A prayer for the church

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blessing, calling, Chrisitanity, Church, congregation, faith, God, Jesus, Ministry, prayer, spirituality

On Sunday I will be preaching at the congregation where I am worshiping and work with adults with dementia.  I will be talking about the welcome they have given me, and the signs of the kingdom that I see active among them, and then I will lead them in a prayer for the congregations and the various ministries that are offered to God in the congregation.  It seems to me, however, that this prayer is one that needs to be prayed for every congregation.

So please join me in praying for the health and vitality of congregations and the ministry that happens within them.

Let us join our hearts and voices to offer our prayers to God.:

Most holy God, from time eternal you have called us your people and directed us in your paths.  You have provided for us from the bounty of your earth.  You have provided salvation through Christ who died for our sins.  You have loved us, forgiven us and called us into your church. You have directed our hearts with the infilling of your Spirit and sent us forth to bring the good news to all people.  All that we have is yours.  All that we do is given to you with all the love and gratitude of our hearts.  You are truly great, and truly to be praised.

Today we praise you that you have called us into the Congregation of [name of your congregation].  Here we have been blessed by your love, challenged by your Word and called into your service.  Through the worship and labour of this congregation you have given our lives meaning and purpose and we praise you for the joy that we know in you and in one another.  May your blessing continue to flow in and among us.

We pray for the ministries of this congregation and all those who support those ministries with prayer, financial assistance and loving service, in order that your blessing may indeed abound.

We pray for ourselves as a congregation of your people, vowing to grow in faith, in truth, and in grace as we work together in patient service to one another and to the community outside our doors.

We vow to most sincerely acknowledge you, the only true God,  to trust you alone, look to you for every good thing, to humbly and patiently love you, fear you, and honor you with all our hearts.

The things good Lord that we pray for,
Give us the grace to labour for

We vow to regularly attend the assembly of your people and to learn what your Word teaches, to pray to you and for your church publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor.

The things good Lord that we pray for,
Give us the grace to labour for

We vow to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be patient, peace-loving, gentle, merciful, and friendly to them, to protect them from harm as much as we can, and to do good even to our enemies.

The things good Lord that we pray for,
Give us the grace to labour for

We vow to love the truth, speak it candidly, and openly acknowledge it. And we vow to live the way of love for you O God and for our neighbor.  We vow to serve all the least of your people with all our heart and to take pleasure in doing whatever is right.

The things good Lord that we pray for,
Give us the grace to labour for

We ask especially that you will maintain and prosper the ministries of your people in this place.

We ask all these things in the strong name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, who has called us to faith and who sends us forth in ministry. Amen

May your congregation be blessed and may it be a place of blessing.

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the urgency of ministry

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Acrostic, attitude, Bible, Blessed, calling, Chrisitanity, Christ, Church, God, holy spirit, Listening to God, prayer, Religion, Servant, Silence

Tomorrow I am preaching for the second Sunday in a row.  Since the fall I have normally been preaching once a month and really enjoy it.  This month I am thrilled to preach twice in a row.  Next month I already have one preaching date booked.  I pray that I will find more times and dates to preach, because it is the one thing that I miss most from the ministry work that I used to do.  Wrestling with the Word of God and trying to discern what the Spirit is asking me to say to God’s people is a big part of my own spirituality and of my growth as a child of God.  I truly appreciate the joyous opportunities to preach whenever they come my way.

courtesy google images

Tomorrow I am preaching on the baptism, testing and call of Jesus as it is portrayed in Mark’s Gospel.  What strikes me from Mark’s account is that it all happens so fast.  There is a breathlessness to the speed in which Jesus moves from water to wilderness to witness.  In that speedy rendition Mark conveys not only the importance of the call to bring God’s good news into the world, but also the urgency of responding to that calling, while we still can.

So today I pray that my own life will reflect that urgency to share God’s grace in all that I do.

URGENT MINISTRY

Unveil for me your purpose
Reveal the time and place where I am called to make your Word known
Guide my thoughts and direct my heart, even as you open my ears to hear you speak
Enter my spirit and fill it with the willingness to serve you as I ought
Nurture within me the gifts ot ministry that will change the world
Teach me to know your heart and your will.

Make your love known in me
Insist on my obedience
Never let me stray from your purpose
Instill within me the grace to be your servant
Speak to me in the silence of my soul
Teach me to listen for your voice
Reach within me to bring out all that I have to offer you
You, O God, have called me and I will love you and serve you all the days of my life.  Amen

A Meaningful Advent

Tags

Advent, attitude, Blessed, blessing, Chrisitanity, Christmas, Church, God, Jesus, Journey, prayer

We seem to be firmly locked into winter here. Snow has fallen with regularity and although there have been chinooks, the snow remains on the ground.

