TGIF

Miss Kitty stood in front of the door and howled as if she were calling someone who wouldn’t answer.

About ten minutes later my phone rang.

“They lied to you. They will put your cat down”.

A few minutes later, I was on my way to bail Chester out of the pound.

I had left him there because I was told he was sick and had to be kept indoors forever…and that they would adopt him out to someone who could provide a safe home for him.

Now, my anonymous caller claimed that wasn’t the case.

My heart couldn’t take the risk that they were right.

I emptied my bank account with the cat bail bondsman and they sent someone to fetch him from his cell.

I called out his name…and you could hear him howling back all the way up the hall and into the lobby.

His Daddy had finally come…he wasn’t abandoned after all.

He was howling all the way home…a song of both thankfulness and pure relief.

Miss Kitty met him at the door, her own calling having been answered.

Chester was home.

Things aren’t the same as when he left, we have new challenges to face .

We’ll face them together.

I’m writing this for two reasons.

One, I shared my grief with you last week and you need to know my grief has been turned to joy.

Second…some of you are waiting for your Daddy to show up.

Your friends have been calling Him too.

You think you may have been abandoned in a cage of despair and solitude.

It’s not true.

Your Father has never ceased thinking about you…your name is engraved on the palms of His hands.

He will not leave or forsake you.

It will feel like He’s done both…but feelings lie sometimes.

When the timing is right…He’ll be there to pick you up.

There will always be challenges, but you and Dad will face them together.

Then your mourning will be turned to joy.

Just ask Chester.

Be ready to howl.

Make your own application…