Hosting animals in your home can add life and meaning to your world, without the need to commit to life-long care. Yvonne is letting you now that she sees your affinity with animals. And even though you may not be able to give a home to animals forever, you are more than capable of hosting them for a little while.
Animals often just need a loving home for a short while in order to bring out their true personalities - which is exactly what you can offer them. You have experience in caring for and communicating with animals in such a way that they can heal from their trauma and find new hope in the world.
And once the fur-child is healed they will be much more likely to find a permanent home where they can happily live out their days. That little hosting session with you could make all the difference in their lives.
Of course it isn’t always easy to host animals in your home. Some cases are so bad that the animal has lost all trust for humans. And that can take some time to overcome. You need to break through to them with love and patience. Taking each day as it comes and never pushing them further than they are willing to go.
But the reward is worth every ounce of effort.
When an animal starts trusting you and opening up after years of neglect they become the most amazing creatures. Little bits of personality start shining through. And pretty soon the animal that wouldn’t come near you suddenly won’t leave you alone. It’s a tremendously fulfilling experience!
This is what brings happiness into a home. Care and persistence. And that’s exactly what you need to make your home the best for all the animals you may want to host in the future.
When you’re hosting animals you are more than some hotel concierge. You’re actually acting as a parent and family member. You are connecting with the animals and coaxing them to change their mind about the world.
You become their therapist and their safety net. You are the one thing in their lives that they can turn to for comfort. That’s a big deal. So you can’t take this job lightly. Yvonne knows your history with animals and she knows she can trust you with this task. But of course you can’t give animals the love and attention they need if you aren’t giving yourself that same level of care.
It is true that pets are extremely good emotional support for those in need. But you have to remember that this new, fragile addition to your family is going to need you to be strong for them in the beginning. After all, your job is to host them while they recover from whatever they’ve just been through.
So while it can bring you immense joy to see them flourish, which will add purpose to your life - those initial connections are going to feel quite distant. And if you push too hard at the beginning, you run the risk of losing the connection completely.
From the second you connect with your guest for the first time you’re going to want to start building a connection. The first step to doing this is making sure that you’re feeling strong and sure about yourself. Then you can take a look at how the two of you communicate. Is the animal shy, timid, scared, aggressive, avoidant..? How are they feeling?
And more importantly, where do they feel safest? The sooner you can identify where your guest feels safe, the sooner you’ll be able to start working on increasing their comfort zone. So don’t meddle too much in the beginning, but do keep an eye on them. The more they realize that you don’t mean them any harm, the sooner you’ll become their new best friend. And it’s that connection that’s going to help them find their best life.
As Yvonne says, your pets on earth and in heaven feel loved and cared for. You still have a connection with them. So even though you’re just hosting this animal for a short while, the connection you build with them now will stretch on into eternity. You will be changing a life forever with this one small act of kindness.
