Kind Words for K-9s

LCC received a thank you note following an LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry® Virtual Visit with staff at Agnes Healthcare Baltimore Hospital, Maryland, with LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Abraham (Trinity Lutheran - Hicksville, New York), Amos (Our Savior's Way - Ashburn, Virginia), and Kezia (Emmanuel - Baltimore, Maryland).

Wow! Thank you so much for the lovely visit. I wish you could have been in each room to see the smiles and the way every person just relaxed. So beautiful, and such a gift! We thank God for you and your ministry. Our thanks for your presence, your kindness, and your prayers. I hold you in mine, that all will be well with you and yours.

As I think more about what it meant to have you at Saint Agnes, I know that the staff really appreciated the care and love shared by your team, and the prayers you will offer for us. Staff here care for strangers every day, often without acknowledgement. It was a startling change of pace to have strangers reach out and care for us, and initially a bit challenging to change gears to receive that caring in the middle of a busy day.

The dogs were a wonderful ice-breaker, opening hearts up to more tender feelings and thoughts. They created a space where staff could receive love and care into those tender places we sometimes keep closed off at work in self-defense.

I deeply appreciate you, both as a chaplain who cares for staff here, and as a person whose heart you touched and whose spirit you encouraged!

Universal enthusiasm here for having an "in dog" visit with Kezia when things open up!

Grace and peace be with you.

With prayers that you and your ministry will flourish,

Jan M. McDonnell, MD, MA, BCC
Chaplain
Saint Agnes Healthcare