The Literary Feline

Cat can read. I've got proof.

Olive reads books like "Interesting Places to Sleep for Four Days in a Row" and "Perfect Your Awkward Meow."

The kitten on the other hand is reading "Endear Yourself to Humans with Ten Easy Cute Moves."

See:

She also has been reading, "Acts of Terror Only a Kitten Can Do with Immunity."

There will be more postings about actual dogs in the kennel soon. And they will have spiritual elements. I'm sure some of you are not as intrigued by the kitten as I am. But I can't help it - those books are working.

Sharing Your Stuff

Recently, I did a study at church about generosity. It was challenging to say the least. It wasn't about money per se. Generosity of the heart is manifested by how we give - not just through money.

As you can see from below, the kitten is still here. It is still un-named, in hopes that someone will want him. He's decided that his favorite place to sleep is the bed Tilly has long favored.

Tilly is not happy about sharing. At first, she just would go lay down on the carpet when she found the kitten in her bed. Then, she decided it was her bed darn it and she was not going to share!

This is nothing new. When Tilly first got here, she slept in the bed Olive usually used. Olive wasn't happy about this.

Are we really any different? The "don't touch my stuff" mentality is deeply ingrained within us. We are naturally selfish and it doesn't take much looking around to see that is getting worse.

Only the Lord changes our heart sufficiently to want to share, to want to help others. When we recognize that everything we have is a gift that we don't deserve, then sharing is that much easier.

I'd like to be less selfish. But I don't want to enough. I need to pray to want to change. I can't change on my own. I like thinking about me and I like my stuff. If I can somehow pry my eyes off my own interests and focus on the good things the Lord provides, then I can think of how they are such wonderful gifts that I want to share.

Gotta go. One of my friends is having me over for breakfast. I probably should find something to share....

Creatures of Habit

That's Millie sitting in her van, ready to go home (Hi Millie! Millie? Over here, Millie! Okay, fine).

When Millie arrives at the kennel, she's less than enthusiastic. She looks at her owner with her sad eyes, pleading with them to change their minds. After making them feel sufficiently awful for their cruel, cruel treatment, they drive off to enjoy their vacation. Only then will Millie acknowledge my presence.

Each time Millie has been here, she always stays in the same kennel run. But due to an unfortunate scheduling conflict, there were two rat terriers in "her" suite. She was indignant. She looked at me for an explanation.

This must be how Martha Stewart's jailers felt.

Even though I put Millie in a "room with a view," she always went back to HER suite when she came in from outside. She glared at the other dogs with disdain. How could they? Reluctantly, she went into her cell, I mean run, but she wasn't happy about it.

When Millie's owner showed up, she went back to pretending I didn't exist. The owner and I discussed how Millie is not unlike the old lady (or young lady, or middle-aged man, or child) who gets mad that someone (often an innocent visitor) is sitting in HER pew on Sunday morning. How dare they?

It can be debated whether we pick our routines because we lack creativity or because it's just easier not to make one more decision in our already harried lives. Either way, when circumstances don't go the way we expect, it throws us off our game, which often upsets us.

Getting shaken out of our routine can be a good thing every now and then. People who go on vacation are usually happy to "get back into their routines." It's comfortable, and generally there's nothing wrong with that.

But we can't get too comfortable. We aren't going to feel God leading us into anything different and exciting if we settle in too strongly. We have to go into manual overdrive to have a good attitude and be open to whatever the new opportunity may present.

Next time you find another dog in your cage, be happy about it. You'll get to know a new space.

Hey You Bunch of Whiners!

Last week (when it was not blistering hot or pouring like a monsoon) I was doing a little gardening. Then, a little howling broke the silence. Soon, the single howler had company. There were only ten dogs in the kennel, but I think all joined the chorus. As soon as it began, it ended.

What was that about?

Misery loves company. In fact, Misery has been known to show up at my doorstep and we'll enjoy a cup of coffee together (told you it loved company).

Complaining can easily become a habit. Soon, we focus on the negative just so we have something to talk about with other people. It grows and before you know it, everyone's howling about something.

Breaking this habit is not easy. Often, others will derail us in our efforts as well. And then there's the peer pressure of keeping our mouth shut while others complain, not adding your own story of misery.

Certainly we have our own bad stuff and its worthy of our consideration. The more serious stuff must be dealt with in a healthy way, and often it persists. But the whining stuff...the stuff that really gets our juices going...that's what we need to look beyond.

A loose translation of Galatians 5 tells us that living a life with God and seeking his ways leads to affection for others, exuberance about life, and serenity. Aren't those fantastic things? Isn't that worth our focus? And when that really gets ingrained into our personality and our behavior, we will see we have much better things to do with our time and energy than howling about things that are insignificant.

Hating the New Kid

Remember how in school, the new kid used to get picked on?

That's what's happening here.

Even though Carbon (the grey cat) herself was dumped off here, she has no sympathy for the kitten. When I found Carbon, she was even smaller and younger than this little guy. She had fleas, ear mites, ringworm, and even maggots on her. She was a disgusting mess. She's blossomed into a very nice, beautiful cat.

Sometimes we don't like to think that God loves the downtrodden. We've got our act together, what's wrong with those "others?" If God wants them in the family? Who are we to say otherwise. Probably God knows something about that person that we're missing. Fortunately, God can override our small-mindedness and bring that person "into the family."

I don't necessarily want to bring the kitten into my "cat family," but he sure is cute and somewhat irresistible. He has gotten comfortable too, even cozying up in the hood of my jacket.

Irritation

Sometimes it's the little things that really get to you.

Foster hates the kitten. For a blind dog, he does a pretty good job of sniffing it out and nipping at it (which the kitten doesn't seem to notice). I sort of feel like I'm living in a Pixar movie right now.

The big, bad dog attacking the helpless kitten.

I'm not sure how something that weighs one pound, two ounces bothers Foster so much. There are four cats in this house, one of them at twenty pounds, but this kitten apparently is the last straw. Come to think of it, he's hated all the kittens.

Isn't it true with us, too? Everything else in the world is going along fine and dandy when some "little thing" gets stuck in our craw. Even if it's not directly in our line of vision, we still seek it out, just so we can hate it some more.

What's the answer? It happens to us all. The more I try to "be good" the more I realize I just simply can not. Sometimes I do better, through the grace of God. Other times, I fail in spectacular fashion. God's grace endures and purifies in all those times. And that's no little thing.

What "little thing" is bugging you today?

Chosen

Here's Shelby (hi Shelby!). Isn't she cute?

It's easy to see why, with those doleful eyes, she was adopted from the local shelter.

Little was known about Shelby other than she had just finished weaning a litter of puppies. Then, she's doing hard time in a weird place like the shelter. Suddenly, she's chosen, out of the other dogs, to go to a wonderful new home, complete with regular meals, a comfortable floor, and lots of attention. How did she process all these changes? Did she understand?

Shelby did great at the kennel, even though she was put back into that "weird" environment. She ate with gusto, had no accidents, and was as sweet as can be. When her owner came to get her though, she was thrilled. What a trooper.

Lots of people say they can't go to the pound or shelter because they'd "take them all home." Isn't it nice that God doesn't have that problem? He CAN take us all home. He wants to adopt us into his family more than anything. We get to choose to respond to his invitation.

Shelby knew she was going to a wonderful home when she hopped into her owner's car yesterday. It was much better than the kennel or shelter. We don't always understand what we'd be escaping if we chose to respond to God's invitation to love and be loved. It's the leap of faith - that He is who He says He is.

His life is abundant and good. If God pulls up in a car, or tugs on your heart, respond with enthusiasm - it's a great home.