Last week there was a large snowfall. Traffic ground to a standstill. Buses were delayed hours. People tell horror stories about taking a half hour or longer to drive one city block. Ah, winter.

photo courtesy Google Images

Those stories came from Friday. On Sunday I was meant to go to the little church in the country to conduct worship. The route involved mostly secondary highways. The drive takes an hour and a half. The highway map, reported them to be snow covered. The weather report indicated there would be winds creating a wind chill of 40 below.

I went anyway.

The drive was beautiful. The roads were clear. The sun was shining and the snow sparkled and danced as it reflected the rays of light. The ditches were full of beautifully sculpted drifts. Choral Concert was playing on the radio.

For me, that drive was a meditative time in which I felt close to God, filled with his mission and purpose and oh so joyously alive in him.

As I drove I reflected on the joy I have in worship. I know that I am blessed to be able to worship with a congregation where the fellowship, the music and the preaching combine to make God’s presence real and vital, but in truth, I still miss conducting worship. Maybe that’s what was behind the decision to still venture out, or maybe it was knowing that the little congregation would be as much a blessing to me as I prayed that I would be to them.

And so I drove on, thanking God for all the ways he filled my life with the blessing of meaningful worship. I thanked God for the ways in which he was filling my life with meaningful and purposeful kingdom work. (More about that another day).

For me though, that journey last Sunday was the perfect beginning to Advent, where we take risk and embark on a journey that leads us to the discovery of the blessing of God. I was reminded that Advent isn’t the destination, Advent is the journey. The road may occasionally be difficult, but always there will be the beauty, the joy and the blessing of God and at the end, the revelation that God has prepared for us.

Let us all remember to have a meaningful Advent. Let us all remember to look for God’s hand in the unfolding of our days. Let us all trust God to take us on the journey. Then, at the journey’s end, let us come together in worship and praise God whose goodness knows no end.

May hope, peace, joy and love be the companions on your journey through a meaningful Advent.

Changes, again…but its all good after all God keeps his promises

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faith, God, gratitude, hope, Jesus, joy, love, prayer, Promises

These past years have seen so many changes.  The losses have felt overwhelming at times.  The joys have seemed out of reach.  Hanging in with faith has seemed like a chore.  This last round of changes have had a different feeling, like something positive is happening.  The changes are bringing new into my life instead of taking things out of my life….

I have recently finished reading Joshua, and as the people stood affirming again their devotion to God and their desire to serve him, there is the reminder that everything God has promised them had come to pass, from the journey out of Egypt to the settlement in the land that God had given them.

As I reflected on the affirmation that God always keeps all of his promises I thought back over the last month.

It began with a trip, back to the place where I used to live.  I was there to pick up my car and to take care of some very important matters.  It was good to get those chores done and out of the way.  And in the doing the start of the promise that God cares for our needs.

While there I connected with some of the friends I wanted to see, and that was so encouraging and uplifting.  

While there I was encouraged spiritually by some new challenges on learning to listen to the Holy Spirit and a new meditative practice.  It seemed as if I actually felt my spirit soar….

…and that was a good thing because the next day  reality met a huge road bump… I needed to replace my entire exhaust system.  My mechanic special ordered the parts I needed and volunteered to work overtime the next day in order to complete the work so that I could start my journey to my new home.

That journey was one of the nicest road trips I have ever taken.  My mom came with me and was good company, helping me to navigate and just generally sharing stories, and talking about our lives.  One highlight for us was a stop where we had dinner with a cousin of mine we haven’t seen in many long years.  Who knew one simple meal could take four hours.  What a joy and a treat.  The sheer pleasure of that stop stayed with us for some long days on the road.  Family, and times to get together to reflect, to laugh, to cry are important parts of the plan God has for our lives, and a special part of the way in which he keeps his promises.

Another bonus was the sheer beauty of the Canadian landscape.  Even still clothed in winter garb, the frozen lakes showed the promise and glory of creation.  Even the long flat land, made dreary by the rain, showed signs of the promise of spring which was actually coming, a reminder that God keeps his promises.

Our final day on the road included lunch with a friend of mine, who showed such love and caring and a desire to work to make my life better.  Such a reminder that God keeps his promises in the people he sends to care for us. 

