TITLE: Running Home By Elizabeth Blackwell 01/03/07 |
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My little Grace and His Great Love:
By: E. Blackwell
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I have two cats and both I love very much but one of my cats, Gracie, likes to be outside all the time. I only see her when she is cold, hungry or scared. I'll stand on the front porch calling for her to come home (I know the dangers that await her in the wide, wide world.) But Gracie usually doesn't come, she used to come, I used to watch her four legs come running up the drive way but not any more, no, now I have to go looking for her and it's never pleasant for either of us, I run as fast as I can, she hides beneath a car, I get down on my hands and knees grab whatever part of her I can reach, then drag her out and take her home.
But there are those times (and how happy I am) when I open the door and there's little Grace on the porch, I don't hesitate, I immediately let her in - I open the door she can’t open and I give her the food she can’t get for herself.
Other people in my home hold her and pet her but I love her most of all.
After all, it was I who paid the price and adopted her, saving her from death. It is I who chase her down and bring her home. I’m the one who calls her name, nourishes her and supplies her needs.
And when she does come home to me - when she comes running up the driveway, I receive her, forgiving every complaint she’s ever made about her home with me, looking over her fleeting steps and covering her mistakes with my love.
I love my little Gracie, nothing forced me to adopt her, and no one held me at gunpoint and threatened to shoot if I didn’t save her. I wanted to. Before she ever came home from the Humane Society, I was preparing a place for her and while she was behind bars, I was paying for her to be free.
Why? Why would I pay money to own a cat who I knew would not always be good? Because I wanted her and I loved her long before I owned her. I would rather chase Gracie every day, than live a single day without her. And because of those precious times when she comes to me and lets me hold and pet her -those times- make everything else worthwhile.
You know what? God feels the same way about you, in fact you could easily put your name where Gracie’s is and it wouldn’t be far from the truth. God loves you and He is looking every moment to see if your feet are running up His driveway. His face is pressed to the window, his hand is on the doorknob and His voice is calling you.
"Come to Me," it's an invitation with your name on it.
Are you on your way home? Are you running as fast as you can into your Fathers open arms? Are you? How I hope and pray that you are.
Christ is With you!
-Elizabeth A. Blackwell
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