Charitable Charlie

I spoke about this little hairy, mutt on Sunday.  I was the second speaker in Sacrament meeting and had to speak on Charity.  Here's what I said about him in my talk:

When I told my daughter, Ashton that I was giving a talk on charity today with a focus on charity in our homes she just couldn’t think of any family examples that would be good to share.  Then she added that Charlie, our dog was the most charitable person in our home.  We laughed about that, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought she was right and agreed that there were many lessons to be learned from our dog.  He’s so charitable that we may have to nickname him Charitable Charlie!

1.     Charlie has unconditional love for all of his family members.  It doesn’t matter if we left him for a while, or ignored him, or are mad at him for something he has done wrong.

2.     Charlie is so accepting of everyone in the family, no matter their personality or opinions, kind to everyone, doesn’t pass judgments.

3.     Charlie is always happy to see you and makes you feel happy to be home.  He welcomes you with a wagging tail, a lick or two, and he jumps on you with excitement.

4.     Charlie is compassionate, he knows when you are feeling down and when you need some extra attention. Just the other day he noticed a wound on my ankle and tried to help me by licking it.

5.     Charlie is fiercely loyal, a good member of the family, you never feel lonely when he is around.

6.     Charlie is a good listener.  He doesn’t back-talk, quarrel, argue or try to change you.  And he is very attentive.

7.     Charlie shares his toys by dropping them at your feet.

8.     Charlie waits patiently when he has a need, doesn’t yell, he just quietly looks at you or gently nudges you until you finally take care of his needs.

 

Charlie helped my talk to not be boring.   And he was praised from the pulpit by a member of the bishopric as he closed the meeting.  We should all try to be a little more like Charitable Charlie!  He's great!