Runaway Dog
Connections
MINISTRY
One day, Davidicus wanted to fly his drone at a nearby park. Ozias and Zane decided to come along as well. About 2.5 miles down the road is the aptly-named Fields Bridge Park, where located therein are both fields, and, a bridge. We parked near the bridge—although the fields and bridge are all centrally located and not far from one another—and proceeded to walk around the community garden toward the playground. David pulled out his drone when we got onto the field. “Dad are we allowed to use the baseball fields?” We were; they were not in use and it was off-season. The inside diamond is turf and nicer to stand on than the grass. As David flew his drone, Ozias, who had brought a football, decided to make up a foot-base-ball game similar to kickball, where the kicker would punt the ball instead of having it pitched to them. We were the only ones using the fields for awhile—a cybertruck came by, which briefly drew the attention of the boys, and then a young man came with his large golden doodle in the neighboring baseball field, separated from us by the netting and fencing.
As I was spinning Zane by the arms at his request, I heard a woman yelling, and amidst our rotations, I could see she was running after her larger dog, even throwing her cell phone at it to get its attention. I slowed Zane to a stop and let my equilibrium reset itself as I slowly made my way toward where she and her dog were running—toward the other field where the young man was throwing a ball for his dog. The lady was yelling feverishly--I assumed she was concerned that her dog might attack the golden doodle—who was now less playfully chasing the other dog.
“Zoey stop! Stop!” She yelled, as she attempted to grab her dog to leash her, but being unsuccessful as it slipped away each time. I approached with arms out, looking to get her attention to pet her and keep her nearby, as she seemed to be focused on me, initially worrying as I wasn’t completely positive she wasn’t aggressive, but that concern immediately dissolving as I realized she was so fluffy and puppy-ish and very submissive to me. I used my legs to give a barrier to her while petting her so her owner could leash her. She got the leash on her and thanked me, explaining to the young man nearby that she loves balls and loves to play but wasn’t sure what would happen. The young man wasn’t too concerned.
I ran back to help find her phone, which I found and brought over to her as she came with ‘Zoey’ over to our field. “I didn’t realize the fields were not fenced in all the way!” She explained. She thanked me for the help, and expressed concern again about what could have happened, noticing my hand with a scrape and asking “Did she bite you?!”—she didn’t, I had been working and scraped my knuckle against a stucco wall—and I reaffirmed that her dog didn’t seem to be looking to attack and I didn’t feel afraid. She let us know that she didn’t want to keep us and that we could go back to playing, to which I let her know we would be leaving shortly because the kids had a Japanese tutoring session. She shared ‘I am Japanese! Why are your kids learning Japanese?’ And I shared with her that we actually are seeking to move to Japan to share the good news of Jesus with those who haven’t heard the gospel. She was very happy. She asked if we attend a Japanese church, and let us know that she attended the Japanese International Baptist Church. I let her know I was a kids pastor of a church down the street (which makes attending another church challenging) but that we had gone there because my co-worker connected us with JIBC, and that we had just recently been to JIBC’s New Years service.
We connected even more as she happened to be closely connected to my co-worker’s family, particularly my co-worker’s mom. “I know Junko really well, she helped me when I first moved here!” We 'exchanged notes' on the church and people we mutually knew. “I haven’t been inside the church for awhile because of Zoey,” she shared, “because I can’t leave her in the parking lot, she doesn’t do well. When we attend on Zoom I put Zoey’s name on there.” I let her know that I work in the same offices with Junko’s daughter, and let her know I'd be happy to pass on a message--"If you haven't connected with them in awhile I can let them know you say hi!" I gave her my counseling card before leaving, if she wanted a point of contact. As we walked / ran back to the car (cutting it close to class time) Davidicus noted, “So she goes to the Japanese church, that’s pretty cool!” I agreed, stating “Yeah, it’s amazing how God works! We happen to be out at a park today, and I wouldn’t have normally approached and talked to someone with their dog, and yet God brought us together with a Japanese Christian who attends JIBC--and there aren’t that many Japanese let alone Japanese Christians around here!”
Like we all often experience, God makes these connections for us for a variety of reasons, but ultimately, because He loves us. It was confirming and encouraging to connect with Chie, and hopefully for her too in a moment of anxiety!
