office. She was operated on and, to this day, is a miracle dog for that veterinarian. None of this would have happened if my sister Karen hadn't talked to me and encouraged me to not give up hope of finding my dog in that spring of 1997.

Reflecting on the story

As I was sitting here tonight writing this article, it dawned on me that since that incident with my dog (almost exactly 10 years ago), I have not given up hope once, no matter what the situation. I have multiple examples of this that would probably fill pages upon pages.

Have you had an experience that changed your outlook on life for the better? Maybe that experience is happening right now. You may not even know it. I only see it now, 10 years later. God works in mysterious ways. I believe He was with me the day that I made the decision not to give up on my dog.

The next time a trial hits you squarely in the face, don't give up. Look to God for guidance and inspiration. Listen to the advice of those who love you. Think positively. Finally, think of Jesus as He was dying on the cross. He could have given in to temptation and not died for all of our sins. He could have given up. But He didn't. Neither should we. VT