Hope and despair ...

 

Dear Reader,

It started out like an ordinary Saturday with a visit to town and a flea market. After that we went to a garden center for a cup of coffee and I was going to look for some flowers. I had promised to buy a Clematis creeper to my daughter in law E and managed at the same time  to fall for three more plants before leaving. I called E to hear how she and my son was doing and she answered in a sad voice “Keeping up”. Her sadness had to do with the disappearance of one of their beloved cats; Lelle. He had been gone for 9 days and now they feared he was dead.

We decided to make a visit and be a distraction from all the thoughts about the cat and what could have happened to him. During our stay we did some weeding and planting and had a good time together and of course we talked all the time  about Lelle.

-          Let's ask God to find the cat, I said

-          You cannot imagine how many fervent prayers I have sent up to God morning and evening. And I have asked myself what he wants me to learn from this, she said.

When we had done most of what we had intended to do and started planning to go home E. asked my husband to take all the weeds we had gathered to the compost because she was afraid there might be snakes there. He took the wheelbarrow and started towards the compost when he suddenly stopped and called out :

-           - Look! Over there! Lelle!!

We had speculated that a fox had taken him, he had been run over by a car, he had become trapped somewhere, and many other negative option and now he was sitting on  the well cover as the most natural thing in the whole world  after 9 days.

There were open arms and many hugs and lots of food and "candy" and  then a report  to compassionate friends who had supported the search: He is home!!!  And peace was restored.
The cat was obviously happy about meeting “mom” again and all the attention, but had no idea what all the fuss was about.
Grateful prayers were sent up to Father in Heaven who answered the prayers; despite our negative outlook for Lelle.

Late at night and back home, my husband told me that when he took a walk to the sea with our dog , he stopped and sat beside the beach for a while. Out of the blue he said, the words just came out:

-          -  Please; Fix the cat!  

As soon as the thought had left his mind he felt warm inside as if he knew things would work out really well; but when he saw the cat on the well cover he still could not believe that the answer to his short prayer was right in front of him. He had to look twice before calling out to E.

It was an ordinary Saturday with an unexpected happy ending of the day; because although we had tried to encourage and comfort E, that God could bring Lelle back, in our hearts we had already buried the cat.

So what can we learn from this story? Isn’t it a waist of God’s time to pray for a missing cat? No I don’t think so; because I am told in  Philippians 4:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

(I wonder how many times we bury the answer to our prayers before getting the answer)

 Sincerely yours,Ida