It was nice to get back home, with my daughter and her family, to be greeted by the boys with joy and love.  And such a bonus, my son-in-law cleared out the garage so that I could park there too.  Such an unexpected gift and a reminder that love overflows in my life.

Then this past week I had the urge to apply for a position that is a 5 minute commute from where I am living…. and I GOT THE JOB.  I start tomorrow.  It won’t pay enough for me to move into my own home, but it will pay enough for me to take care of my current needs.  And that is after all God’s greatest promise, that our needs will be met.

Every where I look I see God’s hand.  My life is showing the sighs of how God’s hand is (and always has been) caring for me.  This is the affirmation that hanging in with faith has its rewards deeply rooted in the love of God.

And that love, was so apparent when I took a journey to worship in a congregation I had been wanting to get to for a while.  I was greeted and hugged by so many people that I knew from my previous committee work.  I spent hours talking with one friend after another.  God’s love expressed through others…. a promise kept, not only that day, but all the days of my life.

From here I will learn to do my best at this new job and wait with open eyes and an expectant heart as God’s promises continue to unfold in my life…. Life is good.

don’t be afraid or discouraged

Tags

Courage, God, hope, Jesus, Prayer. Faith, Religion, Trust

If you have been reading this blog for the last year or so you know that my life is a roller coaster of hope and expectation, and disappointment and discouragement.  Some days my faith is strong, some days I wonder if I am living in denial, and then there are days when I feel as if I live in a bottomless pit.

Yesterday was one of those days.  After waiting for months for the government agency to make a decision on  my claim for unemployment benefits, I learned yesterday that they have denied them.  I am now appealing, and once again fear, disappointment and discouragement became companions on the journey.

This morning I pondered all that is happening, voicing my concerns and giving into my fears.  I dreamed of an alternate reality and unrealistic means of ending my problems.  I pondered means of manipulating the outcome.  Foolishness, really.  Then I read from the 7th chapter of Joshua.  In the first sentence God says to Joshua, “don’t be afraid or discouraged”.  My reaction…. this is just what I don’t want to hear.  

I don’t want to to hear the call encouraging me to have faith.
I don’t want to hear that God has a plan that is, as yet, hidden from me.
I don’t want to hear the call to have courage and faith.

YET…

That is what this life with God is all about.  Courage and faith are keys.  So are trust and patience.  So is hope and expectation.

So I have spent the morning meditating on the words to Joshua, and I will continue to meditate on them in the days to come.  I am not sure yet if I believe them, or if I can live them, but I do believe that they are a message for me.  What I have to do from here is what I have been doing for the past year, to keep applying for positions, and trust that one day soon the job I apply for is the job that is for me.

I love you a billion

Tags

Christianity, God, Jesus, love, prayer, Religion

My three year old grandson and I daily engage in what can only be called ACTIVE CUDDLING.  This is how it works…

 

He climbs on the footstool and either stands on my legs or on a good day between my legs.
     he LAUNCHES himself at me.
         he insists I put my book down and my glasses back on.
            he flings his arms around my neck and bangs his head into my shoulder
               he turns his head and juts his chin into my collarbone
                   he bangs his forehead against mine and bestows a bunch of sloppy kisses

THEN he stands on my legs and flips himself around and lands with his back to my chest and bangs his head onto my shoulder
    he squirms and wiggles for a while until he moves down my body
         he flings his head back and bangs my on the chest

THEN he digs an elbow into my side and flips over and cuddles like a baby
     when he decides that is “silly” he digs a heel into my other side and turns himself sideways into my body
          he nestles his head into my shoulder and gazes adoringly at me

 

The we start all over again with the cuddling and head banging of position one….

 

 

Yesterday as we were back into the face-forward, headbanging and kissing phase when he sat back and with a long look, said, “I LOVE YOU A BILLION”.   I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a long hug and reflected on the depth of love we  have for one another.  Sure makes all the cuddling bruises worthwhile.

 

 

 

Throughout the day I reflected on the ways in which we demonstrate our affection with God, especially during the times we spend in prayer. 

We come bursting into his presence and declare that we love him and think he is wonderful….

 

Then begin the pokes and jabs…
    You still haven’t answered my prayer about the direction of my life
        Take care of the family of the man killed in the accident yesterday
           Alleviate the plight of the children forced into becoming soldiers
                Heal the land from the latest earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane
                    Stop the snow and the cold and bring back spring
                      Bless the….do this… remember this

 

And I know that all those things are important for us to pray about, but it made me wonder, how often do we come into God’s presence and simply sit there, basking in the peace and the joy and say to him, “I LOVE YOU A BILLION”.  More importantly how often do we remain peacefully, quietly, calmly in his presence until we can hear him say, “I LOVE YOU WITH THE STRENGTH OF ETERNITY”.  

