Little Things

Romans 8 and 9 is so full of wisdom and encouragement! Paul's writings about doing what he doesn't want to do and not doing what he wants to because of the war between his sinful nature and his spiritual nature always enourages me. It just helps me to see that being a Christian isn't easy because we are still flesh and blood. If you are struggling with living righteously, then I strongly suggest reading these passages.

However, with all that I read today, what I want to write about is how God takes care of the little things. You see, I spend my quiet time in my sunroom with my two cats, Chuck and Jennie. They don't actively participate, mind you, but they quietly support me by sleeping by my side or watching me while I read and write every day. As I read my Bible, I often highlight verses or passages that speak to me with a highlighter specifically made for Bibles. Two days ago, I accidentally left the highlighter out in the open.

The reason that became a problem is because of my mischevious little cat, Jennie. Jennie has this penchant for playing with all types of writing instruments, and then, when she is done with them; she hides them. So, yesterday, when I sat down to spend some time reading, I realized that my Bible highlighter was no where to be found. I looked over at my sleeping Jennie, knowing that she was the culprit, and that she wasn't about to tell me where she put it. And, believe it or not, it ended up being quite the distraction that affected me throughout my quiet time. The reason being, I couldn't highlight anything in my Bible! And of course, I was touched by all these wonderful verses, which I could not highlight. The only way I could highlight something is if I wanted to use an ordinary pen, which I did not. I know something like that shouldn't mess up my time with God, but my mind just kept gravitating to thoughts about where that darn highlighter was.

So then, last night, looking into those adorable cat eyes, I asked Jennie to please bring my highlighter back. She blinked at me in that coy cat way, and all I could surmise she was saying to herself was, "Not a chance." Needless to say, I didn't think I was ever going to see that highlighter again.

Now this morning, I went through my regular routine, making coffee, feeding the cats, and so forth. I was resigned to the idea that I would not have a highlighter again today, and that I would have to go to the store to buy another one. Low and behold, as I walked into the sunroom to spend some quiet time with God, I looked down, and there, right in the middle of the floor was that darned highlighter!!! It was quite a reunion, with me giggling, as I made sure to put it on a shelf so that Jennie couldn't get it again. Then I looked at Jennie, who was impatiently blinking at me as only a cat can do, and I swore I heard her thinking, "Fine, there's your stupid highlighter, I didn't want it anyway!"

As I sat down to pray and prepare my heart to read my Bible, I became overwhelmed with thankfulness, because I truly believe that it was God who convinced Jennie to give me back my highlighter. As foolish as that may sound, firstly, you don't know Jennie and how stubborn she is, and secondly, it touched my heart to know that God didn't want me to be distracted during my time with Him today. So he made sure I wasn't distracted, even by something as minute as a Bible highlighter.