​Hi everyone I’m Dinah.  I will admit I am not a formal member of the St. Matthew by the Lake pet family but I do have a couple of connections.  You see I am a formally trained comfort dog for Trinity Lutheran Church in Auburn Illinois.  Two of my handlers, those people who take me places, just happen to be Pastor Colleen’s brother Lamar and his wife Kathy.  I’ve also been to Benton KY on a couple of occasions.   That picture of me in the car was taken when I was on my way to Benton.  When in Benton I visit those students and others affected by that nasty shooting that took place at the school.  My job is to be a friend and provide a calming influence to humans that will allow them to open up their hearts and receive help for what is affecting them.  We all need a great deal of help these days with this pandemic and all the turmoil in our country and the world.  I might look a little sad in that picture of me in the pool.  That’s because I don’t get to get around to see people the same way I did before this pandemic. I too have had to keep a social distance.  Instead of visiting people in nursing homes and letting them pet my fur, I have to look in at them from the window and it’s just not the same. When I get down I remember my Bible verse, yes, I have one of those.  It is Genesis 28:15 “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”  I don’t believe God is done with any of us and God will be with us, through all those tragedies we face in this life, all the turmoil in our country and this pandemic.   

Hi everyone I’m Minty and I live with Cheryl and Perley. They call me the magician and I am delighted to be a member of the St. Matthew by the Lake pet family.  I guess I should say a little about why they call me the magician.  You see, I have this wonderful, at least I think it is wonderful, ability to vanish in a flash.  Some of my favorite words are “now you see me”  “now you don’t”  Wouldn’t it be great if we could make some of those issues going on in our lives and our country disappear in a flash like I do around the house.  Think about all those things we might want to go away, COVID-19, cancer and racism are all at the top of my list and I suspect you have more that you would add to my list.  Unfortunately we can’t make them all disappear.  It takes work and cooperation and powers beyond what I have as a furry kitty or what you have as a human.  The good news is that we have our triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit whom we can lean on.  We can bring all of our cares about the big things in our lives as well as those things that annoy us to God in prayer.  God will listen and give us strength to endure whatever it is that we want to disappear from our lives.