Faith Lessons Learned from Amara& Dimitri: Part 2
It was not until I went out of state for crime analysis training in Utah in November 2003 that I saw a significant turn around in Dimitri. I had been gone for 6 days, and when I came back at almost midnight and crawled into bed, I was very surprised to find Dimitri snuggling up next to me for most of the night. Little by little, Dimitri became more and more affectionate and less and less stand-offish. Especially when I again went out of state to visit my sister, he again grew closer to me. Dimitri truly followed the saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” He continues to be a total snuggle bug and I adore his silly sense of humor. In the song I sing to him I call him my “wonderful, sweet boy.” (All my cats have their own short song that I wrote & I sing to them.) Faith Lesson: Sometimes it takes the absence of God in our lives to learn to appreciate what we had. Not that God will ever really abandon us, but there are times He feels distant. It is in these times we realize how good we have it and want it back. Just as I was quick to accept Dimitri’s change, God is quick to accept ours.
Although Amara grew more tolerant of me and even sometimes slept on my pillow and sometimes let me pet her, I still never heard her purr. I always worried if she was happy or if my house was just a place to live. At least I knew she loved her brother as they still played and snuggled together. I will never know if Amara was happy with me. April 27, 2006 was the last time I saw her. She went outside one morning and never came back. I placed an ad w/ her photo in the newspaper, and either mailed or physically placed flyers at every vet in my county and every animal shelter in Idaho and even some in Oregon. I do not believe she ran away from home b/c she was unhappy, I think she was either stolen or died. As with her brain injury, I will not know on this side of eternity what happened to her. Wherever she is, I pray she is at peace. Despite the fact that Amara and I did not have a close bond, I loved her very much and cried over her like crazy. I stayed up to midnight or later for at least a month sitting by the front door hoping she would come home. 8 ½ months later, I still hold out a little hope. Faith Lesson: As the parable in Matthew 18:10-14 tells us, God cares about even the 1 sheep that wanders off and will go after that sheep. Even though I still had 7 other cats at home (now 6), it did not mean I said, “oh well, one less mouth to feed.” Or cared any less b/c she didn’t love me the way the others do. I admit that I grieve over Cosette more than Amara or any other cat before or probably after (not intentionally), but God does not choose favorites. God does not grieve over the loss of one human soul more than another. He loves us all the same.
Note: When Amara went missing, Dimitri would sit outside on the stairs and meow for her and I would have to coax him inside. I know it was for Amara, b/c he never done such a thing before or since.
Although Amara grew more tolerant of me and even sometimes slept on my pillow and sometimes let me pet her, I still never heard her purr. I always worried if she was happy or if my house was just a place to live. At least I knew she loved her brother as they still played and snuggled together. I will never know if Amara was happy with me. April 27, 2006 was the last time I saw her. She went outside one morning and never came back. I placed an ad w/ her photo in the newspaper, and either mailed or physically placed flyers at every vet in my county and every animal shelter in Idaho and even some in Oregon. I do not believe she ran away from home b/c she was unhappy, I think she was either stolen or died. As with her brain injury, I will not know on this side of eternity what happened to her. Wherever she is, I pray she is at peace. Despite the fact that Amara and I did not have a close bond, I loved her very much and cried over her like crazy. I stayed up to midnight or later for at least a month sitting by the front door hoping she would come home. 8 ½ months later, I still hold out a little hope. Faith Lesson: As the parable in Matthew 18:10-14 tells us, God cares about even the 1 sheep that wanders off and will go after that sheep. Even though I still had 7 other cats at home (now 6), it did not mean I said, “oh well, one less mouth to feed.” Or cared any less b/c she didn’t love me the way the others do. I admit that I grieve over Cosette more than Amara or any other cat before or probably after (not intentionally), but God does not choose favorites. God does not grieve over the loss of one human soul more than another. He loves us all the same.
Note: When Amara went missing, Dimitri would sit outside on the stairs and meow for her and I would have to coax him inside. I know it was for Amara, b/c he never done such a thing before or since.
posted by Julie @ 8:18 AM
1 Comments:
That just breaks my heart. Poor Amara.
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