Suggested by: RLC
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What does a homeless woman, dogs in animal shelters, criminals in prison, and handicapped individuals have in common? They all felt the hand of GOD in their lives to improve the condition of society by dealing with a very troublesome problem handicapped individuals have.
Several years ago, probably in the 1970s, Pauline Quinn was a homeless girl who had run away from a rather abusive family life. She was picked up off the street during her time on the street by a policeman who raped her. She had a child, and gave the baby up for adoption. She also purposely hurt herself by putting lye on her arm. Not many individuals get to such a low point in life. Then she came across a stray puppy, and they befriended each other. After a short time she began training the puppy to do simple tasks. This interaction with the dog gave her purpose in her life, and she began desiring more for her and her dog. Around this time she probably came across an outreach mission run by nuns, went under their care, and eventually joined their order.
In the early 80s Sister Pauline Quinn recognized the problem handicapped individuals have getting assistance dogs. Most have to wait years before they get to the top of the list for a trained dog. It takes a year or so to train one dog, and the expense to pay individuals to train the dogs is quite large. The training also requires almost constant and loving attention to the dogs to get them to the level of performance necessary to assist handicapped individuals.
Sister Quinn also became aware of the unused potential in the prison system. She approached a warden with the idea of letting prisoners train the dogs. Each dog, which she sometimes obtained from an animal shelter, had to live with its trainer day and night. Sister Quinn then taught the prisoners how to train the dogs for the desired purpose. Some of these prisoners were very hardened criminals considering themselves without hope just because of the serious mistakes they made during a short period in their life.
Interestingly, the prisoners who trained the dogs became better prisoners-more loving to themselves and others. They wanted to turn their lives around and do something worthwhile for themselves and society. It was difficult for most of them to give their dog to another individual after one year, and that giving became a true sacrifice from the heart on their part. If and when they were paroled, they had a very important occupation and a strong desire to put it to work to serve society.
The above story was a recent movie, "Within These Walls", on Lifetime Network. I found information on the Internet at the About.com website. Part of the information can be downloaded here (PDF format).
As this story illustrates, we can recognize GOD's Hand in our lives by the way all things come together for the good of all. Through their giving each gains what they need. Notice also that the change begins when a higher good is desired and a commitment is made to reach that goal. This story also illustrates that the first step of the Seven Steps of Spiritual Growth-GOD's Spirit-is necessary for a good change to occur. We must be seeking GOD's Purposes-not our self-serving purposes.
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