Does it Hurt to Care too Much?

I was talking to a friend on the phone this morning when she said, “Well, I finally got rid of those kittens I didn’t want.”

“What did you do,” I asked, ”take them to the shelter?”

“No,” she answered, seeming quite pleased with herself. “I put them in a box and dropped them off at that new subdivision down the road.”

“Oh, my!” I said... “and the mother?”

“I took her, too,” she said.

I was stunned!  “How could you do that?” I asked her.

“Oh, it was easy. They’ll be fine now; people will find them and take them in and they’ll have good homes and be happy.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” I said. “What if they freeze to death or get hit by a car or killed by a larger animal before that happens?”

“I can’t worry about that,” my friend said. “I did what I could.”

She really believed that!

I hung up, not feeling quite the same about this friend. It’s odd how you can know someone all your life and yet – not know them at all!

I could never do what she did! How could you set a box of kittens and their mother out of your car and, looking into their big, innocent, questioning eyes – drive away?

It is beyond me, especially when it would have been so easy to take them to a shelter where they’d be warm, fed and possibly adopted by people who really want a pet and would take good care of it.

The Bible commands us to take care of the animals under our care. One of the signs of a righteous man, the Bible says, is that he takes care of his animals (see Proverbs 12:10).

I can’t stop thinking about these little kittens... huddled together in that box, shivering... their mother trying to shield them from the cold.

Hungry. Scared. Lonely.

I pray that my friend was right and someone finds them and takes them in. But, even so, in all probability, it would be easy to find homes for the cute little kittens – especially at this time of year, but what if nobody wants the full-grown mother? What will happen to her? I worry about these things.

Sometimes I wish I didn’t care so much!


www.amazon.com/author/peggytoneyhorton

 

Like a Stone in Deep Water

    

November 8^th ...

As unbelievable as it seems, we’re in the eleventh month of the year! I have no idea where the time went. Seems it was only yesterday we were saying, “Happy New Year” and two months from now, we’ll be saying it again.

Really! Time disappears like a stone in deep water!

Halloween is over and now we move on to one of the most important holidays of the year – Thanksgiving. Seems we measure time by special occasions.

November 1^st  was Mr. H’s birthday. That’s a special occasion in our family. Our children visit, cards and presents in-hand, and we have cake and ice cream together and enjoy a little family time. Lots of laughs. It’s sort of a warm-up for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We’ve always been big on family get-togethers for every occasion, but sadly, it gets a little more difficult with each passing year. Some have moved away and it saddens me that they no longer get to join us for every occasion.

Life gets in the way, you know.

Others have had some health problems, making it difficult for them to enjoy things as they once did. And we lost one of our dear ones this year. Her absence is more obvious at each gathering!

We miss her terribly!

I like family tradition. One can tell because I do things the same every year. Even before they see it, our children know what the Christmas tree will look like. We’ve used the same ornaments for many years, adding one or two each year. Some are a pleasure to add, like the “alien” ornament that mysteriously appears on our tree every year. We’re not sure who contributes it, but each year, when we decorate the tree, there is one more ornament to hang than we had last year. It’s fun to hold it in my hand and say, “This is the alien ornament from last year,” and then hang it in a prominent place.

A number of years ago, when Mr. H. and I started losing our parents... one at a time over several years... we began hanging a white bird for each departed one. Actually, they don’t hang; they perch regally on the branches. Even with my fear of birds, I like these birds because I know they’re not going to fly toward me suddenly – and because they’re symbols of people I love – and good memories. I’ve even come to know which bird represents which missing loved one. Almost feels like they’re with us.

But white birds are beginning to take over the tree. And we must add yet another one this year!

What to do?

I’m thinkin’ perhaps another tree. Smaller. We remove the birds from the main tree and decorate another with nothing but white lights and birds. In another room, of course.

Whaddaya’ think?

Mr. H. says, “One tree is enough to decorate!”

Ah, but wouldn’t it be sweet to have a whole tree dedicated to our departed loved ones?

I think so.

Now to convince Mr.H. (a little bird told me a coconut crème pie might do the trick!)        

 

www.amazon.com/author/peggytoneyhorton