Chosen!

Monday, October 2, 2023

She’s gone.

After almost 13 years together, she’s gone. My Canadian baby, Macska, who chose me to be her owner… she didn’t know she would become a world traveler. Well, perhaps not the world, but for a cat who was very much a homebody, she got to travel from Alberta to Hawaii to Moses Lake, WA. And if that wasn’t enough, she’s been all over the US in the last few years.

She was a pretty good traveler. She rarely complained. In fact, when we flew our cats from Hawaii to the mainland, Tigg went crazy (he was that loud, obnoxious, crying baby) and she was totally content, if not sometimes perturbed at him for all the ruckus.

When Tim and I got married, I had to leave her at my folks for a few months in order to get all her shots in so she would not have to suffer through quarantine in Hawaii. She didn’t understand what I was doing and moped around the entire time she was at my folks. She thought I had abandoned her. She didn’t understand it was either three months with my folks who would love on her and take care of her or spend three months in a cage all by her self amongst other very unhappy pets who were forced to go through the same ordeal. Three months is a very long time, an eternity, for someone who doesn’t understand.

After that, when ever we started packing for a trip, she got worried she would be left behind again. But the moment we brought out her carrying case, she relaxed. She knew she would not be left behind. When we realized this, we brought out her case right away so she wouldn’t have to worry.

Living in the RV, we also discovered we didn’t have to worry about her wandering off if we let her out. She didn’t like the roar of the engine, so often, when we stopped, she wanted out. Thus, if we thought it was a safe place for her we would let her out. A safe place meaning there wasn’t a lot of traffic, nor were there dogs to scare her. Once she had been traumatized pretty severely and that scare was enough to keep her home. She never strayed far from the RV. Often she would walk around a bit, almost hugging the vehicle, then stay underneath till we were ready to continue our journey. Well, there was this one time…

We were parked in the wooded RV area at the Home Office in Warrenton, Missouri. It was a warm, sunny day so we were sitting outside, enjoying the beauty and the quiet. Macska was with us. Then she did something totally out of character, she went wandering, heading straight for the thickly wooded area at the edge of the RV park. Her waddle was very slow. Once in a while she stopped and looked back to make sure we were still there then resumed her journey. By this time, we were curious as to what she was up to. To our surprise and wonder, she got to the edge of the park area, looked back at us and stepped over the threshold, into the thickets and tall grass. She was still visible, and she made sure we were as well. This went on for a little while, then I needed to go in.

I stood and she became very alert. Slowly walking over to the door, I noticed her complete attention was on what I was going to do next. The moment I opened the door, she came waddling as fast as her legs could take her. Though she had ventured out, she didn’t want to be left behind.

She was a pretty amazing cat, and I would sometimes ask myself, “if she would have known how life with me would turn out, would she still have chosen me?” Yes, she chose me out of a room of almost a dozen people at the Humane Society. She banged on her cage trying to get my attention. She was looking directly at me. When her cage was opened, she jumped into my arms, curled up and began to purr, as if saying, “now you have to take me!” I did.

As incredible as it is to be chosen by an animal, it’s even more so, to be chosen by the Creator of the Universe, God Himself. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you…” Not only did He form me, Himself, but He knew He would. To form means to mold and to make. The illustration immediately comes to mind of a potter with a lump of clay. I’m not a potter, but I have made a few objects out of clay. In fact, my papa has one of them on his dresser to this day. Nevertheless, my attempts at pottery were a dismal failure, but not God’s! I may sometimes wonder if He didn’t make a mistake with me but He never makes a mistake. Psalm 18:30a declares, “As for God, His way is perfect…”

Furthermore, we are told in Ephesians 1:4, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love…” Strong’s Concordance describes chosen as: “to select, make choice, choose (out), chosen.” Even before the world was created, He chose me! John 15:16 emphasized the fact that “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you…” Moreover, John 6:44 says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…” So, not only did He choose me, but then He is the one who got my attention, not the other way around.

When I was in that room where Macska was caged, I was holding a kitten already and had the papers for another one I was interested in. I was sitting there trying to decide between the two. I wasn’t looking anymore. I had found what I was looking for. Or so I thought. Notice there are a lot of I’s there. I this, I that… In the midst of all this, Macska was in her cage trying to get my attention. It had to be pointed out to me by an onlooker.

When God chose me, He was trying to get my attention because I wasn’t looking to Him. Thus, He chose to use others to show me my need for Him, especially my camp counselor. When she showed it so clearly, I knew I had found the answer. Romans 9:16 says, “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” It had absolutely nothing to do with me, but everything to do with Him. He foreknew, He created, He called, He drew, He opened my eyes to my need. But there is one more thing I want to mention here, not exhausting the list by any means.

Before I walked out of that Humane Society with Macska, they had me sign papers of adoption and pay a fee. After I completed that, she was mine. She was a very happy baby! God chose me, He paid the fee, in that the Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins. Romans 5:8 explains, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Then He adopted me. Ephesians 1:5-6 says, “Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” I belong to Him. What an incredible gift!

How about you?

Blessings, Mari