Me and Kate

By Brenda Black

The sun finally set on two back to back days of scrubbing, sweeping, painting, hammering and packing. Friends and family had trickled away from the worksite and I remained to collect scattered litter and organize tools for the next day's undertaking. On a final sweep through each empty room of the house, I secured open windows and doors and turned off lights with a sense of accomplishment coupled with exhaustion. “Sprucing up” an older home has turned into a major remodeling project.

Though there is still much to do in the short time allotted, nothing more could be accomplished in the sparse hours that remained of the one at hand. I could finally sit down. Outside of the still, dark house filled with smells of latex and sawdust waited fresh night air and calm, cool breezes.

I leaned back to close my eyes and take in the silence of no nail guns, saws, or working chatter. But as I slowly exhaled the chaos of the construction, I soon discovered the world was still not still or quiet. Suddenly a cat was in my lap. She and I have bonded over the past couple of weeks. The young female colored in grey, white and cream comes with the place. I call her Calico Kate. She purred and kneaded and turned in my lap, trying to find the perfect place to land. Then she batted at my hand and playfully nipped my fingers for her amusement. Finally she settled beneath my strokes and cooing, exchanging games for lounging.

Only then could I absorb the first music of country spring evenings. Bugs whirred and bounced off the garage wall keeping Katie at attention. A lone whipporwhil crooned from across the yard while spring peepers serenaded me from the pond down behind the house. The stars danced and I watched an airplane blink across the sky for hundreds of miles. A distant train moaned and a nearby cow lowed.

It's been a long time since I sat in the dark with a kitty on my lap and listened to the call of the country. It was peaceful. It was moving and mesmerizing. And if you only knew how far the Lord has brought me to give me that one blissful moment. When I resisted and refused to change my location, He adjusted my attitude, altered my thinking, convicted my spirit, chastised and loved me into this act of obedience. And in his perfect timing, he moved one family out, compelled a friend to buy the same house but not move in and instead fix it up for us to live in. The Lord prepared this home for our arrival, waiting until my heart softened enough to understand His plan and his provision. He timed it so that I would pour my undivided efforts into it and see it as home.

You see, very soon, I'll be living in this house of upgrade challenges. By then it will look like new. The walls will be fresh, the carpet clean, the cabinets lined with brand new paper. The plumbing fixed, the leaks stopped, and everything moved in and arranged. And this instant of fleeting pleasure sitting beneath the stars on a dirt road seldom traveled will be right outside my back door. Only because of the Lord's persistent pursuit of me and his compassionate patience will I get to be still and bith with my God at home.

On days and evenings when I get busy and preoccupied with matters not nearly as urgent as I think, I pray the Lord will prick my ears with the call of that whipporwhill. I hope Kate will meow me out of my door and sit with me beneath the stars while I stop to ponder the greatness of my God and his beautiful world. And then will I remember how the Lord is still able to mold lives, move stubborn mountains, make all things new, orchestrate the impossible and lavishly bless just because of his amazing grace.

“Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9b)