A GIFT FROM HEAVEN!
I thought instead of a Bible Study today I would share with you a page from my life. I really do believe this and I suspoect if you are an animal lover like me you will too.
THAT KITTEN FROM HEAVEN
It was four years since my beloved husband of twenty-seven years had gone home to be with the Lord and I still missed him as much as if it had been yesterday.
Oh, I still had an active life that kept me more than busy. My family, work, friends, church --the list of things to do and people to see was endless. And yet none of that, blessed as they were, could fill the hole in my heart.
At night, when the day’s busy demands finally ended, I would snuggle in my husband’s recliner and stare, mindlessly, at the television. That’s when I missed my Harvey most. Now there was no one to try to guess the puzzles on Wheel of Fortune with or figure out who the culprits were in the mysteries. Just me, remembering and missing love.
If only, my heart would whisper, I could feel Harvey’s presence, just one more time.
But of course, I couldn’t. The distance between earth, where I lived, and Heaven, where I was sure my Christian husband was, seemed very great.
I continued in these unusual doldrums for several weeks and though I tried everything to pull myself out of them, none of my cheerful busyness seemed to work.
Then one day, driving home from work, I spoke to my husband. My words were loud, just as they had been when I would have conversations with him after his hearing had dimmed and I wanted to be sure that he would hear me. And more importantly, pay attention.
“Harvey!” I declared. “What I need is a kitten!”
After I spoke the words, I scolded myself. “You’re really losing it Old Girl.”
Nonetheless, silly as it seemed, the request did make me feel better.
The next day, when I got home and was climbing out of my car, I noticed my neighbor across the street playing with a small animal.
“Hey Craig, what’ve you got there?”
Wearing a wry smile, the young man hurried across the street as a tiny kitten followed him.
“I don’t know what I’ve got.” He pointed to his neighbor’s house. “The Petersons just dropped him off in front of their place. They said they found him in the street and picked him up so he wouldn’t get hit. But they said they really didn’t want another cat.” Craig chuckled. “They already have five you know.”
As he was talking, the little kitten had moved over to my ankles and was rubbing against them, purring loudly.
I tried not to look at the tiny feline lest I would quickly lose my heart.
“So,” I asked, “you gonna keep him?”
“I don’t dare. My Boxer’ll eat him.” Craig reached down and picked up the little cat. “He sure is friendly though.”
At that very moment two pairs of eyes connected, and the hearts of a lonely woman and a lost kitten merged. I reached out and took him from my friend and as I did, I could hear my husband laugh.
Only later, when I was sitting in Harvey’s recliner holding the black kitten that I had named Tuxedo for his white chest that resembled a man’s formal attire, did I realize that this new little friend was an answer to prayer.
No, I hadn’t actually asked God for the cat. Rather I had spoken to my husband. Yet I know all things come to us from God. But I like to think that my Harvey might have had something to do with it. Perhaps he made the suggestion and God, who loves to do wonderful things for His children, agreed.
Now, Tuxedo is a grown cat who is my best buddy. When I have a Bible study in my home, he is there taking turns sitting in the ladies’ laps.
One night one of them said: “Tuxedo is the friendliest animal I’ve ever seen!”
I laughed. “Well, he’s just like my husband was! He liked everybody too.”
Just then, in my soul, I heard laughter. I grinned. God and Harvey were enjoying my delight at the gift they had sent me – that kitten from Heaven.