A Year of Blessing - April 12, 2010

Luke Skywalker. He was named before I got him, but with his whiney meow the name is appropriate. He is just one of many kitties I have had, the first one going back to when I was in first grade. His name was Snowball and he was solid white. He was the opposite of my Shetland pony, Blackout...which is another story altogether.

The next one was an inherited kitty by the name of Sonya. She would wake me up purring in my ear every morning. She stayed with my parents when I went to college and I never got her back.

Then there was Melanie. She was born on a farm in Arkansas and even though she was de-clawed she could climb trees and catch moles. She was given to my parents when we rented a place that didn't allow cats. But she was much happier in the country with them than in the city with us.

Sam was next. A HUGE Siamese. The vet called him 'maxie cat' because he was 22 pounds of solid cat. He would run through our house and make a leap on the back of our rocker only to knock it backwards on to the floor! Then he would fuzz up like it was attacking him. He got out of the backdoor one day and I never saw him again.

Next was Scrabble. A laid back Siamese that loved to get in the middle of anything I did. He got his name from climbing onto the Scrabble board as a kitten and knocking the pieces around the board in his own little game.

Scrabble was joined by Sassy, a Brindle Calico that my parents found abandoned on Green Leaf Creek. My dad, who swears he hates cats, who can't swim, and is terrified of snakes, heard Sassy on the banks of the creek. He waded weedy, snake infested, muddy, water of unknown depth, to rescue her out of a tree on the shore. David, my oldest son, was with him and my mom, and fed her coffee creamer and granola bars.

Scrabble and Sassy was joined by Simba, a grey tabby. She was a small compact cat but unfortunatly started having seizures. She lived about 8 years.

Scrabble and Sassy both lived to be 18 years old and were buried under some trees at my parents house. Scrabble in a casket made by my uncle. Sassy in a beautiful basket lined with a baby blanket.

That brings us back to Luke. He is my comfortable friend that I share with Pete. He has coffee-time with me every morning, follows me around during the day. He loves me unconditionally and doesn't know my faults. He is approaching Senior Citizen cat years and I know he will not stay with me forever.

My blessing? My feline friends, of course, but also the knowlege that life here is temporary. Yes, mortality is a blessing. A sobering one, but still a blessing. It is wonderful to think that some day I will shed this tent to soar in an eternal glorified body made by my Lord! Until then...I'm blessed here...with my kitty.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (New International Version)

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.