 

images courtesy of Google Images

Living Grace

Tags

faith, God, grace, Grandsons, hope, Jesus, joy, love, prayer

It has been a long time since I have written.  So much has happened and life has definitely taken on a different rhythm.  

Last month I moved to another province and am now living with my daughter and her family.  I have started looking for work in places other than the church.  There are some interesting possibilities, and hopefully some of them will be an extension of the work and ministry in which I was previously engaged.  A friend has reminded me that we are called to be servants in all that we do.  That is a good thing to remember.

When I arrived here I was reading in Matthew.  It was definitely time to take a break from the wanderings of Moses and the desert time that I was going through.  Instead of feeding my faith, it was reinforcing my sense of hopelessness.  So I switched gears–and testaments–and started reading Matthew.  

Those first few chapters fed my soul.  Jesus words focused on grace and the gifts of God.  He talked about relaxing into the rhythms of grace.  I am beginning to see that rhythms of grace in my life, and am starting to reflect on the prayers of my past and how they have fit into the new grace that I am seeing.

For  years now I have been praying for the chance to live closer to my family, primarily my daughter and my grandsons.  That desire was so strong, but what I did not realize was that when prayer is answered, and when we enter grace we leave something behind.  So yes,even the Scriptures from the desert speak in this new grace that I am living.  For the people to enter the promised land they had to leave the security of Egypt, endure the desert and learn to trust God.

For me to enter the life I have desired with the closeness of family interaction, I had to leave the church.  Being so discouraged with the church, that was easy, and yet involved a great deal of grief.  I love that work, but I know that I have gifts and abilities that will translate into meaningful work and ministry in other areas of God’s Kingdom.  I look forward to seeing what that will be.

For now though, I look for work and anticipate the future that awaits, and I enjoy life and relish the grace that comes with it.

Life is different that’s for sure.  Life with three boys under the age of 5 has a whole other kind of rhythm.  

This life is busy, loud and full in ways that I could previously only imagine.  Every day is filled with the sharing of love, reading stories, hugs, cuddles and even games.  It seems that the best racecourse in the house is up and down my body.  It seems that I live to serve as gym equipment as the boys climb on me, jump on me and bounce on me.  This new life is filled with joy, and this joy will continue as when the job I am called to comes into my life and I find a new home of my own, it will be close enough to have those regular moments of joyful play and active cuddles.

I am living grace and I am eager to embrace all that this new grace will bring.

Become what you believe

Tags

Christianity, faith, God, holy spirit, hope, Jesus, prayer, Religion, spirituality, Trust

Become what you believe.  When I read these words in Matthew today the phrase struck a chord in me.  This is all too often the way we live.  We put the emphasis on the “become”, and we put all of our effort into the becoming.

Let’s face it we live in a world that is filled with self-help strategies.  In books, on television and through social media we come across Spiritual Guides of every ilk who reinforce the message that we are in charge of our own destiny.  We are assured that programs such as seeing and visualizing what we want will make it happen.  We are told again and again that we can have or be anything that we want if we just work at it. 

After I read this passage from Matthew I started wondering about my own life.  How often have I tried by my own effort to become more?  What about all that hard work to change?  What about all that effort put into making my life what I wanted it to be?

 

Last night someone asked me what Biblical character I resonated with and my answer was Abraham.  Always living in the hope and expectation of the promise.  Always digging wells that others drank from.  Always striving to make his life turn out according to the Promise of God.  Then, most importantly of all, always being brought up short by God and reminded that life is lived by faith, not by our own effort.

I know that I get it wrong.  I put my own effort into making what I believe work, instead of simply resting in the grace and truth of what I believe and trusting God to make it work.

So I went back to the words that Jesus said, and I pondered the real truth in those words, that it is God who does the work for the becoming and that I am called to place my faith in him, and trust him in the working out of life.

This is what I read from Matthew chapter 9.  The translation is The Message

As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, “Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!” When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why, yes, Master!”   He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.”   27-30

What I have been pondering all morning is the need for us to be believing, rather than to be working on becoming.  More importantly I have been realizing that what we believe is an important part of this process.  I could believe that I can be the next famous rock star or even a toadstool, and no matter how much effort I put into believing, it just isn’t going to happen.  It is important that our believing is in line with God’s will and then God will make the becoming possible.

