TGIF

Mammacat is on the north side of twenty years old…she is an ancient cat.

Arthritis racks her tiny frame to the degree that you can only pet her on top of her head without causing her pain…if you try she will cause you pain as her teeth and claws are remarkably intact.

Her breathing is sometimes shallow, sometimes labored, and her gait is often less than steady .

She has gas…gas that the Germans would have weaponized in the Great War.

She will inexplicably come inside to throw up on my bed.

She has frequent seizures that throw her diminutive frame about, shaking uncontrollably.

She’s known hard times and loss…she lived with her homeless owner in a car for months, then her owner died , leaving her with us before she passed.

Some folks think it’s time to put her down.

Some folks think she’s done.

She’s not.

The old girl still enjoys a good meal and she’ll seemingly eat her weight in Tiki Cat every day.

Despite the stiffness and pain from the arthritis she grooms as a proper lady should.

She goes outside and enjoys the warm sun on her back and the new grass in her face.

She’s still curious and still exploring, just in a smaller area now.

At night, she loves the company of humans while she sleeps, always with a paw gently on your face and heartfelt purring until she dozes off.

Yes, she’s cantankerous and she does not suffer fools or other cats gladly…that happens to the best of us.

Still, there’s a vitality to her existence.

She’s not just still alive, she’s still living.

Sometimes, when people ask how I am, I’ll answer that “I’m still here”.

Worn down by afflictions and circumstances, without much joy, but with many complaints.

Sometimes I feel ancient and some days the mundane tasks of life feel like too much to bear.

The truth is that sometimes I am alive, but not really living.

This is sin…and a silent rebuke to God…which compounds the sin.

The sun shines on me too and the new grass is lovely.

I can still enjoy a good meal and the company of (some) humans.

Life is hard, but life is priceless.

There is joy still, if you seek it.

Choose joy.

Choose living while you have life.

Lord, make me more like my cat…again.

Make your own application…