Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
what dreams may come
3 days of agonizing waiting, convinced all hope was gone.
Since I'm a pastor you probably think you know where this is heading, but we're in Fall, not Spring, right?
(Though if you come back during my Advent ramblings, this story is going to pop up again.)
This is not about the 3 days from cross to resurrection. It is far less spiritual and much more comical (now)
Here's the skinny on our recent adventure...
At about 4 PM on Saturday, we dropped off Tilly (The Wonder Hound) at our friend's* house in Plover.
*We love our friends, and even though they may not mind me sharing their names, I am going to refrain from doing so.
We then headed off to visit with my wife's sister and our brother-in-law at their home in Appleton, since we were planning to visit Green Bay the next morning. I have a dear friend who is the Worship Pastor at Spring Lake Church in Green Bay and I love to visit his church when we are on vacation. They way he uses his creativity and weds it with the sermon is both artful and worshipful...and any chance I can just attend a worship service without having to take a lead role I welcome....but I digress.
We were watching the Packers route the Bills when the call came.
"Hi...this is not the call you wanted to get tonight."
What happened shortly before is now very comical, but was at the time very sad.
Tilly (TWH) had apparently been waiting for just the right moment, and when their door was unexpectedly opened, she made her move.
Now you must understand that our dog typically makes an Olympic sport out of couch-holding-down. Once in a great while she will race around the house allowing herself the laughable illusion that she is a greyhound at the track. Graceful when she runs - she ain't.
So the door opened and she made her move. My friend walked outside calling her... and even getting close enough that he considered diving at her to capture her. But she bolted.
At just that same moment one of Plover's Finest pulled up in a squad car.
"You want me to help you get the dog back?" the officer asked.
What followed, I am told, was a cross between a low speed chase and a bizarre parade that included 3 squad cars with flashing lights, a closed off section of a pretty major thoroughfare and our dog out for a trot. Yep. I think it's safe to say that our dog is the first (?) to have shut down HWY 54 'cuz she is... well... the Wonder Hound; queen of the red and blue parade.
Eventually Tilly (TWH) had used up her 15 minutes of fame and raced into the woods... the chase was off.
We decided not to tell our kids what had happened. This was, after all, our last 'fun' vacation day. Sunday after church we took them to Bay Beach in Green Bay, WI.
I am not sure if we were just more sensitive to their remarks or what, but all day the kids kept saying: "I hope Tilly is OK", "I can't wait to get back home and see Tilly" and other comments like that.
Our kids had a blast at Bay Beach. "This was such a good day!"
Upon returning home I checked our phone messages. TTWH has I.D. bling. Yep - a collar full of rabies info, microchip info, dog license and an impulse Wal-Mart buy: a little silver dog bone with our address and phone number. Silly at the time, but now our only hope.
No messages.
"Kids we need to talk to you"
Sobs and sadness from them as we told them what happened. And then we prayed that God would show us mercy and return our dog.
My son and I drove through their neighborhood for an hour calling her name out our windows... hoping... praying for a miracle sighting.
nothing.
3.00 AM - our daughter came into our room- "I miss Tilly"
3.30 AM - our son, not having heard our daughter came into our room. "I really miss Tilly"
I couldn't get back to sleep and my mind was playing tricks on me - I could swear I heard her jingling collar in the backyard.
The next day we took them bowling to get their minds off the dog, again hoping we'd get a call while we were out.
Nothing.
Later that day they went to grandpa's house to get their bikes and I returned to the neighborhood to search for Tilly TWH.
I had grandiose visions of being the hero, returning with glory. As I walked around the perimeter of the "No Trespassing" forest, I prayed that God would lead me to her. I had a ziploc baggie with summer sausage and dog treats - hoping she would come trotting out after catching its scent on the breeze
Nothing.
I felt awful coming home empty handed.
I scoured the internet wondering if her microchip could be used with GPS to find her. I had no idea how GPS worked, but I do now and it doesn't work that way. During this search I learned that only 12% of missing animals are ever reunited with their owners. I decided not to share this info with the family.
We emailed photos and a description to the Humane Society in Stevens Point and WI Rapids - just in case.
Today I read Luke 2 in my devotions, about angels filling the night time with "Glory in the highest!" and about ...well I'm saving the next part for Advent.
