Flying the Friendly Skies

Knowing the will of "Kitty"

"Kitty" is a 30 plus pound oversized gray tabby cat who joined our family several years ago because friends of ours could not take him to their new retirement home.  He is the most strong-willed pet we have ever experienced.  He always gets his way by hook or crook.

When he wants to sleep on our bed and we firmly push him off, he bounces like a fly-back ball and paddle from the floor to the bed, again.  He never gives up.  He sleeps on his side of the bed, now.  He can make his will known.  He knows how to use others to get his will, too.

When he wanted to go outside in the morning, he would meow in front of the door until I would have to put my coffee down and go to the door.  I resolved to let him meow until I finished my coffee.  I will not be mastered by a cat!  It is my house and my morning coffee.  "Kitty" did not agree with my resolve.  He just changed his tactics. He would use my wife to get his way.

My wife, Lisa, takes great pride in her house, inside and out.  She is a meticulous decorator and house keeper.  Everything has to be perfect.  "Kitty" seems to know this.  Now, when he wants out, he no longer uses his ineffective "meow", he takes his oversized claw and slowly scratches it vertically down our freshly painted wall next to the door.  The terribly irritating noise it makes communicates to my wife's home pride-he will blemish the "perfect" decor of the den.  "Look what 'Kitty' is doing to the wall!, Go, let him out before he ruins it!"  Like "Kitty", my wife's will is strong, too; too strong, especially in the area of our home.  "Two is greater than one." "Kitty" wins again in the test of wills.  "I am undone!"

Now "Kitty" just calmly goes to the door in the middle of my morning coffee break and looks over his shoulder at my wife.  I know the message of "Kitty's" immutable will.  I surrender, again, daily. I do the will of "Kitty". I can hear him, now, load and clear, in the stillness of the morning.  "Open the door and let me have my way."  The door is opened and the rest of the morning remains to be enjoyed in peace and harmony in my home."

I have even found the secret of enjoying my coffee break, uninterrupted and in peace. All I have to do is go to the door, first, open it and ask, "Kitty, do you want to go outside?"  "Kitty" gets his way with me, and he doesn't even have to ask any more. I know his will, now, because it is part of my life, every morning. I am at peace.

"Kitty" has taught me how to know the will of God without him having to force it on me through disturbing my peace and the peace of others close to me because of my selfishness. Listen before he speaks, open the door, first, and enjoy my peace after I have submitted to His perfect will.

P.S. My wife loves me more for loving "Kitty"; so does "Kitty".

John 14:14-17 (MsgB)
Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.
[15] "If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. [16] I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. [17] This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

Why The Change In Attitude?

Metamorphosis

Good morning, the change is this...I see now, how I really do belong to him. First, He says that He knew me before I was formed in my mothers womb (Jer 1:5)  And all my life I have felt that connection. Then in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, I can identify. (With what He reveals to me). How I went through these sinful ways but the blood of Jesus cleansed me.

  For example, yesterday I watched this tape about God's creations and they were describing the caterpillar's eating habits. How it ate of the leaves of a poisonous plant yet it doesn't harm the Caterpillar it only serves to protect the butterfly as she's laying her eggs because the butterfly lays her eggs on that same plant and the birds stay away from her. It's the poison that the Caterpillar digested that ends up serving a far greater purpose. I know some how that all that I've been through all that I have digested, so to speak, is for an even greater purpose.

As a mother comforts her child

Artist: Kathy Mann, 2006

Genesis 1:20 (NLT) And God said, "Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind."

My new life, my new walk with God is enhanced with a vision of God's most beautiful creatures.

Some months ago just as spring had begun, my granddaughter was begging me for a bird feeder.  Well just as those precious gems do so well, she wore me down.  (It only took an hour.)  Off we went, on a mission.  We returned from the store with a humming-bird feeder and the liquid to fill it.  We sat outside, and together we put it together, hung it and filled it.  Ok, Mission Complete!...So I thought.

Not so, God in his most infinite and endearing love knew all along...

One day as I was sitting, on my couch in the living room, worrying and fretting, absorbed in all I didn't have, it happened.  My eyes were fixed on the feeder just outside the window.  And God began to speak to me, just not in words.  There was this feeling of kindness and gentleness as I had never felt.  He said, "Now, right here, you have everything."  He wowed me!  He made this creature just for me.  It was perfect and it was loving the nectar we placed there for it.

At that moment, I couldn't want for anything else.  It was God talking to me through a humming bird.  Now every day I wait for his love to shine once again and He does, every morning and every evening.

Last week I left a meeting and noticed a female cardinal flying around my car. As I approached, I expected the pretty bird to flee the danger of a human as most birds do. Instead the bird kept flying around the passenger window of my car. "How odd?," I thought, this bird is not afraid of me. I thought maybe God was giving me some kind of sign. Within a few moments I realized that God was saving my "sign" for another occasion. The mother cardinal was attacking its own image in the side view mirror and leaving a lot of "bird droppings" on my passenger door.

I realized that the confused little red bird was trying to protect her nest, not from danger, but the imagined danger of her own image in my mirror. All the time leaving her nest unprotected from the real threats. God was giving me a message after all!

How often have we fought useless battles that are in our own mirrors, the fear and worry of our imaginations. All the time neglecting the real issues challenging us and making a mess for others to clean up.

If God can take care of sparrows, how much more will he take care of us.

Matthew 10:29-31 (NLT) Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. [30] And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. [31] So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.

Recently I adopted a fluffly gray cat who won my heart by his habit of wanting me to hold and cuddle him constantly.  I cannot do much crocheting when he's around, and I have to pick him up quickly when he starts to climb my leg.  Neither do I mind, for my love for him is unconditional. Perhaps I love him even more because he has feline leukemia and may die within two years if God doesn't heal him. 

Several months ago I lost to leukemia a beloved cat I'd had since his birth.  I stayed with Charlie at the vet's when the doctor gave him a shot to sedate him and left before the final euthanasia injection.  By then, Charlie was not aware of anything, anyway.  His last awareness was of being in my arms.

This morning during my devotional time, Fluffy settled down in my lap and went to sleep.  Instead of moving him so I could reach my devotional books (I had my Bible on my bed already), I contented myself with reading the Scriptures only (at least until Fluffy moved). 

Afterwards, I meditated on Fluffy's behavior.  He was curled up on my lap with his head on my left arm.  He was perfectly content and went to sleep - no worries, no troubles of any kind to keep him awake. 

Isn't that the way our Father wants us to be?  Fully trusting him, resting in his big arms of love, and not worried about anything? Letting him hold us, not just in the bad times but in the good ones, as well?  Reaching for him, seeking his face, and yearning to hear his voice?

When Fluffy sleeps in my arms, he exposes his soft underbelly - a sign of vulnerability and trust that I will not hurt him.  Just as Fluffy trusts me, it is my prayer I will trust my heavenly daddy with all I am and have, leaving the outcome of every situation in his capable hands. 

Have a blessed day!