My journey with Rooney began on the 11th January 2024, when I saw his post on Facebook and contacted his rescuer Narain.Rooney's life was on the line and he was facing being euthanised because the rescuers were struggling to find him a home.He wasn't a difficult dog, but there was some confusion over a couple of incidents that was creating fear, together with limiting beliefs around whether anyone would want an old dog with skin cancer, and this was holding him back from his happily every after.I only get involved when a dog's life is on the line and I am their last and only hope, and it's because of that that I offered to help.It's always difficult to work with new people, there is a lot to learn about each other and re-homing is so complex that you can easily come to blows, and one must always be mindful of treading carefully.The desperation and urgency of Rooney's situation lead to a couple of false starts and we made a couple of mistakes, but God protected Rooney and kept him safe, even though it meant him staying in the kennels for a lot longer than we would have liked.With no unity around his case, the doors would not open, and it was only when Narain said that he would stand in the gap for Rooney and protect and preserve his life no matter what, that things started to shift.I asked him how we should proceed and he told me to have faith and quoted Psalm 23 to me, and so the Lord refreshed our soul and guided us along the right paths, even though we walked through the darkest valley, we feared no evil, for God was with us.And true to His word, God prepared a table before us in the presence of our enemies and He brought Rooney the most perfect home ever.As is always the case, there are always several buses that come along at once, but there was only one bus that was anointed and appointed for Rooney, and our job was to find it.The first applicant that we seriously considered was Andrew, who, together with his wife-to-be Gwen, had just moved to a lovely spot in Shelley Beach.Despite the fact that Andrew had very quickly formed a close bond with Rooney, based on his story alone, God was holding me back and I trusted Him.Andrew was living in a caravan park which was lovely out of season, very quiet and there were places to go for nice walks and a lovely beach with a dam, but in season, it would be busy and noisy and I didn't think that was ideal for Rooney. Also, the terms of Andrew's stay were to fence his plot off, which would have resulted in a 10m x 8m enclosure of the whole pitch, which would have been a mission to put up and which I just didn't feel was big enough and Rooney would be dependent upon being taken out, which I didn't want for him.That same day, God gave me a vision of Rooney being free in hectares and hectares of land, where there were horses that he could go and visit and a couple of dog friends to play with, and the ability to move around freely and be around his people whenever he felt like it.I shared this vision with Narain and he agreed that that would be the dream for Rooney and I knew then that I had to let Andrew go, even though he would have loved Rooney and done his best by him.It's always hard to say no as it's a rejection, but having a life in your hands and being a Trusted Guardian is a serious responsibility and commitment and God leads, so I must follow, in the name of what's best for Rooney, which is a perfect home.Perfect is perfect.There are no question marks, no hesitations, no anxiety, you just know in your heart that it's right and you have peace. Saying yes is easy, effortless and irresistible and everything just flows.A few hours after I received this vision, I finally got to speak to the person who I was hoping would be a perfect home.There had been many delays as when she initially contacted me it was her birthday and she had family and friends coming over that weekend and I had to be patient for several days, which was tough!!When Abbi finally contacted me, we realised that we had spoken 5 months prior but the timing just wasn't right for various reason and strangely enough, it was Tyron's birthday at that time and that delayed us then too!!I was happy and excited to discover that Abbi & Tyron were still interested in Rooney as both Narain and I wanted them in the first instant and we were disappointed to let them go!Since our first conversation, Abbi & Tyron had moved to their dream property and as Abbi proceeded to tell me about it, I could hardly hold in my excitement as she described to me the exact vision that God had give me a couple of hours earlier.I told Abbi that I had already seen this vision that day and she told me that she could see Rooney there, this in itself was confirmation enough.But the confirmations didn't end there and Rooney had been on her heart for months as he kept popping up in her Facebook news feed and she knew she had to give him a home.Of course, I didn't need to interview Abbi a second time as I had already done that the first time and we simply talked about the logistics and how it would work.Abbi had only one concern and that was how Rooney would get on with the other dogs on the farm, especially Tyson, the pack leader, but he had lived with dogs of all sizes before for 4 moths and he had never shown any sign of aggression and there were no issues.Rooney is a cool boy who is just in his own world, doing his own thing, on his own mission.I discussed this with Narain and we both agreed that he wouldn't be interested in vying for the position of top dog and Abbi also agreed that this would be the case.Once you have assessed, considered and thought through everything, there's a level of