Cats and Sparrows

I've had a change of heart about...cats. I've always been a dog person, and I expect that I will continue to love dogs. But in the past week, a couple of cats have started to grow on me.

I come from a long line of dog people. My grandmother was never without a small dog, which she regarded as half child. Her son, my father, dislikes cats in the extreme. My mother defied him once and brought home a beautiful kitten, fluffy grey with bright green eyes. We named her Jade. But she turned out to be a mean, hissing sort of cat and promptly unleashed a flea infestation in our entire house that took months to control. Needless to say, Jade was never a big hit with any of us. Eventually, we gave her to another, more cat-friendly home. She met with a strange demise one evening when she climbed a tree during a lightening storm. Apparently the tree she sought refuge in was struck by a bolt of lightening. Jade's new owner found her body in the backyard the next morning, stiff and electrocuted.

So anyway, fast forward to sometime last week and I had a sudden need to add a cat or two to our family. I'll spare you the strange reason that we needed a cat, but we did need one, and quickly. As usual, there was an ad in the newspaper for "kittens, free to good home." So I called the kitten's owner and made arrangements to pick out a pair of them.

My husband brought them home later that night. Two puffs of fur with big eyes, big ears and six toes apiece. Yep, you read that right. Both of the kittens have got six toes on their front paws. Sort of like the famous six-toed cats that live in Ernest Hemingway's estate in the Florida Keys. (And sort of like Ann Boleyn, a woman whose life has always intrigued me. She had six fingers.)


Despite, or maybe in addition to, their unusual paws, they are a pretty little pair of kittens. One is a dramatically marked calico, and the other is white with patches of grey stripes. Particularly when I look at the calico, I am reminded that God put together the exact combination of DNA that painted her in such a beautiful pattern. He intricately ordered the creation and formation of that little, insignificant cat. How much more He must be aware of the way He has created and formed each one of us, His precious children. You do know that God has even got a tally of the hairs on your head don't you? And that not even a common sparrow falls to the ground apart from God's sovereignty? Well, both are true. And what a comfort it brings me to know that God is perfectly aware of every perfectly tiny detail.

Matthew 10:31

"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Not even hissing, flea-infested Jade hit the ground apart from God's will. Even so, I'll be sure to keep these new cats indoors if it looks like lightening might strike.