Theo

By Susan Shanklin

I received instructions before Tom left for a trip to the upper great north country.

“I would like you to do something while I’m gone,” he says. 

I wasn’t quite sure what he was going to say, but I replied, “Yes?”

“Could you get your article done for the newsletter?”

“I’m working on it in my head,” I say. You have to think about it before you can write it.

I thought of writing about the Evangelism Conference and how great it was. It was one of the best conferences I have ever been to.

The speakers were great! Fellowship was great! We were inspired. We were released in the spirit to go forward. Man, it was good. Meat, not marshmallow fluff. 

Anyway, I think Tom will tell it best, but there was one thing that happened at the conference that was interesting.

Ella, the farm dog, died, oh, about three months ago, and we have been forlorn, but no more so than the farm cat, Percy.

Ella was Percy’s bud. Ella was his joy. Ella was Percy’s warmth in the cold. 

Percy so missed Ella that it was palpable … for a long time, Percy wouldn’t meow, come out of the garage, or visit you. He was depressed, to say the least, so I started praying for a cat … well, a kitten, a friend, a companion. I thank the Lord for a cat. 

“Thank you, Lord, for a kitten for Percy.” Plain and non-descriptive. Now, remember this part.

The first night of the conference, Kelly, a country farm gal who is an animal enthusiast, comes with her “farmer” husband, Steve. 

Kelly and I hug and chit chat, and I tell her, “Oh, by the way, I’m looking for a cat for my cat. A kitten.”

“Oh, OK,” I think was her reply. I get a call the next day from Kelly, with excitement in her voice. 

“My neighbor called last night and said she almost ran over a kitten while mowing tall grass. I just knew this was your “God” kitten.” She does state it’s small and young and a Siamese. Well, that’s OK, methinks. I do need a young kitten so Percy can get used to it. Siamese, well, I don’t know much about that.

EEEEEK!

Monday night Kelly comes, and we talk about the little kitten. My reply is, “Bring the kitten tomorrow night when you come!”

Yippee, a kitty.

I go to the store and buy dry kitten food, a large litter box, seeing it will have to stay on the porch a short while, so it can get acclimated to Percy and vice versa. And I buy litter.

Tuesday night, I spot Kelly and Steve walking in from the parking lot empty-handed, and I am confused. As they get closer, I cradle my arms and shrug. Where’s MY kitten! Kelly laughs and responds, “In the car.” She turns around, goes back, and reappears with a cat carrier.

I’m pretty excited. Kelly reaches in and pulls out the tiniest CAT I ever saw, an itsy-bitsy, minuscule fur ball with huge blue eyes and dark satellite-size ears. Kelly pulls out milk replacer! What! I’m a little stunned, pleased, perplexed, and grateful.

God, I’m thinking, has a sense of humor for sure. I prayed a very non-descriptive prayer for a cat/kitten, and God does give me a cat/kitten, but not what I had in mind.

Maybe I should have prayed, “Lord, Percy needs a friend to keep him warm this winter. A friend to keep him company when the winds are howling, and the garage is dark and cold … a hardy kitten.”

I remember Tom once prayed a non-descriptive prayer for a “car,” too … one that would get good gas mileage.

Mmmmm, Tom did get his prayer answered—a “car” that got good gas mileage. But it was a smoker’s car, and it reeked, like really reeked of smoke, and had burn holes all over the front seat. Oh, Tom hated that car. Ha, another non-descriptive prayer answered. 

When God created this world, He did it with definition, purpose, and artistic expression. I think prayer should have definition, purpose, and artistic expression, too.

Simple prayers are good—don’t get me wrong. But perhaps a clear-cut and specific request would be better.

Theo, short for Theophilus (friend of God), is a great little cat. I was so worried about his young status that I took him to the vet a couple of days later and asked the vet, “I’m not going to kill him, am I?” 

This cat is young!

“No,” the vet responds. “But he can’t stay out in the elements until March. He weighs a whopping, 9 ounces, and he doesn’t need milk anymore. Just moisten his dry food.”

Well, that’s a relief. I’m good, but MARCH? 

I go home and set up a “nursery” in the kitchen by the washer and dryer for Theo. My dishes are too tall for him to eat out of, so I give him small one-inch-high pottery saucers for food and water. I use a small tin disposable roasting pan for a litter box because he’s not tall enough to crawl over the other pan walls. I put up a baby gate to close him in.

We have never had a cat in the house, and it is an adjustment for us, BUT he is cute! He is playful! He is growing! He loves to sleep in front of the woodstove! He listens to the Healing CD at night! He meets with Percy daily … well, for a few minutes anyway!  Theo is an answer to a prayer.

Everything is purrfect,

P.S. Don’t let Tom know, but I am enjoying the “indoorness” of the cat. Ha!