instinct that kicks in that you learn to trust and live by, and this was exactly the case here.Of course, Rooney would need a decompression period and a soft landing and the ability to run or walk off his energy having been in kennels for so long and we took the care and time to facilitate that.In the first instant, Abbi went to visit Rooney in the kennels 4 days after we spoke and said she would know that morning whether she would be taking him that day.Andrew and Gwen's role turned out to be a pivotal part of Rooney's story as he joined both myself and Simba, my rescue partner, in prayer and together we all prayed that things would go smoothly, to calm Rooney's heart and that the meeting would go well, with any challenges or obstacles easily overcome.That morning, I delayed collecting my guys for work in order to sort everything out for Rooney's visit and to make sure that everything went ahead perfectly.God gave me the song Three Lions by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds, written 25 years ago to commemorate Manchester United entering the UEFA cup, and the lyrics were ringing in my spirit."We're coming home, we're coming home, football's coming home."I knew this was God's way of telling me that everything was going to work out, but I was wondering about the football bit.And then I remembered that Andrew had told me that maybe Rooney was named after the iconic Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.This was very interesting as Manchester is my home town, Manchester United is my family's football team, Wayne Rooney's number was 10 (Rooney is 10 years old) and the position he played was Forward, something we had committed to many times throughout the journey.Three Lions Narain hesitated at the last moment in getting to the kennels that morning because he didn't want to do two trips, with it being a 200km round trip for him, and bearing in mind that Abbi hadn't made a firm commitment at that stage, he didn't want it to be a wasted effort and expense.I told him to go in faith and God bless Narain, he did, and thank God he did!And then I sung the song to both Andrew and Narain over WhatsApp and watching the video sent chills as the crowd roared for the victory! Within an hour of the kennel visit, Narain accompanied Rooney, Abbi and Tyron to their fabulous home and together, they integrated the dogs beautifully over a lovely walk throughout their extensive grounds.Simba and I held a powerful energetic space whilst all this was happening, from the moment Abbi and Narain went to the kennels, to the moment Narain left, which he had to do when Rooney wasn't looking as it was so hard.Andrew built a fire for Rooney and sent me a video, he blessed Rooney's journey, burning away all the pain and suffering and hardship of the past, as he visualised Rooney's soul soaring free into his new beautiful life filled with sunsets on the stoop and all the love he could handle.Abbi was in contact throughout and it was the most wonderful day for Rooney, I don't think he could believe it was real, to the point where he couldn't eat, I think it was all just too much for him.After a few hours at the farm, Rooney was booked in at the vet to check his vaccinations were up-to-date and for a general check-up as he had been losing weight.Unfortunately, his first night in his new home was cut short and he had to spend the night at the vet so they could run all the tests so that when he left, everything was in order.He had some skin cancer removed in January and a follow-up a month later revealed that everything was fine and we just prayed that it didn't come back, and so far, it hasn't.Everything was fine for the most part and the vet wasn't too concerned, and the following day, when Abbi picked him up, he was wagging his tail and in good spirits.I am writing this as Rooney enjoys the first night, please God of many many many more, in his new forever home.Abbi sent both Narain and I a video this evening of Rooney cuddling up with her on the couch, he was so happy, it broke everyone's heart wide open, but most of all, Rooney's, who has waited so long for a new family.It turned out that Rooney's previous family had to let him go when they lost everything during covid and he has been longing to be loved again ever since.Narain said that he had taken him to so many places and every time he wanted to leave and get back in the car.This time he knew that this was his home, and when Abbi sent me the video of them on their first walk, he was the first one to go inside.My heart is bursting with joy, so is Andrew and Gwen's and so is Narain's.Narain walked with him for so long, from rescuing him from a cage, to funding his kennels every month from his own pocket, to trying everything for him.Narain gave his all, all the way to the end, and as a result, Rooney entered his Promised Land.May God continue to bless Rooney, may Rooney receive so much love that he forgets about the suffering of his past, may he walk into his new life and never look back, and may God grant him many years of happiness, comfort, safety and peace.May God continue to bless his new family, may he fit in beautifully with all the other dogs and may he be a blessing to everyone.May Rooney walk in sunshine all the days of his life, and through any showers with glee, knowing that he is finally free.Thank you to everyone who helped Rooney on his journey, he had and still has so many angels surrounding him and he has friends he doesn't even know about and will probably never meet, but who love him just the same and who have been rooting for him.God bless you Rooney, you deserve all the happiness in the world!
