Sharing is a Good Thing

We have two dogs at the Duck and Cherry right now. Hector, the Wheaten Terrier, has to share his space with Sean's Border Terrier, Bellie, for a couple of months. She is little and cute and loves to cuddle. Only problem is mealtime. She gobbles down her little portion and runs over to Hector's bowl to see if he has anything left. Not a popular move. He can share his home, his family, his time, his space--but not his food.

What is sharing about anyway? What do we share? Why do we share it?
In a sense Bellie is Hector's niece, in a human's sense of thinking; she being Sean's dog. A family shares.

When Tiffany was little I would give her two crackers and say, "One is for you. One is for your pappa."
She would obediently walk into the living room and hand one of the crackers over to her father.
She has become one of the most giving people I know. She would give her life for someone who needed it. Growing up in various countries, she one day received an envelope from her Norwegian grandfather with some money. She wrote back, "Thank you for the money. I will spend it on a gift for you."
That's her in a nutshell.

That same grandfather was the same way. He gave away what he had, never expecting anything in return. An older brother visited him one day. My father drove him to the train station, gave him the money he had in his pocket and waved goodbye. As my father returned to the car park, he had no money left to pay for parking.

In the Scriptures it says that your left hand should not know what the right hand gives. There is a lot of wisdom in that. Giving in a way that you never expect anything back, that it comes natural and without strings attached, is a way of being, a way of serving others, and a way of showing love.

I am grateful for people who have shared with me; be it time, love, food, money, insight, talents, and knowledge. They are heroes in my life.

Photo today: Bellie cuddling with a large teddy bear at the cabin during Christmas.