Dot And Trust

“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”

Psalm 37:23-24

I have gained some knowledge while being away. Some may just blow your mind like it did mine. Moses was not the only one who was told to take his sandals off because he was standing on holy ground. This whole time I have thrown him under the bus to make my point of not wearing shoes not even knowing I could have thrown Joshua under that same bus, too. Job’s friend with the weird name called him a windbag. Moses took Joseph’s bones when he left Egypt just like ole Joe said to do. Which I think is AMAZING that so many years later it really happened. Also, JD loves to fetch, (What? Do you think I am going to go without mentioning my pup?) but he hates to give up the ball. I have learned the past couple of weeks that I need more than one ball to throw, even though most of the time he still will not drop the other one from his mouth. “JD drop the ball. JAMES DAVID drop the ball. JD WATKINS if you do not drop that ball right now”.. and it just goes on and on. So, I give up. I just throw all of the balls I own and he tries to catch them never understanding there is another object he’s holding on to that gets in the way. Yep. There sure is a lesson in that. I will just say this; how can I accept the gifts the Lord has for me when I’m holding on to other things that get in the way?

Now, moving on.

“The work of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.” Psalm 111:7

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Today I want to share with you the story of Dot. No, she is not a fish. She is a cat and never in my life did I think I would be a cat lady, but here I am writing a whole blog on one. Smiling. Yes, with a smile on my face which is even weirder but that is ok. Six maybe seven months ago, Dotty was born. I knew there were babies I just had no idea where to find them until one day they stuck their little cute baby heads out and well I may have fallen in love with their sweet little faces. Ok. I did. By the time they were found though they already knew the ways of the alley cat, so trust is something that was hardly ever there. They trust that I will have food for them. They trust that I will drive up in the parking lot in the morning, but trusting my hand is a different story. I am really convinced that God teaches me through things that I see more than the knowledge I obtain. Simply put… I am not a reader. I am a hands on kind of person. It is the way I learn, and while I love the Word of God it is the only book I can read for more than ten minutes. He knows this. I mean, come on He knows all the things about me. He knew I would be the cat lady, too.

So, it is not a coincidence that a little white kitten afraid of her own shadow came into my life. The only time she would get close was to eat the food I had for her, but if my hand or even my voice came near she was gone. I did not give up, though I just resorted to whispers. Pretty soon, she would come running to the sound of my voice because she knew it was time to eat. Y’all, I just love her so. Weeks went by and she got closer, and then one day she still stayed and ate as I spoke to her. The other day, she let me touch her. I know I know it is not a big deal to you, but to me in this season of my life it spoke volumes. To gain trust from someone is not an easy task especially for the ones who have grown up with so many chances to trust someone that were just thrown out the window.

It reminds me of my Heavenly Father who meets me right where I am. I did not always run to trust His hand either. In fact, for years I thought His hand was scary and nothing good came from it because a lot of junk was allowed in my life. A few years ago, I realized it was the Lord’s hand that shielded me from the tactics and schemes and destruction the enemy tried to destroy my life with. It was His hand that kept me safe. Like Dotty, I had to realize love came from those hands. A desire to be close, and pursue me at all costs came from Him, my Father. I know it is completely different, but let me just say to you when my little Dotty climbed in my lap and let me love her it was the most special moment. Probably because I pursued, kept showing I cared, and never gave up on her. The results were worth it. Now, every morning when I drive up I am greeted by a little white kitten who trusts that I am going to have food, and love to give. She may just be a alley cat to others, but to me she is wanted, loved, and claimed. I got her back always.

I remember a time in my life where I figured out the safest place for me to be was right up in the arms of my Father. That is the place where love and grace meet, and that is where everything changed. I would not want to do life without the Lord even on the hard days where running away from His hand is a lot easier I still want to choose Him. I guess now because I know love resides there, acceptance, truth, and a whole lot of mercy covered in grace. Y’all. Yes, I say y’all. He may discipline, and there surely are consequences but I will always know love is behind it. True story. Now, I have to go feed my cats.