"Are you kind?"

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey tell his story!

The holidays are a time of exciting busyness and fun activity for lots of us. But also this season is a sad time of year for some people, especially those who have lost a loved one.

You’ve heard me talk before about our yellow Labs that we raise and also about Maxie, our beagle who’s our farm mascot. Well, Maxie was involved in an accident recently and died. As my neighbor said, "Unless you’ve been there, you just don’t understand how attached you get to an animal. They’re a member of the family." And that’s what Maxie was with us—a member of the family.

I buried her up on the mountain on a rainy Wednesday morning while my wife and I cried together. Our younger daughter cried her way to school that day. And I talked with our daughter in London and we cried together, too.

If you’ve been there, you know it’s not easy to say good-bye to someone you love—person or pet, especially during the holidays. Be sensitive to what those missing a loved one are going through as God gives you the opportunity. Be kind to them as you listen to life and make a life today.

Discover more great stories like this one!