Archive for April, 2009

I’ve been thinking about how we develop our self-image. For children, adult faces are their mirror. More than a piece of glass does, it tells them who they are and what they are. Good. Bad. A disappointment. A pain in the neck. The words we say are important, but we don’t always think about what our expression says.

The message I heard Sunday was about Jesus’ ascension. The thing that struck me most was that Jesus was blessing them as he left. The last the disciples saw of him was his smile and blessing on his lips.

Imagine how that would affect them. It says they went away rejoicing (check out the end of Luke).

What kind of face do you picture when you think of Jesus. Do you picture him smiling at you? He is, you know.

If he lived for you. If he died for you. Then he loves you. And he smiles.

It’s not that he thinks you’re perfect. He knows better than that. He knows you better than you know yourself. But he loves you.

When God sees you, he sees you in Jesus. He’s known the end from the beginning. He’s not worried. He’s not upset. And he smiles, too, when he thinks of you.

I wonder how I can keep that picture in my mind. I want to. I want to think of God and think of him smiling. As I talk to him. As I go about my day. I want to keep the picture in my mind. And rejoice like the disciples did.

It will take practice.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face smile at you [shine upon you] and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.  (Num. 6:24-26)

After Muffy died we both started praying. We wanted another cat and prayed for some things in particular. Some of the things on the list:

a cat who had no home
a sweet cat
one who always used the litter box and didn’t attack us  (like Muff did sometimes)
one who adopted us (hard to discribe but we prayed that we’d know it when it happened)

Anyway, we planned to go to the SPCA and see. Each time we made plans to go something came up to change the plan. So we just kept praying.

When the day finally came, we set off for the SPCA. I had seen a kitty online named Miracle that caught my heart. So we asked for her.

She wasn’t there. She had been adopted.

So, we looked at all the others and saw a tuxedo cat (like Muff) named Samatha. We went to lunch to talk about it. When we got back to adopt her we found out she had been adopted, too.

We had to start over. The volunteer showed us a number of sweet cats. But they didn’t seem to click.

Then I saw Lilly. She was younger than I was looking for and was  a long hair kitty – also not what I thot I wanted.

But I picked her up and she looked me right in the eye. She was so scared she was shivering, but she looked at me as tho she trusted me.

I put her back in her cage and looked around some more. But I had to go back and hold her again.

This time she didn’t just look into my eyes, she relaxed and rubbed her head against my chin. I was hooked.

Since we’ve had her home, God’s hand has been even more evident. She is the most sweet, loving cat I’ve ever met. She was comfortable with us from the very first. But the most amazing thing to us – she was only put in the adoption room that day.

That’s why we had to wait. God’s plans are always good!