Sunday, November 30, 2014

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
 

6 comments:

Ginger Collins said...

How sweet Peg! Yes we all care to much at times and it does hurt. Interesting post.

Anonymous said...

Look at those precious little kittens. How could anyone do that?

Janet said...

So adorable! Most people can't do that. Your friend is among the minority.

Sandie Morris Bills said...

Peggy I'm with you I care to much, wish she would've taken them to the shelter, or better yet why didn't she have the mother fixed. Love this story.

Karen Frazier said...

Oh, Peggy.....so sad. You and I both care too much!!!

Kathy James Morris said...

Ditto..i care to much