Monday, May 05, 2008

A Reminder that He Cares

Two weeks ago my cat, Lucia, ran away from home. I don’t know if it was the earthquakes we’ve been having (I live in Reno where we’ve had literally hundreds in the past few weeks), if she’d had enough of the dog getting in her face, or both. But one night she took off across the backyard and the next day we couldn’t find her anywhere.

Lucia has been my baby for years. She lays with me when I’m not feeling well, rests on my desk, licks my hair to get attention (okay, that’s a little annoying), and is incredibly sweet. I missed her like crazy. We put up posters, called the animal shelter, alerted friends to keep an eye out for a beautiful tortoise shell cat, everything. We prayed and prayed, “Please help Lucia find her way home.” Ten days later, Lucia (also known as The Queen, Lady Lucia, and Santa Lucia) had not returned. I finally had to accept that she was probably gone for good. Our house backs up to the freeway, our neighborhood is full of dog, it’s not unusual for coyotes to wander down out of the hills, and Lucia is declawed.

Knowing how upset I was my husband presented me with an extra special birthday gift on Thursday. You guessed it: I opened the box to find a new cat—velvet black with piercing green eyes. Deep down I wasn’t quite ready to accept a new Queen. But knowing that he meant to be sweet I doted over her and dubbed her Tatiana (also known as The Grand Duchess, or Tati, which is Nathan’s name for her). After a few minutes I said . . .

“Norm, what if Lucia comes home?”

“J, come on. There is no way.”

Yep, you guessed it again: we found Lucia that same night. I think she smelled an intruder. She’d lost a little weight, was dirty and scared, but our baby was in one piece! And she was home! I considered it my birthday gift from God.

Lucia has become my reminder that God really does care. He took care of her for 10 days. He answered our prayers just when we’d given up on the idea of ever seeing her funny multi-covered face again.

So now, the question remains, what to do with the Grand Duchess. Our house is pretty overrun with animals. But I’m tempted to keep her too. Lucia can be my reminder that God cares and Tatiana can remind me that, even on those days when it seems like he doesn’t get me at all, my husband cares too.

What are your recent reminders that God cares and hears your prayers? I’d love to hear about them!

Cross-posted on Girls, God and the Good Life

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