Kitty & The Move

Emerging from her carrier, Kitty cautiously took her first steps, trembling slightly, investigating the new apartment. She looked around, attempting to make sense of her surroundings.

It probably felt like Lewis Carroll was narrating her life: All the right stuff was there, it was just queer and out of place. I mean, from her perspective, even the windows had been moved!

That night, Kitty wouldn't leave our bed. She walked the perimeter of our bed and, with her paw, tapped Red Beard on the forehead whenever she heard a strange noise. At one point, she started licking his forehead. She also periodically knocked stuff off of our nightstands to get our attention. I don't think she laid down one time.

The next day, Kitty was determined not to be in a different room from her parents.

And that determination lasted the entire next week:

• I would sit down for a minute to check email (or just to rest my feet), and Kitty would leap into my lap, immediately curling up to take a nap. 

• I would walk from the living room to the bathroom, and she would trot right alongside me.
• Red Beard would sit down to complete homework, and Kitty would sit on the stool beside him.
• She wouldn't even eat without one of us standing there, beside her and her food dish.

She has relaxed a little bit now, but I share Kitty's story with you because I think it is a great illustration for our spiritual lives.

Remember recently when I talked about the fact that God likes us being outside of our comfort zones?

Well, Kitty has certainly been out of hers. And what was her response? Cling to her parents!!

When you or I are faced with changes or challenges in spiritual matters, we need to cling to our Heavenly Father. We need to find our rest and our comfort in Him. 

In fact, we should always be clinging to Him. In good times, in bad times, in seasons of change (and if your life is anything like mine, things are always changing!), the best thing we can do is cling to the Father.

He knows what you're going through and where your circumstances are headed. He is not interested in your comfort, He is interested in your spiritual growth. And no matter what you're going through...

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." -Phil. 1:6

If you seek true comfort or rest, cling to the Father. ~ Mrs. D.

Ensemble de Jouets

Here is my attempt to at least collect Kitty's toys in one place. Yes, she spreads them far and wide on a regular basis, endeavoring to claim a much larger area of real estate within our apartment. As I find them throughout each day, though, I place them back in her basket.

• Her favorite toy is her glove. (In the picture, it is the indecipherable mass directly beneath the yellow mouse and yellow ball.) When Kitty was a few months old, my fuzzy winter gloves "turned into hers" because she kept stealing them to sleep with them. It was so cute, I could not bear to take them away. Eventually with her gloves, we also figured out that she loves to play "fetch." We would wake up at 3 a.m. with kitty paws expectantly tapping our faces, while her glove laid in wait on one of our pillows.

• And no, the balled-up Peanut Butter M&M wrapper is not a piece of trash. Kitty loves to chase these more than any other balled-up candy wrapper or paper ball. She can hardly wait for you to finish eating the M&M's before striking the wrapper out of your hand. And you better be a good shot when you throw it. For, if you make a bad throw, you shall suffer the consequences of a highly disappointed feline. Namely, she will expect you to retrieve the thrown object from its offensive location in order for you to redeem your bad throw. 

By the way: If you are looking for a good read about a cat (and not a cat story that seems to have been penned in the flowery language of Glinda the Good Witch), try Cleveland Amory's The Cat Who Came for Christmas. (You can find a used copy here.) Amory's style and wit are delightful. And don't let the title fool you--it isn't strictly a Christmas book. 

It's 10 O'clock. Do You Know Where Your Kitten Is?

Last night on Amazon Prime, we found what we thought might be an interesting documentary about snowy owls. Instead of watching the documentary, however, we wound up spending the entire fifty-three minutes snickering at our cat, who was so intrigued by the film that she was unable to keep her giant yellow eyes off of the TV.

As a little experiment, we decided to "watch" it again tonight to see her reaction.

Here is the result:

If, like me, you are returning to work tomorrow, I hope it's as compelling as snowy owls are to my cat. But if not, I hope you have a good day anyway.