If you know me at all, you probably know we share our house with two cats and a dog. Today, I'm sharing a bit about the two cats.
Gibbs' story began on August 10th, 2014. Robert and a friend of his was out for a ride in the rain and saw a little mass laying in the road. Thinking it was a baby squirrel, and these boys being the fine young people they are, they stopped. Robert jumped out to get whatever was in the road, I believe the original intent was to see if they could get a baby squirrel back to its mom. When Robert grabbed the little ball, it was a kitten. The boys then took the time to look around for the momma or any other kittens and finally decided the little guy was all alone and that wouldn't do.
Ever since that day, Gibbs has never seemed to forget where he came from, how he was rescued and the fact that Robert and our family gave him a very different life than what he could have had. Needless to say, we are all sure if he would have been in the road much longer, his life would have ended that day.
The morning after Gibbs came to live with us, he snuggled up on my chest while I had quiet time, he purred, and cuddled and was quite content. He still does this, every morning. And I always get the impression that he is saying thank you for having him here and for loving him.
Jasmine was born at my mom's house, in a closet, with heat, and food, and a litter box. She lived there for 8 weeks and came to our house on the 6th of May. She has never been in danger, well, that she didn't put herself in anyway and she has never known what it was like to go without a meal. And there are times, many times, she is nothing short of a brat. There are times that I can almost feel her trying to communicate, "You chose me, you wanted me, and you got me, aren't you lucky???"
I swear she spends her days thinking of ways to get into trouble, to push the limits and to test me. Andrew is a pushover, so this isn't even about him. It is her and I that clash.
Unfortunately, I look back at my life, from the time I was little until, well, yesterday for that matter and realize, I am a lot more like Jazz than I am like Gibbs.
I had a friend once who said she thought that people who weren't raised in church but found God's love later had a greater testimony. I am afraid they may have a greater feeling of gratitude. I know I get in a funk of hearing myself say to God, "I deserve better!" And the fact is, I don't, I don't deserve what I have, it is by God's grace that I even breathe and exist. God never promised us sunshine and roses.
I find myself telling Jazz, as she shreds the Kleenexes or the toilet paper, that until she finds a way to pay for stuff, she better straighten up. Wow, I am glad God never told me I had to find a way to pay for my sins. I couldn't do it, but Christ could and
He. Did.
Ephesians 5:30 says, "Giving thnks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I told a lady this week that I believed our church was the very first place I ever ventured out to as a baby. So, I too, have never been laying in the middle of the road, in a rainstorm, wondering if I were going to live to see my next meal, if there were a next meal to be found. So, I feel I sometimes take my salvation for granted.
I actually had to look up how to spell "granted" just because I was having a mental block. But when I googled it, there was two phrases that has to be added to this post:
So, this week, I am challenging myself to be Thankful to God for EVERYTHING. There used to be a blurb on The Message radio that asked, "What if tomorrow you woke up with only the things you said thank you for yesterday". I take that to heart but need to dig deeper and really see what all God does for me on a daily basis.
I am leaving you with Matthew West's Anything is Possible. Partially because the woman whose story inspired the song shows us the gratitude of coming to Christ later and then because one of my best friends posted a picture yesterday of that very phrase and the song has been in my head ever since.
Please don't get me wrong, God created all of us and loves all of us, weather we have been a Chistian since we were little or found Him yesterday, I am just concentrating on that attitude of gratitude that we can all stand to remember a bit more often.
God: Turning messes to miracles since the beginning of time.
Happy Labor Day weekend!
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