Pets, Protection, and Loving Passionately
I give you a new commandment – to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2
Shortly after I arrived home on Friday Tim pulled me aside to let me know our mama cat had been hit by a car and did not survive. He knew it had been a hard day, that my emotions were on overload, and that it would be hard news especially since she left behind a litter of kittens. I was so sad. The mama was a great cat and super mom to her kittens. Not only had we lost our pet, but now we had 4 orphaned kittens that were only two weeks old. My sadness was quickly overcome with my mama instinct to do everything we could to save those sweet kittens.
We quickly scanned online articles and sent David on a quick run to our local farm store for bottles and milk replacement. Meanwhile we moved their box from the breezeway to inside our front entrance and set up our heat lamp to make sure they would stay warm enough during the night. We read up on how to feed them and other details we would need to know to keep them alive.
The kids took the first feeding at around 9 p.m. Tim and I were up at midnight and 2 a.m. trying our hardest to get them to drink from the bottles. They were not keen on having to do so but we managed to get them to take a few drops here and there. Four a.m. came around and I tried again. I was able to get a few more drops in each that would hopefully keep them going until they could get used to the bottles.
Before we headed to bed, a friend contacted us to let us know their mama cat might still have milk and that they were willing to try having the kittens at their place. Tim ran them over mid-morning Saturday and the sweet mama let them latch on. It seemed like it might work but he wasn't confident that there would be enough for all four kittens to survive.
A few hours later another friend let us know that their mama cat was still nursing but the kitties were plenty old enough to be done nursing so we could try to see if their cat would adopt our kittens. Anna and I made a quick trip to pick up the kittens and then the 45 minute drive to pick up the mama. We would do whatever was needed to keep these kittens alive.
At first she wasn't keen at all to have the kittens near her but we decided to go ahead and take her home; hoping and praying that she would adopt the kittens. Once we got her home and settled, we gave it a go. We tried to calm her but the only way we could get her to nurse was to put one kitten with her at a time while one person gently held her in place and pet her. It was a long process but the kittens each got much needed milk. In the middle of the night we did the same thing but this time she allowed us to put all four kittens on at the same time. She was still tense and would not have stayed their on her own but she let it happen.
By the middle of the day Sunday, she finally made a decision. Not only would she allow the kittens to nurse, she would be mama. She began to lay in the box with them and lick them. She let them nurse as long as they needed. We were elated! Success. The kittens made it over their first hurdle and it seems like they will survive.
Sunday afternoon I finally had some time to process the exhausting whirlwind of a weekend. It only took me a short time before God flooded my mind with His thoughts which caused me to examine my heart. I needed a heart change.
You see, Friday was a rough day. It was a little over a week after God asked us to take a big step. The step was one that altered our "normal" life greatly but offered hope and security to someone that desperately needed it. We followed what God asked us to do knowing there is a long road ahead, one that could be very tough. It was a full week of meetings and paperwork and adjustments along with a normal busy week in our house. By Friday I was exhausted and I was emotionally spent. I was thinking that we just couldn't do this for the long haul. It took too much of everything from us.
Fast forward to the moment Sunday afternoon when God challenged my thinking. What He was asking us to do was to love another as He loves us. He gave it all. He was asking us to give to this person everything we could as passionately as we had done everything to save the lives of those kittens. We were willing to give up time, energy, sleep, and resources to save the kittens. We were willing to give our all to make sure they survived and thrived.
So why would we even hesitate to do that and so much more for a precious individual that God loved enough to die for? Why would I think it was too much? In that moment had to choose if I would love like Christ - passionately, willing to give my all, not worrying about how much I sacrifice. Just following what God asks me to do no matter what.
"Yes. Yes, I will, Lord. With your help and wisdom and strength." was my heart response. My heart was changed.
How about you friend? Who is God challenging you to love in that way? Who needs to experience Christ's all consuming love through you? A family member? A coworker? Neighbor? Friend? Someone from church? An orphan? A widow? The tough kid that is struggling? Your spouse?
Don't hold back! Follow what God asks of you. When we do so, we are changing lives, hearts, and generations!
Think you can't do it on your own? You are right. Neither can I. It is God who walks with us. He will guide us and strengthen us along the way. It's His work in His way. Step out in obedience and do so passionately.
