Another Addition – Prayer

When I got my house years ago I thought I would get a dog eventually. Someone to run with in the evenings and just enjoy each other’s company.

Then I realized dogs are a lot of work. So I got two cats.

Cats are pretty self sufficient. You just have to make sure they are fed and clean their litter box and that’s it. They hang around you if they want. Or they stay away.

Many cats are like loners and that fits me. I like my alone time. I’m fine staying inside away from crowds on weekends.

One friend mocks me by saying I am actually a cat.

Well, my work has had an office cat for a couple of years. But his time was nearing the end with clients with allergies. So I decided to take him home.

I’m hoping this transition will go smooth. I’m keeping the cats mostly separated with very little interaction. My cats are skiddish and freak out over the littlest things so adding a whole new cat may take time.

Aren’t most changes in life like this. Most people don’t like change and prefer a gradual change. I know I don’t do well if a change is sprung on me and am expected to grin and bear it without any problems.

I know in the grand scheme of things, adding another cat to my house is a molehill. There are so many bigger issues to pray about – COVID, Afghanistan, Haiti, kids in school, the state of our nation.

There are so many other things to pray than for God to help these cats to get along. But doesn’t God care about the molehills in our life just as much as the mountains?

We are to come to God with all our problems and concerns – all our praises and glory – all our sins and shortcomings. God doesn’t wasn’t compartmentalized prayers. He wants all our prayers.

To be honest prayer is probably one of the hardest things of my faith walk. I feel like I speak to God throughout the day, but to take time to focus solely on Him…I fall short.

I fall short in other areas, but prayer is one area I see my flaws like a work of art on a canvas. I see the emptiness where paint needs to be. I see the blotches that need to be smoothed. I see the disfigurement of what should be a fruit bowl, but see a misshapen camel instead.

And I know that if I see my problem, God sees it to. But instead of building a wall or cutting the line that connects us, He stands ready and willing to receive my jumbled words when I say them.

Funny…it took a silly cat issue to show my weaknesses and to renew that desire to get back that passion.

Maybe Sammy’s purpose was to wake me up from my self centeredness and to start a new dialogue.

I mean, God is much much wiser than me. Maybe this period of tension should be looked at as a period of refinement. To refine my patience. To refine my prayer life. To refine my faith to just breathe and let God move.

May we all see our weaknesses and move toward making them a little stronger.

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