Answer to Prayer about Patience and Persistence?

Over a year ago to cats stared coming around the house and eating the left one food from the other I was feeding. They seemed very friendly but very shy. When coaxing them to come closer, you could tell they wanted to, with tails high in the air and very quiet mewing.

The one with longer hair, whom I shall refer to as Long", was the bravest. Months passed and finally after about 8 months or so, Long would come close enough for me to scratch her head ever so, easily and briefly.

Well, after many more months of progress at a snails pace, she will finally let me pick her up and hold her in my lap. She even jumped up on her own last night. Once there she gets comfortable, sometimes bathing, sometime just enjoying the scratching. Even to the point where she resists being putting back on the ground.

Those that know me know how much I love animals. One of the first things Gretchen and I did after marrying and moving in to the new house was to adopt sibling kittens. And as per out expectations, it was one of the best things we ever did. They brought us so much happiness, laughter and unconditional love.

The month after Gretchen died in 2011, one of the cats, Tom had to be put down: liver disease. Tom was Gretchen's cat. From the beginning he gravitated to her and vice-versa. Likewise, the other cat Bob and I were best buds. Nice how God works that way, isn't it? So then it was just me and Bob. And while I was grieving Gretchen, it was obvious that Bob was grieving Tom. His behavior changed. He became less "independent". He stuck to me more and more. And that was ok with me. There must have been a hundred times I'd sit in my chair with Bob in my lap and I would thank God aloud for that furry goof. Then a couple of years ago I had to have Bob put down. He had developed some sort of internal rupture to some organs. The doctor said that they could do surgery but it really wouldn't make much difference. So since Bob was in so much pain, I sent him ahead to be with Gretchen and Tom.

Over the years since there have been the average neighbor hood cat come around for a while to eventually disappear. And I'd feed and talk to them and that was good.

But right now it is such a blessing for Long to accept me this way. (I know this probably sounds pretty silly. And if you're laughing or scoffing at it, you can just kiss my ass and unfriend me, because apparently you are not a friend anyway.) The timing is perfect. She may come from a house in the neighborhood and just has the freedom to go where she wants, I don't know. Friends have urged me to get new cats, but I've declined. Maybe this is God timing and I should just take her in, make her an inside cat too. I don't know.

But maybe this is God showing me that patience, persistence and HIS timing pays off. Because He knows how much I want a job and how badly I continue to feel at failing at all of this. And I seriously worry about what's going to become of me.

I hope that's what He's doing. But in the meantime, He's reminding me of the little blessings and joys in the face of overwhelming circumstances and despair. Sometimes blessings have semi-long hair, a Batman mask and like to try to lick the skin right off my hands if I let her.

Stop, look. Take a magnifying glass if you have to to find the small blessings. And if you have a pet you love, give it some extra noms or whatever it is they like. Peace to you.

Sunday Nite Pic Dump

Another Cat Saturday

Signs of a True Cat Lover

1. When a true cat lover sleeps, he hardly makes any movements, let alone moving his toes.

2. If you put a heavy thing on a sleeping cat lover, he will try to keep it there undisturbed all the night.

3. A dead mouse touches the heart of a true cat lover; a dead rat draws his admiration.

4. You may think that he’s got a cold – every time a true cat lover enters a room, he closes any doors and windows.

5. If you want to show that you’re madly jealous because of a true cat lover, just pee in his boots. He won’t understand you otherwise.

6. In company, he always ends up talking about cats. Even if he promised to give up doing so.

7. A true cat lover never throws away candy wrappers – he rolls them into a ball and throws down on the floor.

8. A true cat lover chooses clothes by the two main criteria:

   a. cat fur doesn’t stick to it (or it is invisible on it and easily removed.;

   b. it is difficult for the cat to get a claw hooked in the fabric.

9. A true cat lover never slams the door. He always closes it carefully or even leaves a cat-size slit.

10. A true cat lover always knows which of his cats is digging the litter box at the moment.

11. A true cat lover never leaves food on the table but always puts it in the fridge.

12. A true cat lover never leaves a glass with water near the keyboard.

13. Prior to buying a new home plant, a true cat lover will always find out whether this plant is toxic for cats.

14. A true cat lover always smells every little amount of spilt water.

15. When a cat climbs on a true cat lover’s lap, he will never utter a sound even if the cat didn’t hide the claws. Because the kitty may get scared and never climb on his lap again.

16. A true cat lover always knows what cat food tastes like.

17. The hands of a true cat lover are always covered with scratches.

18. When a true cat lover sees a cat in the street, he is full of emotions as if he sees this animal for the very first time.

19. In a typical family, children are told, “Wash your hands after patting the cat!” In a cat-addicted family, children are told, “Wash your hands before patting the cat!”

20. A true cat lover is skilled in typing and using the mouse with one hand. The second one is reserved for patting the cat.

21. A true cat lover knows that the name “mouse pad” is absolutely theoretical. Practically, it is a “cat pad”.

22. If a true cat lover steps on something soft, he always pulls his leg up nervously and checks whether he has harmed someone.

25 Irrefutable Cat Laws

Law of Cat Inertia: A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force, such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying mouse.

Law of Cat Motion: A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good reason to change direction.

Law of Cat Magnetism: All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct proportion to the darkness of the fabric.

Law of Cat Thermodynamics: Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat, in which case all heat flows to the cat.

Law of Cat Stretching: A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap just taken.

Law of Cat Sleeping: All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat.

Law of Cat Elongation: A cat can make his body long enough to reach just about any counter top that has anything remotely interesting on it.

Law of Cat Acceleration: A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until he gets good and ready to stop.

Law of Dinner Table Attendance: Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served.

Law of Rug Configuration: No rug may remain in its naturally flat state for very long.

Law of Obedience Resistance: A cat’s resistance varies in proportion to a human’s desire for him to do something.

First Law of Energy Conservation: Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destryed and will, therefore, use as little energy as possible.

Second Law of Energy Conservation: Cats also know that energy can only be stored by a lot of napping.

Law of Refrigerator Observation: If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along and take out something good to eat.

Law of Electric Blanket Attraction: Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed of light.

Law of Random Comfort Seeking: A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable spot in any given room.

Law of Bag/Box Occupancy: All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the earliest possible nanosecond.

Law of Cat Embarrassment: A cat’s irritation rises in direct proportion to his embarrassment times the amount of human laughter.

Law of Milk Consumption: A cat will drink his weight in milk, squared, just to show you he can.

Law of Furniture Replacement: A cat’s desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture.

Law of Cat Landing: A cat will always land in the softest place possible.

Law of Fluid Displacement: A cat immersed in milk will displace his own volume, minus the amount of milk consumed.

Law of Cat Disinterest: A cat’s interest level will vary in inverse proportion to the amount of effort a human expends in trying to interest him.

Law of Pill Rejection: Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape velocity.

Law of Cat Composition: A cat is composed of Matter + Antimatter + It Doesn’t Matter.

Source

It's Cat Saturday - May 14, 2011

Friday Night PicDump

Ten the end the week with:

Alien Wedding Cake

Help for Monday Mornings

I came across this little site with a live kitten cam. I needed it on this dreary Monday morning;



I hope you like it too.