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Friday, 20 November 2009

Bojangles

It has been awhile since I have written anything on my blog. Unfortunately I have sad news.

Dear all,

When I woke up Wednesday morning and saw Bojangles lying on the floor I thought good he is still breathing and his eyes are moving and noticing me. I called out his name, he didn't respond. I sat on the floor and petted him. He closed his eyes every time I touched his head, just like all dogs do when they are being petted, as if they are saying aah! That feels good! His tail wagged but he didn't want to get up off the floor. I went to the door to let him out, no response. I opened the door, no response. I stepped outside, no response.

I went upstairs and got Mitch to come down, response. Why for Mitch and not me? Well, Mitch isn't supposed to know when it is time, only me. I knew it was time to call the Purdue Small Animal Hospital. It was time.

We will miss our good friend Bojangles. His servant attitude was far above ours. He continued to work to the end. He wanted to work the room at the Pastor's circuit meeting last week. He even greeted Pastor Engel in the grief room yesterday at the hospital as if to say, you need comfort and therefore you need to pet me. He was working and he was tired. It was the time to do the thing I didn't want to do. We will truly miss him.

God comfort you all with his peace.

Monday, 31 August 2009

Bojangles and Pastor Bob take a Weekend Road Trip

Bojangles and I took a weekend trip back to my home church, (Redeemer Lutheran Church Highland, IN), before I became a pastor. We actually did a pulpit exchange. Pastor Eric Kleinschmidt from Redeemer Lutheran Church came to Saint Paul and I went up there.
Here we are waiting for Bible Study to Start:
And here are some of the people who came to the Bible Study. They got to watch a video about Lutheran Church Charities. I hope someday they might get a comfort dog but I think that right now they don't need one.

Bojangles will now tell you about some of our activities. After Bible Study we went to the Sunday School room. Redeemer has Sunday School all year. Look at all the kids petting me. Pastor Bob got me in the picture but I wasn't sure I wanted to be in it.

Below is a better picture of me with the kids.

Redeemer Lutheran Church has two Pastor. Below Pastor Bob is with his Pastor who was a big influence on him becoming a pastor.
Bojangles Walks in Kouts' Porkfest Parade

I should probably pay more attention to this guy but the activity on the other side of the road sure looks interesting. By the way the during the parade St. Paul Lutheran Church in Kouts was looking to hand out water and popsicles to the spectators of the parade. One more thing the goofy looking guy in the green hat and wearing a backpack is Pastor Bob.

Above I have one person petting me who has been watching the parade. You know, life doesn't get any better than when someone is petting you or scratching your ears.

I think I'll go over here and see if this guy on the bicycle wants to scratch my ears.

This member of St. Paul Lutheran Church was handing out popsicle sticks. I she could go for one of those.
Overall the parade was a success. We handed all of the popsicle sticks and all of the water.

Tuesday, 04 August 2009

Vacation Day - 1

It is very relaxing to be on vacation this week. Mitch and me got here yesterday around 5:00p local time. There is a 75% chance for rain so we are altering our plans today. Instead of going to Holiday World today we are going to Marengo Cave. It won't be raining inside the cave. I have been there once before Mitch has never been there. I will take some pictures and post them later today.

Monday, 13 July 2009

Opening Doors I Cannot Open

I have run into a few people, not many who think that a Comfort Dog Ministry is not all that it is cooked up to be. But yesterday's experience for me is one in which I will beg to differ. Here it is.
After watching the movie "Conversations with God" I went up to Valparaiso to get out of the house for a while. By the way the movie is good if you like what seems to be a happy ending. I do question the theology in it. I am not sure that God's purpose is to keep me happy.
Well I went to try out the new sandwich deli on the north side called "Dagwood's." Some of you don't know that this is from the comic strip and movies about a woman, "Blondie" who was married to Dagwood. Blondie is a comic strip and there were several movies made starring Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake as Dagwood. Blondie was the more intelligent one who was deeply in love with her husband Dagwood. Dagwood was somewhat bumbling. But he wasn't a bad guy, just bumbling once in a while. Dagwood loved sandwiches. He could make a master piece of a sandwich. They would sometimes be 12 inches high or more. In other words Dagwood loved to eat. Well I had an Italian sandwich and then headed to the south side of town to go to Starbucks.
I took Bojangles into Starbucks and got a cup of coffee. I was leaving to go home when I was asked a question by a table of customers about Bo. Bo had opened the door for me to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must have talked for an hour or more. It was quite enjoyable. Now here is the thing that you all need to know. I would have never have been stopped and asked a question by anyone if I was alone. And then have a discussion of the Gospel. And this is has also been true when I wore my collar and did not have Bojangles yet. I find that when I am with Bo many people are willing to talk to me who would never think to walk up to a stranger and ask questions even if they wanted to talk to me. Bojangles opens doors that I cannot. What a true blessing he is.