The Kitten

     The pastor had a kitten.  This darling little bundle of fur had climbed up a tree in the pastor’s back yard and then was afraid to come down, crying piteously as it clung to a limb.

     “Here, kitty, kitty!” the pastor softly coaxed, as he stretched to reach the trembling little kitten.  She would not budge.  He tried bringing out a warm saucer of milk to tempt her out of her fear.  Still the kitty could not come down.

     Since the tree was not sturdy enough for the pastor to climb, he decided that if he tied one end of a rope to his car and one end to the tree, he could drive the car away just enough to bend the tree down to where he could reach the kitty.  So that is what he did.

     Checking his progress frequently, the pastor decided that just a few more inches would bend the tree low enough that he could reach up and rescue the kitty.  But as he moved a little further forward, the rope broke.  The tree went “boing!!” as it snapped back to its original upright position, and the kitten instantly sailed through the air and out of sight.

    The pastor felt terrible.  He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they had seen a little kitten.  No, no one had.  So he prayed, “Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping.”  That was all he could do.  He went home and went on about his work.

     A few days later he met one of his church members in the grocery store.  As they chatted, he happened to glance into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food.  He knew this woman hated cats of any kind; everyone knew it!  He just had to ask,  “Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?”

     “You won’t believe this,” she replied.  “My little girl has been begging and begging me to buy her a kitten.  Of course, I would not do it because I do not like cats.  A few days ago, she began begging again, so I finally told her, ‘If God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it.’  I watched my little girl go out in the yard, get down on her knees, and ask God for a cat.  Pastor, I know you won’t believe this, but I saw it with my very own eyes!  A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her!  What could I do, but let her keep the cat?”

     Never underestimate the prayer of faith!

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