Growth

 

            Last week I brought home a new addition to my home, a kitten I have named Ghost. As you may have guessed from the name, the kitten likes to hide, a lot.  Her elusiveness is understandable; she was born in my Dad’s backyard and was coaxed into a neighbor’s house for the winter. She lived there with her mother, siblings, as well as the family’s two cats and one dog. It was a full house that she was slowly adapting to when her mother and one sibling found a home.

            Then, I brought her to my house where it’s mostly just me. So, she hid, sometimes so well I had no idea where she was. Once, she hid behind the washer and dryer and could not get back out. Even after the washer was moved, she was still hesitant to creep out for food, water and her litter box.

            Since then, she has started to come out from her hiding spaces and explore. She will sit on top of the couch, rather than under it. She will play with her toys and eats even if I’m in the room. Progress! Yes, slow progress, but still progress. I need to continue to be patient with her as she get used to being my cat, and I get used to having a cat.

            During this process, I’ve had a song running through my head that I learned as kid in Sunday School. I only remembered the chorus . 

He's still working on me
To make me what I need to be
It took him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
'Cause He's still workin' on me

I eventually looked up the song and was pleased to realize that I remembered the chorus completely. I even remembered some of the verses. It’s funny what you can recall from your childhood and what is still applicable to your adult years.

            Because it’s not just the cat, Ghost, who needs worked on, who needs to grow and adapt to changes. It’s me, it’s anyone with a pulse. There is always something to adapt to, something to deal with, even if that something is a lack of change.

            Our emotional health, for instance is not something that keeps getting better and better until one day, we are completely fine. That’s OK, it’s OK to be sad, or lonely. Anyone who has lost a loved one knows that grief works the same way, it ebbs and flows. Most things in life are a process, as long as we trust in the Lord and allowing ourselves to grow, we know we can keep going.