spermologos

Courtney and I have been trying to get Kinja out and about everyday. We initially wanted her to be outside, but fencing is not cheap, and letting her run free didn’t seem like a good idea. We built a kennel outside, but it’s been raining like crazy since we got her. It didn’t rain for like a year up here, and it’s rained almost every day for the last two weeks. Go figure. So we’ve had to keep her crated inside and take her out when we can. 

So yesterday, we decided to take her to the dog park in Wake Forest. It’s the first time since being in the shelter that she’s been around other dogs, and it’s the first time altogether that she’s been around dogs bigger than her. I’ve never been to a dog park in my life, so it was interesting for me to see as well.

Kinja was nervous and took several poops and ate lots of grass, which she later puked up in the car. She eventually became accustomed to meeting new dogs and was not ready to go home by the time it was over with. But not only did she meet several new friends, we did too. I was almost taken off guard when an older lady walked right up to us and started talking to us like we’ve been friends for years. We learned all about her dog and cat, and she learned about ours. We talked about vacationing and places to visit. I ended up talking with her about my faith and calling in life.

She wasn’t the only one. Another older lady, who apparently needed to check and make sure our puppy was up to date on her shots, came over and talked to us. We talked about training and laughed at our dogs. Later a mother and her two daughters and their enormous rescue dog came in. Again, dogs were the main topic, but the kids schooling was talked about and she was giving the bottled water for her dog to the other dogs in the park.

This type of thing went on. We met several people and several dogs. I hated to leave, and Kinja did too. As we left, I thought to myself, “Why can’t church be more like this?” I have no real answers. While there are usually a couple of people at church who will come talk to you, the majority are content to just ignore newcomers. At the dog park, we were all there to enjoy the outdoors and play with the dogs, and we were all friends, even if we didn’t know each other’s names.

When we meet on Sunday mornings, is it that much different? We are all there for the same reason (supposedly) and with at least two common bonds–Jesus and our present location at the church building. I hope one day people would want to model dog parks after the church, but maybe we can take the example of the dog park and hope our churches can look more like that–a family full of strangers, where no one will be a stranger for long.