TGIF
Chester has had a difficult couple of weeks.
If you translate human time into cat time, it must seem to him to be more like a rough few years.
He’s been kidnapped, taken to the pound, left in the pound, rescued from the pound, locked up in the house, and subjected to much stress.
I spent most of one day trying to fit him with a harness so he could be walked around outside on a leash.
That meant pulling them back and forth over his large head and trying to get the straps to connect around his considerable girth.
This was done over and over again to find one that would fit, though to no avail.
Yesterday, he had to go see the doctor, which meant being stuck in the cat carrier…a place that had to evoke terrible memories.
When we arrived at the veterinarian, the tech immediately shoved a thermometer up his backside while I held him.
This is not conducive to relationship building.
I tell you all of this to tell you that not once in all these things has Chester raised a paw against me.
He has not even once let out a warning growl as he has been subjected to all these indignities.
He has acted puzzled and occasionally sad…sometimes resigned… but he has always been ready to befriend me anew and trust me again.
He is very happy that I’m his human.
I’m not like Chester.
It’s been a rough couple of years and frankly, at times, I’m angry with God.
When I’m not angry, I’m confused, and when I’m not confused, I’m depressed.
I have no idea what God is doing or why He is doing it.
I do know I don’t like any of it.
I feel like Chester must have felt when I held him while the vet tech did her duty.
The difference is that there are days when it seems I’m having my temperature checked multiple times a day.
Some of you understand what I’m saying…
We need to be more like Chester.
Somehow… this cat instinctively knows that everything I’m doing to him, I’m doing to save him.
He knows I have no desire to hurt him.
He doesn’t understand, but he trusts.
He knows that he’s loved.
“Though he slay me, I will hope in him;” (Job 13:15 ESV)
That must be Chester’s “life verse”.
Maybe it should be mine too.
Maybe yours…
It’s embarassing when your cat has more faith than you do…
Make your own application…
Words do not allow me to say how much I love this post. Amen 100+%
Thank you, my friend…
You may not know that one of my kits is pretty sick at this time. Bella is the alpha cat in our crew of 5 felines. She sleeps between our pillows. We adore her and assume she feels the same. We are torn in a struggle of praying for her healing and/or her deliverance, measuring her suffering against how much we would miss her. We’re spending money we don’t have to take her to the best feline vet…. and she is still sick. God knows. Life is hard. God is good. This life isn’t all there is.
At least, that is my hope.
Paige,
My heart goes out to you…I’m praying for you and Bella.
All my hope for myself and my cats is in that life to come…
Thank you for praying.
I’ll REALLY be a legit Cat Lady in Eternity.
Paige,
Rumor has it that there are self cleaning litter boxes in heaven… 🙂
You and I will have extra time on our hands…
The beauty of simplicity. I love it!
praying for these beloved cats and their people – even if i’m not a cat lover, myself
(i’m a cat liker and prefer them outdoors, not on my kitchen counter… not the same as my cat loving daughter with whom i’m living, who fully understands Paige and Michael and their cats)
God keep
i should add that, as good as the teachers are who post here these days, it is Michael’s provocative things he thinks and TGIF that keeps me coming back 🙂
Michael, you and I have much in common these days. Except cats…I’m a canine guy.
“It’s embarassing when your cat has more faith than you do…” thinking on this a bit…
i don’t think the cat has “faith” – he has confidence, he can see you, the hand that strokes and feeds him is visible…
God asks something a little more of us… He asks us to trust what we cannot see and to acquire the Faith by asking it of the One we cannot see … dunno
many times i must confess to God that from my view the real substance of Him seems so far away and hidden
there’s a motto you’ll see sometimes on a boat that says something to the affect, “Oh God, Your ocean is so big and my boat [Faith] is so small” … thank God that He knows and a part of what He is is that attribute called grace
Beautiful.
I just read this to my family in our car and they were all moved.
Thank you, dear friend.
Thank you, my friend.
Good reminders in this post. Trusting God even when we dont understand.
Will be praying for bella, Paige, may God hear our prayers
Still praying for your cousin, John 20:29. Praying for mercy and healing.
Still praying for you captain kevin. May God touch you and bring rest to your body. Praying for healing
Still praying for you angel voice for your broken heart
Always praying for you and yours, big brother
thank you, dusty… the prayers are being heard – mercies, if not healings
How is Chester’s health, Michael? Holding steady?
Great story! Praying Paige.
“The difference is that there are days when it seems I’m having my temperature checked multiple times a day.”
Yeah.
Still praying for you disillusioned
Still praying for healing for you surfer51.
“Disillusioned” – i like that handle… it is healthy to get rid of our illusions… the PhxP is a good place to replace them with a more solid perspective, too, i think
I spent a good chunk of the morning today (Sunday) with my grandson Isaiah hiking a favorite trail and spreading the ashes of Trigger, my dog of the past 9+ years. It was good to recall so many amazing memories that we all shared, and still sad and empty. Our pets are great resources and teachers–we usually get that part backwards. His loss was sudden and shocking, though not near on the scale of our son’s death, it was somehow reminiscent of that tragic event. I suppose losses around the corner out of view will all echo or reverberate with that loss of my son, but that is alright. I never want to forget him. May we treasure every day we have with those we love…even if they’re cats. 😉
#27 – filbertz, love and prayer for you and yours … my daughter has the ashes of her much loved dog – she thought she’d do what you and your grandson just did (Rainy was her hiking buddy), but she can’t seem to say that final goodbye yet and winter’s coming