Are you sure?
This bookmark will be removed from all folders and any saved notes will be permanently removed.
A healing for Lucy
When we got our cat Lucy from the local animal shelter six years ago, she was sweet and affectionate. She even sat on my lap for the entire hour’s drive up to a family member’s house, where she was to be a companion pet. But we later learned that this family member mistreated Lucy. And when we got the cat back after the family member passed away, we found her to be terrified of other cats, shy, generally unresponsive, and unwilling to be picked up. This fear of other cats was a problem because we already had two well-adjusted house cats.
We felt we had no other choice but to find another home for Lucy, so we put an ad in the local paper. But when people started calling, we simply couldn’t bring ourselves to give her away. We set aside a room in the house just for her, which had a grate that let up heat from the fireplace for her to sleep on.
During all this time I’d been really praying for this cat, making it my mission not to see her as “damaged” but as complete, a creature of God’s creating and a reflection of God’s love. She had the right to be healed of an abusive past, and to take her place in our house. This line from the book of First Timothy in the Bible came to me: “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving” (I Timothy 4:4). I knew that Lucy was guided by God, just as I was, and that it was right for her to have a place in our house and to live a normal life. As I prayed, it became clear that God created her as perfect, with all the warm, loving, welcoming qualities that go hand-in-hand with feeling accepted in a loving home.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
