Dandelion Dust

I need help giving Chimi a bath on a monthly basis so I invite EGR kids over to help. EGR is a phrase one of my old college friends taught me it means Extra Grace Required. In February, my EGR helpers were a bother and sister who are in foster care. The only thing harder than being a kid in foster care is being a foster parent. The Saturday afternoons that the kids come over to help with Chimi the whole family can rest and regroup. I tell the kids that I want them to play long and hard with Chimi so that once he gets his bath he will be ready to go bed. Both the kids and Chimi have a lot of energy!. This particular Saturday, the kids were making wishing blowing the seeds off dandelions. The kids were delighted to discover that Chimi would chase the dandelion dust that they blew into the wind. Your not suppose to tell a wish or it will not come true. It made me think of Karen Kingsburghs book Dandelion Dust about adoption. Healing a broken family and becoming a new whole family requires extra grace. I am thankful that Chimi and I have a part in such a work of love. May it be rooted and established more than just blowing in the wind.

House Guest

One day I went to a Dr. appointment on the scooter without Chimi. On the way home 3 stray dogs followed me home. One of them was a female black lab mix. When I went in side the dogs seemed to disappear. That afternoon when I walked Chimi out to play this female black lab mix re appeared. At the sight of her Chimi took off for a chase straight into traffic and visiting neighboring apartments with open doors! I had not got the leash on all the way before opening the door. With a little help and a lot of yelling I finally got Chimi back on lead and the black dog was following along. Chimi was delighted to have a play mate. She liked tennis balls as much as he does. I called Animal Control. It was late. they were on police business and they could not come get her until morning. She had a collar and she obeyed sit, down, stay and come commands so I knew she belonged to someone. At first I planned to let her stay outside on Chimi's play time lead but the neighbors were indignant that I now "had two dogs - one outside and one inside. So I brought her in to calm the neigbors and called the apartment manger to inform her that the visiting dog was only staying the night. The cats were as put out as the neighbors. Chimi is a dog they know. We have no more room for a dog they do not know. Animal control came and picked her up the next morning. Her owner had called looking for her. But not before she had chewed through Chimi's retractable lead! I think we Chimi the cats and me were all relieved when she left. Chimi seems to likes being the only dog and playing alone. He does not have to share tennis balls.

The Twilight Zone Skit - Chimi and the Barking Dog Imitator – Another Chimi at Church Story

In February Chimi and I attended the early service for the Learning Center teachers because we are part of the 5^th and 6th grade even month teaching team. This is a smaller service and as long as Chimi and me sit in the back distractions are usually not a problem.

Wisdom from Proverbs was the sermon series and this particular Sunday the topic was about how to speak with wisdom. The introduction to the sermon was an original skit written by Dee Alexander the CCC Worship Leader. The Skit was a parody of an episode of the Twilight Zone. In this episode there lived a foolish woman who spoke ill of people. Once she entered the Twilight Zone each time she spoke ill of someone they would fall down dead.

A scene of the skit involved a salesman coming to the door of this foolish, ill speaking woman’s home. As the salesman approached an imaginary dog began to bark. The dog was not real but the sound was! Dee our worship leader was imitating the barking of a dog. It sounded real enough to Chimi that he alerted toward the door with a point and a low growl as Chimi growled. The crowed giggled.

The sweetest part of the story is that Chimi was not the only one who thought the imitation was real, another staff member was in the church office area. When he heard the barking sound he took off running down the hall in search of me because he thought I had fallen and that Chimi was “speaking” to get help.

Dee’s youngest daughter walked up to me and Chimi one Sunday after church and asked, “Why does he wag his tail so much?” I told her that church was a happy place for Chimi and me.

This past Sunday we even made it through big church communion without causing a disruption. When people started getting up and moving closer Chimi got up. I looked at him and said it communion lay back down. He laid right back down with a quite sigh and a swishing tail.