I started my week at Faith for Sunday worship. The team needed to listen to the words of Jesus to prepare their hearts for the week.
Our first visit was to the VA hospital in North Chicago. We visited buildings 133 and 134. At 134 were some new and familiar friends. One of the newer friends was a Navy veteran. In his room, we discovered he was an avid hobbyist with a focus on Lego blocks. He had built several exhibit-scale structures. One was a pyramid and another was an abstract monument with blocks in various colors that created geometric stripes. He is truly an artist using this resource.
At 133 we visited with a group of misplaced veterans who regularly live in one of the Greenhouse residences. Major repairs had to be done to the AC and heating system. In the meantime they were occupying space in Building 133. They were all very happy to see me. I took their mind off the somewhat cramped space they were using.
Later in the week, we visited an event to “Remember 9/11 and All the First Responders” who were involved in that tragedy. This event took place at one of the Franklin Park fire stations. While FD personnel were the hosts, there was a special guest–a family who had lost a daughter at the New York disaster. With efforts of one of the sons of the family, first responders in many locations were being thanked for their on-going efforts to make us all safe. The remembrance took the form of buying pizzas for all these fire stations as a thank you. Because of the scale of this pizza party, ABC7 Chicago had set up TV recording equipment. One of their regular TV reporters was there to interview this special host family (two brothers plus Mom and Dad were there; Dad is a firefighter). In the process of the TV coverage, three of us comfort dogs were briefly shown on TV, and one cameraman knelt on the floor to take a picture of me. Everyone had a great time.
The last event for me was a very special one. The Air Force Reserve was conducting a marriage seminar in downtown Chicago for a group of couples who were about to be married. Via the efforts of Pastor Buckman, I was invited to visit with the group during break time. It was lots of fun. The couples had a good time petting me.
This is just another one of those instances when you can support people in ways that you wouldn’t think of. This is very typical of the way the comfort dog mission works. You never know when or where the Lord needs your help. We just need to be ready.