Friday is actually the anniversary of when I found my friend Toby several years ago. However, since I post the sermon on Friday, I am going to write a little about my friend today.
When I was a young man, there was a bad time in my life when I really needed someone to love me for who I was and not what someone wanted me to be. I was quite depressed, and I really didn't want to be on this earth anymore to be honest.
When I was at a low point, the Lord Jesus brought something great into my life. He allowed me to find my best friend Toby. He needed a good friend too. Both of us were having a rough time, but when we found each other, it was the best time.
Toby was a corgi. He came to me when he was about 17 months old. I found out a couple of weeks after he came to live with me that he had a lot of health issues with the most serious being ulcerative colitis. God allowed us to find a great veterinarian who kept Toby going through all of his health concerns until he was 13.5 years old. We were together for 12 years, and they were the best 12 years of my life.
Toby showed me what unconditional love is. He helped me to keep going even when I was really down because I knew that he needed me to help him and take care of him. By bringing my friend Toby into my life, the Lord Jesus showed me that He really cared about me, and He wanted to help me. He wasn't at all how He'd been presented to me in the church I grew up in.
The two of us had a lot of fun together. We took trips all over the country. We played all sorts of games. We listened to jazz and classical music together for hours. He even put up with my trumpet playing which he didn't like very well. Toby listened to me practice many sermons as I studied in Bible college.
Toby has been gone now for a number of years, but I think I miss him more and more everyday. I know that he is in heaven with Jesus, and one of these days we will be together again to have more adventures and fun together. Thank you Jesus for giving me my friend Toby.
Here is one of the chapters in the book I wrote about Toby and posted on the blog a few years back.
Chapter 7
If you know anything about Welsh Corgis, you are already aware that they were originally bred by the ancient Celtic inhabitants of Wales to nip at the heels of cattle and sheep as they were being driven to market or from one field to another. Because of this inbred ability, many corgis have retained the herding instinct to this present day. Some corgis even win various herding titles awarded by the American Kennel Club and other organizations.
Toby definitely had the ancient blood of his corgi ancestors running through his veins . He had a strong desire to herd. Mostly, he wanted to herd me. I always told everyone that he must have thought that I looked like a sheep.
Toby wasn't a traditional herder. He never tried to nip at my heels. His method of pointing me in the proper direction was to grab hold of my pant or pajama leg then pull and let go. Sometimes, he would just grab and release.
One never knew when the old herding instinct would kick in. At anytime, anyone in the family, but mostly me, could be mistaken for a white, woolly creature.
What was really funny is when Toby would herd me places my parents wanted me to go. For instance, if I was in my room and my Mom called that dinner was ready, Toby would make sure that I made it to the dinner table quickly. I think that he was just as excited about dinner as I was because he might get some left over goody.
Toby also liked to evoke his herding talents when the phone rang, and I was at the opposite end of the house. When the phone rang, I'd head for the phone with Toby nipping my pant leg in an effort to speed my arrival. It actually slowed me down. He didn't know that, or at least he didn't care. He wanted some excitement out of even the most mundane and trivial event.
Toby also loved to herd the vacuum cleaner. Whenever I got out the vacuum, Toby would wait until it started and then he would bounce over and bite at the end of it as I made it go back and forth across the carpet. He would hop at it, dart away then return for another quick bite. This made vacuuming quite difficult, but it was also a lot of fun.
While not necessarily a herding behavior, Toby also exhibiting the behavior of grabbing my pant leg and trying to pull me back inside the door when I was going out. He didn't want me to leave. The only reason that I could come up with for this behavior was that it was part of the herding instinct to keep his charge from straying.
One other crazy herding type behavior Toby possessed manifested whenever I would bring the groceries in from the car. I would try to bring in the groceries, and Toby was just crazy barking and herding me along. He would jump up and try to get the grocery bags out of my hand. Once he succeeded. He got hold of the bag and ripped that sucker wide open. The bread fell out, and Toby grabbed the bread and went running with it through the house. Before I could get the bread, Toby shook and shook the package sending slices of bread flying throughout the living room. I don't know what got into him. My bringing in the groceries was a really big deal to him for some reason. He wanted to know what was in those sacks.
Another cute action of Toby's was his desire to follow me everywhere I went and never let me out of his sight. My Mom always said that Toby wasn't happy if I wasn't at home for him to keep his eye on me. We had a really close relationship. In some ways, we were like brothers, and we both missed each other on the very few occasions when we were apart.
If I was on the couch watching TV, Toby would always be right next to me. If I got up, even for just a minute, he came along.
He always had to be by me. If I was working in my office or sitting at the kitchen table, he would be there. When I started working from home all day, Toby stayed in the office for hours. When he was old, he slept so soundly that sometimes he wouldn't notice when I left for some other part of the house. I didn't want to wake him up, so I just let him sleep. It wouldn't be long before he'd be up looking for me.
As Toby grew older, He also made it known that he wasn't very happy if anyone else got too close to me. If anyone, including my parents, tried to approach me, Toby would growl until I told him that it was OK. I was under his complete protection. I just want to state that Toby wasn't mean. He never hurt anyone. He just always looked out for me. I always felt safe when he was with me.
These incidents point to the fact that Toby was a fine herder with good instincts. More importantly, it is another demonstration of the fun and good times we had together and the love we shared.
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