A New Start

Pumpkin is our yellow/orange colored tabby cat we've had for a long time now.  He's about eight years old or so.  His early life must have been harrowing because he was found in a garage after climbing in a narrow pipe from the outside to the inside.  His tail was mangled and the bones showing.

The cat tends to be fairly sedentary and likes to sleep and cuddle with Sassy, another of our cats.  He is pleasant and friendly with us, affectionate, but he is very shy around other people and hides when we have company.  After months and months, only recently has he been coming out when my granddaughter visits and then only on HIS terms, not hers.

Well, I made a couple of crocheted links and started playing with Pumpkin now and again.  He has this hilarious cry that sounds like, "Gow."  It's distinctive and different, and he uses it when he wants something.  So now he comes out in the mornings as soon as he sees me in the kitchen and starts the "Gow" thing, waiting for me to pay attention and get the crocheted roping.

His whole attitude has changed and he's become much more active, running around the house, chasing other cats, getting chased, and having a pretty good time.

And what was the big difference?   Just a couple minutes of playing time each day, nothing elaborate or difficult.  He's become more social and sleeps less.  He might have even started losing a little weight and regaining his leaner figure.  Right.

At any rate, I think Pumpkin is like a person's relationship with God.  God pays attention to us, maybe finally gets our attention and then we really start to change, respond.  We get out of our rut, we start doing things differently, we start making connections, we begin to grow and bloom again.

We can learn so much from animals.  We can also learn a great deal more about God, a subject that is never fully covered by anyone no matter how long they study.

I do have a book recommendation.  It's Scott Hahn's, "Rome Sweet Home."  It details the story of his and his wife's conversion to Catholicism.  It gets a lot of stars on the internet reviews.  Check it out sometime.  Hahn has become one of the leading voices in telling the story of church. 

So that's about it for today.  Time to go comb my lousy hair and then go to the store to lay in some supplies for this weekend's celebration of 30 years of marriage to my husband, Eric. 

See you tomorrow then, same time.