"Love is self-sacrificing, caring, commitment which, in obedience to Jesus, shows itself in seeking the highest good of the one loved." Steven Cole
But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. I Thessalonians 2:7-8
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2
Shortly after I arrived home on Friday Tim pulled me aside to let me know our mama cat had been hit by a car and did not survive. He knew it had been a hard day, that my emotions were on overload, and that it would be hard news especially since she left behind a litter of kittens. I was so sad. The mama was a great cat and super mom to her kittens. Not only had we lost our pet, but now we had 4 orphaned kittens that were only two weeks old. My sadness was quickly overcome with my mama instinct to do everything we could to save those sweet kittens.
We quickly scanned online articles and sent David on a quick run to our local farm store for bottles and milk replacement. Meanwhile we moved their box from the breezeway to inside our front entrance and set up our heat lamp to make sure they would stay warm enough during the night. We read up on how to feed them and other details we would need to know to keep them alive.
The kids took the first feeding at around 9 p.m. Tim and I were up at midnight and 2 a.m. trying our hardest to get them to drink from the bottles. They were not keen on having to do so but we managed to get them to take a few drops here and there. Four a.m. came around and I tried again. I was able to get a few more drops in each that would hopefully keep them going until they could get used to the bottles.
Before we headed to bed, a friend contacted us to let us know their mama cat might still have milk and that they were willing to try having the kittens at their place. Tim ran them over mid-morning Saturday and the sweet mama let them latch on. It seemed like it might work but he wasn't confident that there would be enough for all four kittens to survive.
A few hours later another friend let us know that their mama cat was still nursing but the kitties were plenty old enough to be done nursing so we could try to see if their cat would adopt our kittens. Anna and I made a quick trip to pick up the kittens and then the 45 minute drive to pick up the mama. We would do whatever was needed to keep these kittens alive.
At first she wasn't keen at all to have the kittens near her but we decided to go ahead and take her home; hoping and praying that she would adopt the kittens. Once we got her home and settled, we gave it a go. We tried to calm her but the only way we could get her to nurse was to put one kitten with her at a time while one person gently held her in place and pet her. It was a long process but the kittens each got much needed milk. In the middle of the night we did the same thing but this time she allowed us to put all four kittens on at the same time. She was still tense and would not have stayed their on her own but she let it happen.
By the middle of the day Sunday, she finally made a decision. Not only would she allow the kittens to nurse, she would be mama. She began to lay in the box with them and lick them. She let them nurse as long as they needed. We were elated! Success. The kittens made it over their first hurdle and it seems like they will survive.
Sunday afternoon I finally had some time to process the exhausting whirlwind of a weekend. It only took me a short time before God flooded my mind with His thoughts which caused me to examine my heart. I needed a heart change.
You see, Friday was a rough day. It was a little over a week after God asked us to take a big step. The step was one that altered our "normal" life greatly but offered hope and security to someone that desperately needed it. We followed what God asked us to do knowing there is a long road ahead, one that could be very tough. It was a full week of meetings and paperwork and adjustments along with a normal busy week in our house. By Friday I was exhausted and I was emotionally spent. I was thinking that we just couldn't do this for the long haul. It took too much of everything from us.
Fast forward to the moment Sunday afternoon when God challenged my thinking. What He was asking us to do was to love another as He loves us. He gave it all. He was asking us to give to this person everything we could as passionately as we had done everything to save the lives of those kittens. We were willing to give up time, energy, sleep, and resources to save the kittens. We were willing to give our all to make sure they survived and thrived.
So why would we even hesitate to do that and so much more for a precious individual that God loved enough to die for? Why would I think it was too much? In that moment had to choose if I would love like Christ - passionately, willing to give my all, not worrying about how much I sacrifice. Just following what God asks me to do no matter what.
"Yes. Yes, I will, Lord. With your help and wisdom and strength." was my heart response. My heart was changed.
How about you friend? Who is God challenging you to love in that way? Who needs to experience Christ's all consuming love through you? A family member? A coworker? Neighbor? Friend? Someone from church? An orphan? A widow? The tough kid that is struggling? Your spouse?
Don't hold back! Follow what God asks of you. When we do so, we are changing lives, hearts, and generations!
Think you can't do it on your own? You are right. Neither can I. It is God who walks with us. He will guide us and strengthen us along the way. It's His work in His way. Step out in obedience and do so passionately.
"Love is self-sacrificing, caring, commitment which, in obedience to Jesus, shows itself in seeking the highest good of the one loved." Steven Cole
But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. I Thessalonians 2:7-8
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