Chapter 42 – Keeping Warm

God of Hope

Psalm 42:11

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the Health of my countenance, and my God.”

Proverbs 16:3

“Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.”

So many preparations go into a move. We did the recommended depersonalizing of our walls, etc., and followed the advice provided by our agent. Thankfully, our home, especially with taking care of animals, is kept pretty tidy, well maintained, and as clean as possible which seemed to amaze our realtor. Pride of ownership was something that I was raised with and have personally found a satisfying joy in responsibly maintaining throughout my years. Taking care of the things you’ve worked for and have been entrusted with only makes sense. Both Peter and I firmly believe when God Provides, and He without a doubt does, we are to manage and care for everything as best as we can.

The big beautiful maple tree in the front of our home has a cycle of dropping its lovely leaves and bounteous edible winged seeds called samaras - also known as “helicopters,” “whirlers,” “twisters” or “whirligigs,” throughout the autumn season. Our tree’s contributions along with other stately neighboring trees means raking and cleaning gutters, sometimes in freezing temperatures. Gutter maintenance is very important and we often clean them multiple times through the seasons. We both do our part depending on the day and our schedules.

On one super crispy sunny morning I was cleaning the gutters on the back side of the home along the common area when a small in stature lady with shorter wavy golden blonde hair approached me rather directly. I was up on the ladder bundled from head to toe with multiple layers and of course with my dark sunglasses. I had seen her many times before and waved but she only ever stared and would keep walking. This time however she strode right over toward our fence. Being my hopeful self, I once again tried to be kindly and neighborly and said hello. She stopped and said hello. I made a comment about the nice autumn day. She stood in a rather peculiar way as she belted out a question that sounded rather muffled through all my layers like, “Do you think it is a beautiful day?” To which I said a resounding, “Yes!!” She then repeated my answer loudly over her shoulder and said, “YES!” as if speaking to someone nearby. Then she immediately started to walk away. I wished her a lovely day as I typically do.

As I stood there on that ladder cleaning, something felt off about that small - seemingly insignificant - interaction. Especially the approach, the yelling of my answer and the way she walked off. I had to trust it with the Lord as I felt little peace interacting with most of my neighbors. He Knew what that was all about and the intentions behind it. I shared what happened with Peter and we both discerned something was off about that but we had to trust God with another weird interaction with the folks around us. We prayed for the lady and anyone else that may have been involved and did our best to leave it all in His Hands as we were already trying to do with so many other things.

Kaiyah and I walked very little in our neighborhood at that time. She wanted to stay more cozy and restful at home. The mission hikes to the foothills soon came to a complete halt with the onset of rains mudding the trails which were not supposed to be hiked when wet anyway. Wanting to be consistent in bonding times with her I pulled out her special brush and comb. Kaiyah enjoyed being brushed so we spent more time bonding with slow gentle grooming. She never was an attention getting husky as she humbly preferred just sharing space with less hands-on affection. However, there was always a special joy for her when we would give her treats and stay by her stroking just the top of her head, ears and ruff of her neck. That seemed to be welcome anytime and I was more than delighted to oblige. The fun we used to share bonding in chase games had all but gone by that time but she still knew her whistle. And I noticed that when I would spend time in quiet worship and practicing the piano, out she would come and lay right by me along with our kitties and even Cotton when he was out and about. That was something new and to me quite special.

Gideon and Pumpkin were also sleeping more. Cozy as they could be in their favorite places. Pumpkin liked the corner of the top of the couch with a soft warm blanket folded thick for him to curl into. Gideon had his kennel on our loveseat covered with dark brown towels making it a little cave bungalow. Inside his kennel I had placed cardboard for extra warmth and a thin but very soft blanket folded thick for him to nestle in whenever he wanted. They both liked to keep warm and whenever there was a fire in the fireplace Pumpkin would be the first to lay by its warmth and to watch the dancing flames. Sometimes Gideon would join him. Kaiyah rarely joined them by the fire but she truly relished her quiet warm carpet level bed and blankets in her room or the sunshine warmed carpet by Cotton. Cotton liked to plump up in what we coined his “twinkle bowl”, a cotton string wound bowl attached to the upper portion of the cage, with his bird-safe electric heater right alongside it or bask in the sun’s rays on his favorite perches. Everyone has their warm cozy spots and that filled our hearts with a relieved gladness.

Having the home on the market felt awkward but we knew it was a necessary step to get from our point A to the next point. We didn’t want to leave our animals in the home unattended and we were frankly told to get them out, (never had to do that before), and it was cold. That was not good for the furbabies and certainly not for our feather baby, Cotton. We were experiencing a lot of concern and uncomfortableness. It was hard to discern what was normal and what was not. Putting a home on the market at anytime is not an easy process, packing up your “whole lives”, having people going in and out of your personal space, especially in the world and times we live in, only added to that strain. Plus we had the unpleasantness of weird encounters with our own neighbors that seemed to augment our anxiety. We pressed through praying, keeping focused on the LORD and His Word, taking care of each other, trying to be a blessing to others while doing our best to walk out the journey trajectory we were on. We held fast to Psalm 31:24, “Be of good courage, and He shall Strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”

Our feather baby Cotton by his willingness to trust and to learn many new things including the joy of in-home free-flying-at-will provided me a physical example of being free, growing in new ways and finding the joy to experience everything God wants for my life. Kaiyah’s sweet aging face and presence was a constant reminder of surrendered trust, humility and unframed faith needed to live this life. Gideon, with his larger than life meow, big sparkly expressive eyes, and bold brave manners were ever a testimony of overcoming fear and living out loud trusting God even when things seem out of whack. Pumpkin’s quiet attentive oversized kitten-like appearance, behaviors, and mews warmed my heart and my side of our bed. He was a cozy boy. He liked to sleep right next to me as close as he could making the softest little purrs; a precious sweet ministry on many a night I was praying late into the wee hours of the morning. Pumpkin’s fluffy witness reminding me to keep cozy trusting and hoping in God, let God Comfort me right here right now… He has a Plan and He is Faithful… rest Furmommy.

Despite my feeling cast down and disquieted I sought the Lord to help our hope in Him stay warm despite the coldness we were experiencing. Peter and I were still seeking God regularly for His Will and trusting that all would be well for our little family and for all involved. Peter was ready for a career change and was hopeful about what might develop. We would be closer to his family, find our happy country home and start a new season in our marriage and ministry. God would Provide the right new owner(s) for the home, property and wildlife we had come to love dearly where we were and He would show us what to do where we were headed.

Just like Proverbs 16:3 charges and encourages us, we committed everything to God time and time again and trusted He would direct our steps as well as establish our thoughts. And we were asking Him to do so as we both have a mind of our own and didn’t want to go about that our own way. How often we prayed for the Peace of God to Rule and Keep our hearts and minds, and still do. There was definitely a battle going on and the storm that was brewing was making its way closer. Despite how things felt we hoped in God, praised Him for His Word, for being Who He Is, and we knew ultimately He would have to Guard everything… everything.

…Until we meet again…