Bad Dogs and Proverbs

Each morning I share a scripture verse, via a text message, with my grandchildren, and others.  This started after one granddaughter had asked me to be her Confirmation sponsor. So to follow-up on my responsibility, I started sending her daily Scriptures. This routine gradually grew to include all my grandkids.

Recently God showed me He had more plans than just inspiring others. When I was out for a walk in our neighborhood, I had a terrifying experience!

Two growling, snarling, snapping dogs came charging toward me. They were galloping full speed, even bumping into each other as each one tried to get to me first.

Dogs have never frightened me. But this day was different. They were totally out of control. So I stopped walking and stood there shouting, “STAY!” “STAY!” “STAYYYYY!”

After the third “stay” they stopped, just 24 inches from me. As I stared at them, the owner called them back home. We live in a neighborhood with a “leash law” and loose dogs are not allowed.

As I passed the front of their house, the owner was slipping into the front door with his dogs, and his wife was outside, reading a book on a rocking chair. I was still not over the horrible fright, and they were both pretending they didn’t see me, so I spoke up.

“I have never before in my whole life been frightened by dogs. But when your dogs came running toward me growling and snarling and snapping, I was scared.”

He spun around, lit a cigarette, and yelled at me that I should not have been in his yard – that they were just protecting their territory!

I responded, “But I was just walking down the street, not in your yard.”

The conversation quickly deteriorated, as he kept saying his dogs would not harm me. But how was I to know that! And when I reminded him that dogs are not allowed loose in our subdivision, he told me he had a fenced back yard, but his daughter had accidentally let them out.

Since this was going nowhere, I made sure they knew, as I walked away, that I would report this incident.

But when I returned home, I realized that I had not yet sent my Scripture inspiration to my family. So I sat down and looked up the next Proverb to send. It was:

Proverbs 19:11,

“It is good sense to be slow to anger, and an honor to overlook an offense.”

So what was I to do? Just what the Bible told me to do that day. Overlook the offense. God used my desire to influence my family to help me keep a Christian attitude.