That then leaves the questions, “Where do I want to place my faith?” “What is my faith dependant upon?”

Where:  in God
What:  God’s word

So what have I chosen to believe today?

I have chosen to believe that I am a child of God and beloved in his kingdom.

I have chosen to believe that God has called me forth for a purpose and will fulfill that purpose in me.

So now with simple trust, hope and expectation I give myself over to God and allow him to bring forth what I have and will become in him.  Like Abraham I will learn to quit striving in my own effort and give over my heart, my hope, my life to God and trust that God will make all things possible in his time—whatever, whenever.

This is my prayer:

BECOMING

Before you, O God, I am humbled.
Everything I have tried has not worked.
Create in me a new heart, filled with trust and hope.
Order and reorder my thoughts that you word lives in me.
Make me open to hear the speaking of your Spirit.
Instil in me and new desire for faithfulness.
Nurture within me the gifts of the Spirit that they will fill my very being.
Grace me as your child that I may become all that you desire me to be.  Amen

the new year dawns….

Tags

Christianity, faith, God, hope, Jesus, joy, New Year, prayer, Strength, Trust

okay, so its more like high noon.  I am so far behind, that it might be wise to start again.

Why?

I was sick for Christmas, lost my voice during Christmas Day worship, and things progressively got worse from there.  Slept away most of the days between Christmas and New Years, and then dragged myself around for another week, doing much of nothing.  

Getting caught up on reading my favorite blogs showed me that, like me, most of you don’t like making New Year’s resolutions.  We make them with the best of intentions, but after a while they become a chore rather than a joyous choice.  So to discover that many of you have chosen to have a word for the year was something that intrigued me.

I tried so hard to think of a word, then a week ago I woke up with the word in my mind.  My word for the year is strength.

Strength.

It makes so much sense.  I have been growing stronger in many ways since my health has returned, but I haven’t worked at it, just drifted along with the flow and enjoying the benefits…but now the time has come to embrace strength and grow in strength.

The morning I had that revelation I was reading the 10 commandments as presented in Deuteronomy.  Reading my new favorite translation, The Voice, put such a new perspective on the first commandment.  It was like God was saying, this is a choice to make, I chose you,  now it’s your turn to choose me.  As I meditated on those thoughts it dawned on me that it really was true that “the joy of the Lord is my strength.”

Continuing to meditate, strength kept coming up as a theme…. strength in my relationship with God,… strength in my relationships with friends, new, old and yet to be….. strength physically…..  strength emotionally… but all of it begins with my relationship with God.

So better late than not at all, I have found my word for the year.  I look forward to having a stronger hope, a stronger faith, a stronger love and I look forward to the opportunities for joyous service, faith, ministry and living that this strength will bring to me.  

Strong love and strong peace to you all.  Oh yeah, and happy new year.  

I am back from the dogs

Tags

Dog Guides, Dogs, God, joy, love, prayer, Religion

As you recall in my last post I told you that I was going to the dogs as I went with a friend to help him train to receive a Seizure Response Dogs.  The facility we trained at was the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide Centre.   

The Lions Foundation of Canada trains Dog Guides and assist Canadians with a wide range of disabilities. With six programs in place, Canadians with disabilities are offered the opportunity to find greater independence, mobility and safety through the help of a Dog Guide.

 Canine Vision for people who are blind or visually impaired

Hearing Ear  for people who are deaf or hard of hearing

Autism Assistance for children who have autism spectrum disorder

Service for people who have a physical disability

Seizure Response for people who have epilepsy

Diabetic Alert for people who have type 1 diabetes with hypoglycemic unawareness

 Depending on the program, Dog Guides are trained to perform a set of basic skills that are useful to all handlers. However, some of their training is also tailored to meet the specific needs of their future handler. In the final stage of training, the client and Dog Guide train and live together at the Oakville facility for two to four weeks. This helps to ensure that the new working team develops a bond and prepares them for their next step – returning home.  Source:  http://www.dogguides.com

We were there from the second of December until the 19^th.  In almost 3 weeks we learned so much and were overcome with awe at these amazing dogs.

That said, I am sleep deprived, physically exhausted, emotionally wrung out and still I believe that this was one of the best experiences of my life. 

The trainers in our programme were awesome.  Patient, kind, understanding.  At times they were more like cheerleaders, and exuded an “you can do it attitude.”  They also showed a phenomenal understanding of the nature of each of the dogs and each of the clients.  I cannot tell you how many times those of us observing and assisting commented on how well matched dogs and handlers were.

