I have had another blog site which I have enjoyed – it is more personal. But for some unknown reason the address for it does not work. It is the same blog host as this one and I am doing nothing different than I have hundreds of times. Arrgh!

So I shall begin to use this site in a more personal way since there are way too many things that are fun to share! You’ll get my thoughts – on transparency – and much more. You’ll get photos and receipes. I’ll just start my journey on this site as well. And if the other site comes up…

My children gave me a cat for my birthday – they thought I needed some company. It’s a long story but she is a SPCA cat and came to live with me recently. She does not have front claws – to save birds and my furniture – so cannot go outside. One day I had some company and we had just come in through the garage. We got busy doing whatever it was we were doing and I forgot to close the garage door. I noticed that night that the cat didn’t come to sit with me as I watched the news but I thought she was snoozing upstairs.

The next day I noticed ahe hadn’t eaten. That night when I still hadn’t seen her I wondered if she had gotten locked up in a closet or the attic. I searched and called for her. Nothing.

By the 2nd day I realized she was gone and must have gotten out when the garage door was open – she has a pet door to the garage so she can get to her food and her litter box. I was worried about her since she had no claws and had no way to defend herself or catch food for herself.

I called my next door neighbors and put out fliers throughout my neighborhood. No one had seen her. I stopped walkers on the street and asked if they had seen her and to keep a lookout for her. Nothing. I was beginning to think she was gone permanently.

I despaired. About a week later, a neighbor called and asked if I had found my cat. I told her I had not –  she told me there was a little gray cat at her house. This cat had been attracted to her grandchildren. I went over right away but the cat had gone into hiding we knew not where. I called and called. Nothing. I wasn’t sure it was my cat.

The next day I tried again when my neighbor called to say she was outside…but she got away. I took some sardines over for them to use as bait –  I figured the smell alone would attract her. Later that night my neighbor called again to say she was sitting on her window ledge. I had already gotten ready for bed but I put on a long white cotton robe and dashed across the street. (I may have looked like a ghost running down the street!) Sure enough the cat was on the window ledge and as I called – and offered her sardines – she grabbed a sardine and fled. She appeared to be my cat.

I sat in the driveway trying to coax her back. Finally I left, discouraged.

Did she not know that I wanted to protect her, take her home where she would be safe and warm? Well fed and protected? I was willing to provide everything she needed but she ran preferring what she thought was safety. She thought she could take care of herself.

The next morning I got up very early – dawn was arriving with chilly, dense fog- got my sardines and set out to retrieve the cat. (Whose name is “Piper”, by the way – it should be “Traveler”!) I walked around the house calling for her – about to give up I went around to the front and sat in the driveway with my sardines…I heard her meow and saw her under their van. I continued to softly call her and coax her to come near. She did! I gently picked her up and took her home to warmth and safety.

When we got home, uncertain, she ran and hid. Soon realizing the safety of home she came out to eat a huge breakfast, laced with sardines, and take a long nap! I did see her later in the day looking longingly through the storm door to the world outside. Uh oh.

I began to think about her escapade and the Israelites.

God provided them with security, freedom, loving care, everything they needed as they headed for the Promised Land . The scripture says, “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:45) It says even their shoes didn’t wear out! ( they had tramped around in the desert 40 years!) God even took care of the details. Yet they got tired of the way He cared for them. The grumbled about everything and began to wish they had stayed in Egypt – slavery. They didn’t trust Him or His sovereignty.

Here I had provided for my cat: safety, health-care, food, love, protection…and she didn’t run back to me. No she had her own fears and insecurities. She didn’t trust me.

How very much like that I am with God. He has “granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness….and His precious and magnificent promises…” (II Peter 1:3, 4) And yet I so often choose my own way – willing to trust myself rather than my heavenly father who adores me and only wants what is best for me. So often, like the Israelites, I don’t trust Him. I want to trust Him more.