Kindness

My wife and I are dog people. For most of our married lives we have had dogs. They are part of the family. Sadly, about 8 months ago our last dog died. We have avoided getting another pet for a while to give us some time to see if we want another one. About two weeks ago we began to talk about another dog. Last week my wife applied for a rescue dog from our area. There were a lot of questions and hoops to jump through, but that was ok. Last night we got an e-mail that we had been turned down for the pet. Apparently they didn't like something about our responses. My wife, Joye, replied with a sweet e-mail and told the lady she understood and would be praying for the right family for the dog we had wanted. I can only assume that kind of response was not expected. When they turn down someone as a pet owner the replies are not nice and when she got Joye's response it surprised her. Within minutes she was on the phone to my wife and talked to her for an hour! By the end of the visit she was trying to talk us into taking the dog. It's interesting that kindness is an unknown response in our day. People don't treat one another well and when kindness is given it's a surprise. In a culture of entitlement and high expectation one thing that has not been taught to most of the children growing up is simple kindness. It's a rare gift given when kindness is the response of someone in our culture. Let me suggest you try it and see what happens. Solomon said is Proverbs, "Do not let kindness or truth leave you. Wrap them around your neck as a beautiful wreath to adorn your life." You will be surprised at the responses of others when kindness is your reply.