It was while looking for a home for our cats, that our cats actually found us a home. And that just started a long chain of events that were all amazing answers to prayer.
It all started this August when we had to move out of the place we'd been housesitting for a year while the owners were in China. Because of our incredibly heavy travel schedule this year, and since cats (Morty and Pepe) don't like to move, we thought it best to leave our cats with the home. Besides, the house owners love cats, too. It was a very painful decision, as we are way attached. In fact, just add it to the long list of losses in our lives that we have grieved in the past few years.
But then all kinds of things changed practically overnight. My mom's cancer returned in full force, our long winter trip got cancelled, our kitties' adoptive family decided they couldn't keep them due to an unexpected allergy, and the temporary housing we'd found until we returned in March was no longer sufficient. In short, everything in our lives was up in the air, including us! We were still flying here and there, while trying to figure out what to do next. We prayed and asked God to show us clearly our next step.
So we put ads in the local paper and email community, hoping to find a home for us and/or for our cats. We felt like total traitors, trying to find a strange home for the kitties that had been like kids to us for the past four years! How could we live with ourselves? But rentals in our town are hard to come by, particularly if you have pets.
Despite several tries, not one inquiry came in about our cats. But finally, I did see an ad for a rental in my inbox and jumped on it immediately! When the landlady answered my call, the first words out of the her mouth were, "If I let you have this rental, can you keep your cats?!" Huh?
She explained that she'd seen the email ad about my cats, and she loved cats, and even though there were many people who wanted her rental, she'd let me have it if I could keep those adorable cats!
Wow. I had no idea that my cats were such good house hunters—or that I'd get to keep them becasue God would give them back. What a happy day!
But wait—there's more! I don't remember a year when my husband and I haven't had incredible turmoil in our lives. Building a home over the course of four years and all the responsibilities that entails, and moving seven times in nine years…we do seem to have a knack for gypsy living. So needless to say, we are both excited about the prospect of getting settled for awhile. And even more so now.
This cute little house is purrrfect for us—and for our cats! It has almost every feature we could think of asking for. It's on a quiet street by a park, a five minute walk from my Mom's house, it already has a pet door, lots of windows and light, built-in storage galore, a garage, nice big rooms, and a double lot with plenty of trees for the cute little furry family members that found the house for us. And to top it off, we get to keep them with us! Isn't God amazing?!
One more little detail I must mention, since I love full circles in life. As we were moving in, I found an old fire extinguisher with the name, Roy Lacey, on it. Roy Lacey was my elementary school principal "a few" years ago. Roy was a dear sweet man, full of gentle kindness, and I'm pretty sure he was a believer. Even at the age of six, he made a hugely wonderful impression on me when I was called into his office (yes, the little angel was in trouble). Now, living in what was once his home all these years later, I have come to a full circle of being reminded of both his sweet presence when I was a kid, and the sweet presence of our God that has surrounded me and my husband with the same spirit of joy, peace, and kindness in this new home.
Isn't God good?!
Now…any guesses at what the little angel did to get sent to the principal's office?