A Happy Start to a New Year!

Welcome to 2018! I am starting to get the hang of writing "18" instead of "17" on my checks, so this year is getting off to a good start! I had plans of writing about a different subject this weekend, but something much more important and wonderful took place that I wanted to share about.

Early this past week, the Ehlers family of Iowa contacted me about their young sable collie, Malcolm. On the morning of December 31st, the Ehlers family let Malcolm out, but he never came back. Growing worried, they started looking for him; soon they had spent hours in the bitter cold trying to track their faithful friend. Then the hours turned into days, and their worries grew. Contacting neighbors, collie rescue organizations, family and friends, the word of Malcolm's disappearance spread like a wildfire. People from all walks of life joined together to pray for Malcolm and the Ehlers family and take time out of their day to hunt for the furry fellow. I am happy to report that all of those efforts have paid off, and tonight as I write this memo, Malcolm is safely at home with the family he loves! Thank you to everyone involved in bringing Malcolm safely home, and thank you to God who answered the prayers of collie lovers young and old!

Below is a note Michelle Ehlers sent me this evening. Have a blessed week, everyone!

"Someone else said this earlier but I loved it..."Malcolm is back in the middle of our family" (always our hearts) and today was an AMAZING day..Christmas morning awesome day. After 7 days of bad weather and bad luck and bad timing we hit gold. This was done with the help of NW Iowa collie lover Mit Skinner a dog rescuer for Noah's Hope and her husband Jim (who contacted us and spent Saturday and today with us tracking), and the most amazing social media dog lover Denice Rutherford from Colorado who rolled out info and notified EVERYONE faster than I could type back or think. She knew who to contact, what to say and must have an incredible mapping system on the computer! We found Malcolm in a field a little after lunchtime thanks to some great good ol guys from Arkansas who were up here hunting and had talked to a friend Aron-Crystal Nieland and got a flier about 6 miles south of here. We had many folks helping look for him today--Eva Stevens LaFever spent days with her family tracking in Storm Lake and came up this morning to help along with Aron tracking on a ATV and by vehicle. Bus driver Robert came and our church friend Denny along with Mike's family. Ultimately Malcolm seeing trucks/vehicles sent him in a race across the field even after a call from "dad" and Mike then headed quickly north in the truck, got both kids out and had Allie call to him (Mike says Malcolm was running away over a quarter of a mile) BUT...when he heard that cute little girl voice he stopped, turned around and took off home...the rest you can enjoy in a video (Thanks Eva and Aron for those!) We never know how long a pet may get to spend with us...and we are never prepared to lose them early (or at all). But this was a happy ending...I am still tingly and moreover I am moved by how many folks cared and prayed and showed empathy and concern for Malcolm. Thank you for the encouragement and hope you gave. Sir Malcolm has a yard fence in his future (and a lot of burr picking and combing) but is sooo glad to be home (sleeping it off currently!) Thanks again, we are going to sleep in Heavenly peace tonight 🙂"