Ummm, about "The Bear" at Calling All Men...

We had enough traffic to our booth to keep Allie hopping. She says she had a great time. I appreciate talking with folks while I was there yesterday. Everyone I talked with seems to have had an uplifting time of revival. How can you beat that?

Calling All Men seems to have been a terrific event!

There was one funny incident. If you've read my blog much you're familiar with Tomlin. He's our dog who is in training to become a service animal for our daughter.

Tomlin got to briefly attend Calling All Men while we set up the display for Hope for Healing.Org. Before leaving to go back to work he and I walked around the parking lot. Apparently, that's when we were spotted by the speaker, Jason Crabb. But, being busy with doggy things, we were unaware of the attention.

Until we came back that evening to pick up John and Allie that is.

While we were waiting in the parking lot a man walked by and made a comment. He turned to his friend and said "Lookie there. That's the bear!" The friend voiced his agreement with a chuckle and they kept walked.

Then it happened again. By the third time I was beginning to wonder what was in the water at the event center.

Tomlin, meanwhile, loved the extra attention. He dutifully sat wagging his tail at all the passersby who commented. (He still believes the world exists to pet him. Usually he's not disappointed.) This night, he happily enjoyed the extra attention.

But I was confused. If there was a bear in the area, I wasn't at all sure we needed to be standing in the parking lot!

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long before friends showed up to clear up the mystery.

It seems that Mr. Crabb wears glasses. But, he didn't have them on when he saw Tomlin and myself walking in the parking lot. Tomlin has dark, fuzzy fur. So, at first glance, Mr. Crabb came to as logical a conclusion as anyone would who is in the mountains of East Tennessee.

He mistook Tomlin for a bear.

Fortunately something caused him to take a second look. (Maybe it was the fluorescent orange harness and leash?) Then he realized he didn't have to worry.

Mr. Crabb got such a kick out of Tomlin's mistaken identity that he decided to share it with the guests at Calling All Men.

All of the guests of Calling All Men. - He shared this story from center stage.

My dear unsuspecting husband was in attendance at Calling All Men. The moment Mr. Crabb told the story he immediately made the connection. He knew it could only be Tomlin!

John laughed so hard he almost fell off his chair. Tomlin will never live it down. With all the extra attention he got as everyone left that night, Tomlin probably hopes he NEVER lives it down.

Everyone, they say, gets 15 minutes of fame. We just didn't know that the fame rule applied to fuzzy, furry dogs too.

Fixing a Smile - The Power of a Puppy

A few months ago we introduced my new puppy, Tomlin, here on the blog. He's a malamute/German shepherd mix puppy who is now 7 months old. He loves to play, lick and thinks the whole world exists to pet him.

Yesterday afternoon the little boy with a broken smile came in with his foster mom. He's looking brighter so I asked the little boy if his smile was fixed. He said no. My husband happened to be here and we exchanged glances. Did the foster mom have a minute? She said yes.

We asked the little boy if he liked meeting puppies. He said yes.

Without another word John ran home, grabbed Tomlin and brought him back over.

It was an instantaneous success.

Both the little boy and Tomlin enjoyed meeting each other. After petting him for a few minutes and getting licked more than a few times they went outside. When the little boy threw a stuffed animal Tomlin retrieved it. The boy threw it again and Tomlin again retrieved it and on it went. When the little boy looked up at us his smile was as bright as the sun.

Now I'm sure they'll each expect the other to be here when they visit. That's ok. For the moment at least, the little boy's smile is fixed. That's all that matters.