Today my son awoke and said, "I dreamed we found Tilly"
Today my friend, Bethany, wrote me on Facebook and said she dreamed we would find Tilly... it should be noted she has also dreamed that a volcano erupted in our backyard and we had 6 kids. :)
Today it stormed and TTWH hates storms. She gets edgy, she shakes, she paces.
Today I decided on my lunch break to see if the storm had spooked her out onto a sidewalk. I was going to scour the neighborhood again.. somehow hoping to find her.
As I was driving there, my cell rang. It was a number I did not recognize. I snapped the cover open and said, "hello?"
"Hi - are you missing a dog?"
My heart leapt.
"yes - did you find her?"
"Yes we think so. I'm at the Plover Public Library - do you know where that is?"
"I just passed it, like 30 seconds ago! I'll be right there!"
When I got to the library, I approached the check-out desk.
"I think you have my dog?"
"Oh glory!" she responded.
Glory! yeah! Glory!.... I thought
She took me downstairs to an office and opened the door. "Tilly there's someone here to see you!"
I walked in and saw our Tilly - looking like a huge drowned rat.
"At first we thought she belonged to a patron. But then when the door opened a little girl patted her leg beckoning the dog in, we soon realized she might be lost and read her tags and called you."
Tilly does this funny thing when she's happy - she wags her whole butt. not just her tail - her whole butt. And this dog was wagging her butt off. I knelt down to hold her and she climbed up into my arms like she needed a hug. She whimpered as if to say, "I am so glad to see you!"
I scooped her into my arms like the big baby she is and took her to the car.
I quickly dialed my wife's phone.
"Are you at home?"
"Yes."
"Are the kids there?"
"Yeah... why?"
"I'm just on my way home for lunch, I'll see you in a few minutes"
When I got home I opened the door and placed the dog inside. She walked into our family room to the delighted squeals of "Tilly! You're home!"
We are thankful to God for letting us have our dog back.
His mercies are, as Zechariah said, "tender" indeed. (Luke 1:78)
He let me be a hero to my kids... but I know who the real Hero is - the one who gets glory; glory in the highest!
I am still hopeful that Bethany's other dream is wrong and the volcano doesn't come... and I'm not sure we're ready for quadruplets to round out a half-dozen.
thanks God!
Since I'm a pastor you probably think you know where this is heading, but we're in Fall, not Spring, right?
(Though if you come back during my Advent ramblings, this story is going to pop up again.)
This is not about the 3 days from cross to resurrection. It is far less spiritual and much more comical (now)
Here's the skinny on our recent adventure...
At about 4 PM on Saturday, we dropped off Tilly (The Wonder Hound) at our friend's* house in Plover.
*We love our friends, and even though they may not mind me sharing their names, I am going to refrain from doing so.
We then headed off to visit with my wife's sister and our brother-in-law at their home in Appleton, since we were planning to visit Green Bay the next morning. I have a dear friend who is the Worship Pastor at Spring Lake Church in Green Bay and I love to visit his church when we are on vacation. They way he uses his creativity and weds it with the sermon is both artful and worshipful...and any chance I can just attend a worship service without having to take a lead role I welcome....but I digress.
We were watching the Packers route the Bills when the call came.
"Hi...this is not the call you wanted to get tonight."
What happened shortly before is now very comical, but was at the time very sad.
Tilly (TWH) had apparently been waiting for just the right moment, and when their door was unexpectedly opened, she made her move.
Now you must understand that our dog typically makes an Olympic sport out of couch-holding-down. Once in a great while she will race around the house allowing herself the laughable illusion that she is a greyhound at the track. Graceful when she runs - she ain't.
So the door opened and she made her move. My friend walked outside calling her... and even getting close enough that he considered diving at her to capture her. But she bolted.
At just that same moment one of Plover's Finest pulled up in a squad car.
"You want me to help you get the dog back?" the officer asked.
What followed, I am told, was a cross between a low speed chase and a bizarre parade that included 3 squad cars with flashing lights, a closed off section of a pretty major thoroughfare and our dog out for a trot. Yep. I think it's safe to say that our dog is the first (?) to have shut down HWY 54 'cuz she is... well... the Wonder Hound; queen of the red and blue parade.
Eventually Tilly (TWH) had used up her 15 minutes of fame and raced into the woods... the chase was off.
