The sound echoed through the Sunday morning hush of the neighborhood. I was getting ready for church when the insistent scream stopped my hand in mid-brush. Goldie, my Maine Coon cat, turned his head toward the side of the house nearest the main road. His ears were turned forward at high alert. When I opened the side door to the carport, the sound was louder. It took a few moments to locate the source of the sound, a tiny bundle of fur huddled in the shadow of the latest remodeling project, rotted columns from the carport. I left Goldie inside and scoured the yard for signs of a mama kitty or other kittens, but she was absolutely alone and hungry from the looks of her ribs. As I reached down, she gave a little hiss, but by the time she reached my shoulder she was purring. Her oversized head on the tiny body gave her the appearance of a bobble-head doll. Her whole body, except the bobble-head, fit in my hand.
I took her to the carport and set her down, unwilling to see how my 12-pound Maine Coon would react since he had never shown an interest in being social with other cats. I was headed inside to find her some food when she shot past me into the house. She skidded to a halt in front of Goldie and looked up at him with big blinking eyes. He growled and hissed, but didn’t offer to bite or strike, so I waited and watched. He hissed and growled some more, but she just stared up at him with those big eyes. Eventually, he walked away so I got her some food and set about finding her a new home. By the end of the week, it was obvious that she had found her new home.
The little bobble-head grew, and I named her Meep because of the way she “talks” to me. She was quite vocal. I had some friends drop by to meet my new arrival, but every time someone came in the house, she ran and hid. She absolutely refused to deal with anyone else. I, and I alone, was her human. She chose me, regardless of my plans, and that was that. She likes to sit next to me on the arm of the couch or curled up against my feet. Goldie has since passed away and two other cats have joined us. The other two will have limited interaction with other people, and I think if necessary, they could adapt to another person. Meep, however, at the age of 9 is still unwilling to interact with other people. I am still her human no matter how often I chastise her for misbehaving or how many times I unintentionally ignore her.
In an earlier post called Chosen, I wrote about being chosen by God, and choosing God in return. In Joshua 24:15, Joshua tells the children of Israel they have to make a decision: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Like the children of Israel, we too must choose who we will serve, but we also need to decide to follow Him with our whole heart. Matthew 22:37 says, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Like Meep, no matter who comes along or what circumstances we find ourselves in, we should choose this day who we will serve and never turn back.
Amen!