{"id":2387,"date":"2012-12-08T11:42:11","date_gmt":"2012-12-08T17:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/?p=2387"},"modified":"2012-12-06T11:35:35","modified_gmt":"2012-12-06T17:35:35","slug":"no-coincidences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/?p=2387","title":{"rendered":"No coincidences."},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning I was out for my bi-monthly beard care appointment with Dennis at The Petite Salon<\/a>. He mentioned that a friend of his was looking for a Santa. I gave him some of my cards and then decided to head over to Claddagh Coffee <\/a>and talk to Mary about a Santa visit in person. <\/p>\n

We chatted a few minutes, I gave her a card and she promised to let me know. I asked what was planned and she said that it was kind of an Irish Christmas celebration. I managed not to jump up and down but did have the presence of mind to tell her, “I know a Santa, who’s standing right here, who has an Irish green Santa suit.”<\/p>\n

The effect was perfect. Nobody has a green Santa suit. Not true. I have two. Early on in my career I was asked if I could be an Irish Santa. I had two suits made and never wore them because I never got the request again.<\/p>\n

Well, that may or may not sway the purchase decision but it was nice to be able to offer the suit as an option. <\/p>\n

I headed for the door and noticed a Sheltie standing there looking at me from under a table. My heart kind of fluttered. You see it has only been a week ago this moment (as I’m typing) that Maisie left us. I stopped and talked to the owner. Yes, Sheltie, not a small Collie. <\/p>\n

The girl’s name was Madeline. And she was as sweet and gentle as Maisie. A big girl, around 35 pounds, she has a beautiful black coat and gentle, clear eyes. I sat and talked with her “mom” for quite a while about faith, Santa, dogs, loss, and having her picture taken with Santa (mom, not Madeline.)<\/p>\n

I left the coffee shop renewed. I had a Sheltie moment for the day and it was wonderful. I was able to see the promise of a young dog and all the joy she’ll bring to her family over the next dozen years or so. And I was able to remember the really excellent times with Maisie in a different frame as a result.<\/p>\n

I’m home now. One week has gone by exactly since I left the vet’s office much poorer than I went in the door. But life is moving forward. Edzell is snoozing next to the couch. There wasn’t a mess when I got home. Maybe he’s healed a bit in the last week and isn’t as much angry as lonely. I hope to remedy that loneliness very soon.<\/p>\n

Perhaps best of all, the carpenter called just after I walked in and saw Ed. He’s coming over Monday to build the ramp so my old friend can make it up the stairs just a little easier. I’m glad to do that for him. He’s a great dog with a good heart. I need to make his life smooth as silk when I can.<\/p>\n

Is there an “old dog” in your life who needs a little help? Perhaps an old friend who you haven’t talked to in a while? Or maybe a stranger in a coffee shop with whom you can talk about the love of Christ while rubbing a young dog’s head. Take that time today and do something nice, something new, something out of love for a dog or a stranger. I promise it will brighten your day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

My boy, Ed.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning I was out for my bi-monthly beard care appointment with Dennis at The Petite Salon. He mentioned that a friend of his was looking for a Santa. I gave him some of my cards and then decided to …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,6,5],"tags":[1165,252,1160,84,167,1166,550,1162,162,113,1163,1164,46,61,1161],"class_list":["post-2387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dogs","category-santa-stuff","category-sincere-stuff","tag-carpenter","tag-christ","tag-claddagh","tag-coffee","tag-commotion-in-the-pews","tag-ed","tag-edzell","tag-irish","tag-joseph-courtemanche","tag-love","tag-madeline","tag-ramp","tag-santa","tag-sheltie","tag-the-petite-salon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2387"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2410,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387\/revisions\/2410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}