TGIF
When Miss Kitty first fell ill, I almost lost her.
Not lost her as in she almost died,( though that would have happened) but as in I couldn’t find her.
When outside cats are sick or injured they often try to find a place to hide where they often suffer alone and die.
They can’t be found…seemingly do not want to be found… and cut themselves off from that which can save them.
My cat had found an opening to get under the house behind some shrubbery, but the pain from her injury prevented her from getting all the way in the opening.
When I extracted her from the hole I could feel the resignation and fear as I carried her inside, then to the doctor.
I would not let her out of my site again until I knew she was well.
It took a team that loved her to restore her to health.
A wonderful veterinarian, myself, and a bunch of people who weren’t ashamed to pray for a broken cat.
She’s fine now.
I don’t know why cats try to separate from us when they are sick or injured in some way.
I don’t know if it’s feline pride, or shame, or just a way to keep a modicum of dignity.
Perhaps it’s the only way they feel safe.
I only know it’s deadly…and I do the same thing.
So do many of you.
We get a bad report, we are injured physically, emotionally, or spiritually and we find a metaphorical hole under the house to hide in.
We don’t want anyone to know, we want no one to see.
We try to protect what’s left of our pride and dignity, we feel shame over our wounds…because sometimes they are self inflicted.
Even when they are not, we do not want someone or something to wound us there again.
We try desperately to carve out someplace safe.
It doesn’t work…the healing doesn’t come.
At best we keep the wounds from getting deeper, we just grow a scar to cover us.
What healed Miss Kitty was the love of many doing what they could.
People loved her enough to pray for her and I loved her enough to care for her until she didn’t need a place to hide anymore.
She would have died under the house.
So will you.
We need each other…we were created that way.
There is no shame in that.
God rescued us that we might be rescuers of others in His name.
Only love can heal some wounds.
Our job is to get what we need so we can give it away to someone else who needs it too.
Make your own application…
I lost one of my cats yesterday. He got off on his own and when my daughter found him, it was too late. Yes, he was very old and we rescued him so his last years were good but he still did what he felt he needed to do.
What hurts most is that we cannot love in reverse; when someone has passed, we cannot tell them how we feel or how much we cared for their little furry face.
It’s best to do it while they are in front of us in every and all situations.
Laura,
I’m so sorry to hear of your loss.
I’m sure he knew he was loved…but the lesson you take is still a good one.
Thanks, Michael. ?
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. – Psalm 32:7
Sometimes we do need a hiding place, a place that we feel safe. May we be imitators of God in offering a safe place for others rather than being the trouble that people are hiding from.
told others to read this – hope they do so do
but when it is our kind that is hiding, sometimes it does take discernment to know what helps; when to know “leave me alone” really means i need to be left alone…
and sometimes only God can provide
“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance” yes and amen, thank you, Lord
John 8:59
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
He hid himself again, later when he sent others ahead of him into Jerusalem.
Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Egypt to be safe from Herod.
Sometimes, it is far safer and wiser to remain hidden until there is clear evidence that one will no longer be in jeopardy, at risk, or in danger, understanding that there is little that can or will be done as long as people are so easily taken in by those who abuse while also projecting a sense of reason, fairness, and “plausible” justification for such behaviors. Thus making anemic the depth, breadth, and reality of such abuse that would cause another person to fear for their life, as well as, distrust those who thought themselves “good judge” of character, when in fact, never once set down with the person being abused without having the abuser dictate the terms to be able to do so.
Have zip to do with pride–but solely with knowing that for now, survival.
I think a lot of people don’t like cat’s because they are a mirror of ourselves.Vain selfish and prideful…..I simply enjoy the drama queening they do around the house.Glad to hear Miss Kitty is doing better.
Thank you Michael….. Love this ‘application’ story. Another gem from your partnership with God and Miss Kitty…. Glad she is doing better. Glad you are a cat guy who persists in pursuing and caring for you cat, who, like most, is “prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”……
Lord bless you… heal you and your dear cat….. You are in my prayers.
Laura Scott, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of one of your cats….Thank you for giving your old boy a solid second chance and that in his last years, he was loved and cared for. Their lives are too brief….