Appreciating the Savior - UBM [David Eells]

We have two dogs, four cats, a turtle and four fish. Each one is, in its own way, a reminder of God's love, having a unique model of the Godly relationship. Those who have pets have probably experienced similar revelations, but even without pets, you will see the example here.

About three years ago, my husband's job took him to the forest on a regular basis. One particular day, he was visiting a creek at the bottom of a deep gorge. When he and his co-worker stepped out of the truck, this scrawny little kitten was at their feet, crying. He said it was as if she knew they would save her. It was obvious she knew people and no doubt it was people who left her there. He knew we had enough pets already and they couldn't put her in the truck while they worked, so they went about doing their job. He said she followed them all the way into the gorge (meowing the whole way) and the hike down was so treacherous at times that she would get buried under the branches and stepped on. When they finished their work in the creek and it was time to leave, they saw that the kitten had collapsed. She was too weak and tired to follow them back out. They knew if they left her there, she would die. So Josh wrapped her in his shirt and carried her all the way out of the gorge (a two-hour hike). She meowed and fought the whole way, as she doesn't like to be picked up to this day. He brought her home and once fed and watered, she collapsed in my lap. I remember her looking at us and there was such a spirit of gratitude coming forth. Her eyes seemed to say "thank you" over and over again. We also got the feeling that she saw us as her saviors. She knew that from the beginning, even before we knew. Even today, we will look over and she will be staring at us with gratitude and appreciation.

When I realized this the other day, I felt like the Lord was saying we should always have that gratitude toward Him. That we should always remember the deep gorge He rescued us from. That we could not save ourselves and how much it wore us out to try. Then He saved us and carried us, even when we fought against Him along the way. But we are here today because of Him. We are safe because of Him. And we should never lose that heart of gratitude; our eyes should always look at Him through a lens of appreciation.

Something else about Kelty: she's a very peculiar creature in many ways. She's not much of a lap cat and she's skittish about affection. In the past, for me, it's hard to feel a connection to a pet that won't let you hold or touch it. But those eyes of gratitude just made us love her as she was. However, over time, she has warmed up to us and sits in our lap regularly, though not frequently. She even wants to be pet now. One interesting thing I've noticed is when I pray in tongues or sing praises to the Lord, she responds. She will get up from sleeping and come over to me, cooing and purring. If I'm on the floor praying, she lays down next to me and rolls over in the submissive position. If I'm sitting up singing, she runs up to my lap and stares at me, cooing. We call her Kelty Coo because she really does coo instead of meowing.

Anyway, again, it shows a picture of our relationship with Jesus: He loves us in our immaturity, when we are distant and skittish of any love. But His love changes us and we overcome those doubts and fears, learning to trust Him more and more. We begin to draw close to Him and He certainly draws us there with His voice. The Word says He prays for us and rejoices over us with singing. He also notices every peculiar detail that makes us unique. The very hairs of our head are numbered. We should respond with submission and joy, shouldn't we?

This revelation really touched my heart. I've asked Him to make us good stewards of everything, foremost our daughter, Trinity. He is doing it! We learn so much about our parental relationship with God through the relationship with our children. It really is amazing! But with animals, it's not a parent/child dynamic ... it's savior to the saved. This is what having dominion over the animals means to me.

So, seeing our place as the saved, and never forgetting the love and need for Savior is the message I get from this once scrawny, helpless little kitten now known as Kelty Coo.

PS: I almost forgot to mention that Trinity had prayed for a small kitten and we had told her no. God is so good!

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