AC Pup's 2015 Christmas wish

The Christmas season is such a busy time of year with shopping, parties, baking, church cantatas, traveling and spending time with family and friends. Sometimes the busyness and chaos of everything we need to accomplish overshadows the beauty of the season.

So I would encourage you to make time this week for quiet reflection about the many blessings we have in our lives. I know I'm going to take a break from supervising gift wrapping so I can think about my blessings.

I'm so thankful for my family and all those who have meant so much to me throughout my life and my career as Central Georgia CARES' spokesdog for homeless pets.

As I reflect on my Christmas wish for 2015, at the top of my list for special Christmas blessings is my nonprofit animal welfare group, Central Georgia CARES. My group continues to make tremendous strides in Middle Georgia caring for animals and the people who love them.

In addition to CARES, I want to wish wonderful Christmas blessings on the incredible animal rescuers who spend their time, energy, money and emotion rescuing vulnerable, homeless, lost and hurt animals. Rescuers and rescue groups are unsung heroes in our community. So to them, I wish a restful Christmas.

I was asked to repeat my other wishes from a previous Christmas piece I wrote, so I'm sharing it with you today.

For every homeless pet spending Christmas in a lonely, scary shelter, I wish for a heart full of hope that a new family will take them home in time. And I pray more people will consider adopting from a shelter rather than purchasing a pet, to help save a life.

For every older pet out there that has spent his entire life showing loyalty and love to his family, I wish him the privilege of spending his final years surrounded by the family he loves rather than being discarded to make room for a cute new puppy or kitten.

For every baby pet that joins a family this Christmas, I wish for the family to show them love for a lifetime, even when they grow up and they're no longer small and playful.

For every homeless animal wandering the streets, dodging traffic and searching for the next meal, I wish for a kind soul to offer a safe place to stay, a full bowl of food and a gentle embrace.

For every lost pet trying to find his way back home, I wish for caring people who intentionally look at flyers posted on street signs, who regularly read my Face­book pages and who will actually stop and pick up a lost animal they see rather than waiting for someone else to do it.

For every dog crammed in a small cage in a puppy mill that is forced to continually produce puppies, I wish for a compassionate community who will help liberate them from this injustice.

For every pet that has been harmed by the hand of someone they trusted, I wish for an advocate who will rescue them from danger.

Finally, this Christmas I wish you joy, peace and hope. And among all others, I wish you love.

Send questions to acpup247@yahoo.com. Visit www.acpup.com or like his Facebook page.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 3:23 PM with the headline "AC Pup's 2015 Christmas wish ."