A Texas dog has been reunited with her loving family a year after she went missing, and everyone is overjoyed.

When the Pasadena Animal Shelter held an adoption event at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant, its employees were shocked at what took place, People reported December 14.

“The sweet dog we called Gertie had been with us since June, making her one of our longest-stay dogs,” the shelter said in its Facebook post on December 7, adding it was hard to understand why she had been there for so long.

“She was an absolute sweetheart who loved everyone and always had that huge, ear-to-ear smile on her face when she saw you,” the post continued.

While Gertie was at the adoption event, a pastor saw her and thought she looked familiar, so he contacted a family who attends his church.

That family had been missing their dog, whose name is Cookie, and desperately wanted to find her and bring her home.

When they arrived at the event, the family “rushed over…and it was her!” the shelter’s post explained. It was not long before Cookie was back where she belongs.

Photos showed the gold-colored canine hugging her owners with what appeared to be a big smile on her face:

“What a great blessing & reunion! This story gave me goose bumps! So happy they reunited & found each other again,” one social media user commented.

“Congratulations all around, especially to the pastor who recognized this lost dog and took the necessary steps to reunite her with her owners,” another person replied.

Berenice Aldape described her family’s reunion with their beloved pet as a “Christmas miracle,” adding they spent months looking for her when she disappeared last year over the summer.

“When I saw her, I said, ‘Give me paw,’ and she did and I knew this was Cookie,” Berenice recalled.

To help people find their lost pets, the shelter partners with the Finding Rover website, which uses facial recognition technology.

“It saves lives! At our shelter, our number one goal is to keep pets safe before they even reach our doors. Using this tool, we can all become superheroes and help keep our shelter empty,” the site reads.