We decided not to tell our kids what had happened. This was, after all, our last 'fun' vacation day. Sunday after church we took them to Bay Beach in Green Bay, WI.
I am not sure if we were just more sensitive to their remarks or what, but all day the kids kept saying: "I hope Tilly is OK", "I can't wait to get back home and see Tilly" and other comments like that.
Our kids had a blast at Bay Beach. "This was such a good day!"
Upon returning home I checked our phone messages. TTWH has I.D. bling. Yep - a collar full of rabies info, microchip info, dog license and an impulse Wal-Mart buy: a little silver dog bone with our address and phone number. Silly at the time, but now our only hope.
No messages.
"Kids we need to talk to you"
Sobs and sadness from them as we told them what happened. And then we prayed that God would show us mercy and return our dog.
My son and I drove through their neighborhood for an hour calling her name out our windows... hoping... praying for a miracle sighting.
nothing.
3.00 AM - our daughter came into our room- "I miss Tilly"
3.30 AM - our son, not having heard our daughter came into our room. "I really miss Tilly"
I couldn't get back to sleep and my mind was playing tricks on me - I could swear I heard her jingling collar in the backyard.
The next day we took them bowling to get their minds off the dog, again hoping we'd get a call while we were out.
Nothing.
Later that day they went to grandpa's house to get their bikes and I returned to the neighborhood to search for Tilly TWH.
I had grandiose visions of being the hero, returning with glory. As I walked around the perimeter of the "No Trespassing" forest, I prayed that God would lead me to her. I had a ziploc baggie with summer sausage and dog treats - hoping she would come trotting out after catching its scent on the breeze
Nothing.
I felt awful coming home empty handed.
I scoured the internet wondering if her microchip could be used with GPS to find her. I had no idea how GPS worked, but I do now and it doesn't work that way. During this search I learned that only 12% of missing animals are ever reunited with their owners. I decided not to share this info with the family.
We emailed photos and a description to the Humane Society in Stevens Point and WI Rapids - just in case.
Today I read Luke 2 in my devotions, about angels filling the night time with "Glory in the highest!" and about ...well I'm saving the next part for Advent.
Today my son awoke and said, "I dreamed we found Tilly"
Today my friend, Bethany, wrote me on Facebook and said she dreamed we would find Tilly... it should be noted she has also dreamed that a volcano erupted in our backyard and we had 6 kids. :)
Today it stormed and TTWH hates storms. She gets edgy, she shakes, she paces.
Today I decided on my lunch break to see if the storm had spooked her out onto a sidewalk. I was going to scour the neighborhood again.. somehow hoping to find her.
As I was driving there, my cell rang. It was a number I did not recognize. I snapped the cover open and said, "hello?"
"Hi - are you missing a dog?"
My heart leapt.
"yes - did you find her?"
"Yes we think so. I'm at the Plover Public Library - do you know where that is?"
"I just passed it, like 30 seconds ago! I'll be right there!"
When I got to the library, I approached the check-out desk.
"I think you have my dog?"
"Oh glory!" she responded.
Glory! yeah! Glory!.... I thought
She took me downstairs to an office and opened the door. "Tilly there's someone here to see you!"
I walked in and saw our Tilly - looking like a huge drowned rat.
"At first we thought she belonged to a patron. But then when the door opened a little girl patted her leg beckoning the dog in, we soon realized she might be lost and read her tags and called you."
Tilly does this funny thing when she's happy - she wags her whole butt. not just her tail - her whole butt. And this dog was wagging her butt off. I knelt down to hold her and she climbed up into my arms like she needed a hug. She whimpered as if to say, "I am so glad to see you!"
I scooped her into my arms like the big baby she is and took her to the car.
I quickly dialed my wife's phone.
"Are you at home?"
"Yes."
"Are the kids there?"
"Yeah... why?"
"I'm just on my way home for lunch, I'll see you in a few minutes"
When I got home I opened the door and placed the dog inside. She walked into our family room to the delighted squeals of "Tilly! You're home!"
We are thankful to God for letting us have our dog back.
His mercies are, as Zechariah said, "tender" indeed. (Luke 1:78)
He let me be a hero to my kids... but I know who the real Hero is - the one who gets glory; glory in the highest!
I am still hopeful that Bethany's other dream is wrong and the volcano doesn't come... and I'm not sure we're ready for quadruplets to round out a half-dozen.
thanks God!
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