A Lesson in Gentleness: All I Have to Give

All I have to Give: A lesson in Gentleness

Okay so this is another experience that I had during the time I was without my car. This was written on 11/30/07. It actually happened to be the day after my son’s second birthday.

It is interesting how many different life lessons and life applications I have learned while riding the bus. God has a reason and purpose for all He does and He keeps revealing that through my writings. Yesterday as I as walking down Blodgett to catch the bus with Jeremiah on my hip I began to notice a young rottweiler following us. At first, he kept his distance, but after a while, he was almost in stride with us. My baby who just turned two was not the least bit thrilled with this animal and tried his very best to climb up my shirt, repeatedly saying “scary or scare me”(he’s two I couldn’t understand). I tried to assure him that it was ok and that I was not going to let anything happen to him. Being his mother, I have the responsibility of being his protector. I began to wonder why this puppy/dog was following us, and then I remembered that in my hand I was carrying a bag of Doritos. Now for me this occurrence was a replay of my past. I remember being young child in Houston walking down the street with my cousins eating a big mac until we notice a rather large dog following us. My cousin quickly advised me to drop the big mac, and I did, we ran and the dog enjoyed my big mac, but back to the present day, this dog was not the least bit aggressive. He attempted to go unnoticed, but I guess he smelled the chips. He was hungry but he was not like other stray animals you see. He just frolicked along with his tongue hanging out as happy as well fed animals, and although I could tell he was malnourished he frolicked along as if to exclaim through his uplifted demeanor, “I can either be depressed or I can keep pressing on and trusting God to feed me”(Are you spiritually hungry?) All I had with me were the Doritos and an orange Fanta soda. When I finally reached the bus stop, I began to think about Jeremiah’s Doritos and the hungry dog. I began to feed the dog the chips knowing dogs probably should not eat chips, but it was all I had to give. The dog was hesitant at first, probably from people swatting at him in attempts to shoo him, but once he saw that I would not hurt him and was only trying to help and do what was best for him he softened and eventually ate from my hand. Jeremiah on the other hand was not so trusting. He was not even about to let this foreign creature eat from his hand for fear the dog might bite him, but after seeing my example he to allowed the dog to eat from his hand. A lesson in gentleness well learned (Purell comes in handy too) at first as the puppy followed Jeremiah kept saying “scary or scare me” but once he began to TRUST everything became ok. He even tried to get the puppy to get on the bus with us by motioning for him and saying, “Come on dog” After we left he kept asking “Where puppy at?” This hurt my heart because I too began to fall in love with the dog. Life lessons I began to ponder after this experience were:

1. How eager are we to follow the unknown in order to be fed?
2. When do we finally learn the importance of gentleness and kindness as related to the needs of others?
3. How often are we willing to give all we have to give even when WE think that it will not benefit the other person?

Sometimes what we think is not beneficial for a person is the very thing that they may need to survive. So next time and every time you get the opportunity, be kind, lend a smile, a hug, or an encouraging word. We may not have a plethora of money, but those gestures that I just mentioned although they may seem small to us may mean the world to someone else.