My friend required a dog with a huge fund of patience, because he can often lose focus on what he is doing.  When that happened she would look at me and go all “Rex Murphy” with her eyes and finally settle down to wait until he figured out what he was asking her to do.  She even started anticipating him and doing what he wanted to ask for without him asking.

I admired her patience, her wisdom, her generous loving nature and the eagerness and even joy with which she engaged in her tasks, especially the seizure alerts, the get help, the fetch, and the alert commands—which are to activate the telephone help line or similar programmes–all of which are so essential for those who have seizures.

 

 

 

Another dog, the biggest black lab that I have ever seen was ironically given to a client who was nervous around dogs.  That dog understood that a one fingered tap on the head was high praise and responded with patience and gentleness.  We started calling him “the gentle giant” and were thrilled when in the last week dog and handler sat on the floor together, the handler with arms around the dog’s neck and smiling as the dog lavished kisses on that all too accessible face.

 

There are so many stories that I could tell, but I will only offer a few highlights.

First–The trip to Timmies.  All of us, 6 dogs, 6 clients, 6 supporters, and 2 trainers filed into a small Tim Horton’s and got the dogs settled under the tables and enjoyed coffee.  You would hardly know the dogs were there.

Second–The day we were allowed to handle a few dogs who were training for other programmes.  We were not allowed to touch or talk to the dogs that were training with their new handlers.  First because they are working dogs, and secondly because it was essential that the dogs bond strongly with their handlers.  So there were some complaints and maybe a little whining on our parts… so in the second week the trainers brought out some dogs that were training for another programme for us.  We took those dogs on with confidence, after all we had spent a week nagging, reminding and directing.  As your dog to heel.  Is your dog sitting?  Where is your handle?  And then we learned how hard it is to earn the respect of these high energy dogs when they are freshly released from the kennels.  At some point we looked across the room and noticed those 6 dogs all calmly and quietly lying down beside their handlers, while the chaos of dogs swarmed us.  We saw just how very far these new dog teams had come.  And we were proud of our friends and family—they had come so far.

 

The third highlight was personally for me.  It came the day a cat came to class to provide a distraction tool.  The dogs sniffed, decided the cat was boring and “left it” and walked back with their handler to their seats.  After the session ended, the trainer, who knew I was a cat person, gave me the disgruntled cat to cuddle and comfort.  I don’t know who I was prouder of –the people, the dogs or that poor long-suffering cat.

 

I mentioned earlier that we were not allowed to talk to or touch the animals.  My friends dog quickly figured out not to come to me because I would ignore her.  But she knew I was part of the training team.  I followed them everywhere and gave comments and advice on how they were doing together.  She knew I was there and at least once in every walk she would check to make sure that I was there.  So sweet.  So smart.

It was so eye opening as we went out into the world at just how many people don’t understand that these are working dogs and should not be touched or spoken to.  When you try to pat or talk to the dogs you are distracting them from their work and they may miss something that they need to do to for their handler.  They are not pets.  The work they do is vital for the health and independence of the people they serve.  One day in the mall food court I watched a mother encourage her toddler to go to one of the dogs and give it some food.  The dog was ignoring the child, just as she had been trained to do and that impressed me greatly.  To ignore such a great temptation is a mighty feat indeed.

I have to say that there is one thing that was totally unexpected for me.  I fell in love.  Deeply, irrevocably, breathtakingly in love with the dog my friend was training with. All those days in the same room, not talking to her, not petting her, and only watching her and I fell in love.  If I could have taken her home with me I would have. 

I know that what I feel and the grief I have today is a sign of the deep respect and honour that I have for these amazing dogs and it gives me a profound respect for the foster families who raised the dogs in their home and gave them back to the Lions Foundation.  I have an even greater respect for the trainers who work so closely and intimately with the dogs and then watch the dogs fall in love with another person in right front of them.  These truly are caring and selfless individuals and they should be honoured for all that they do.

 

So the next time you are out in your community and you see a Dog Guide Team, or a Guide Dog Team, or a Service Dog Team, however they are known in your locale please do me a huge favor…..  Give thanks to God for those people who loved and gave away these phenomenal dogs so that the handler could have greater health and independence.  Give thanks to God for creating these amazing animals with such a capacity for love and service.  Give thanks, and then with a smile in your heart turn a blind eye and keep on walking.  The handler will thank you for it.

 

Dog Guides Image courtesy of The Lions Foundation of Canada
All other images courtesy of Google Images