Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: FAITHFULNESS (10/07/21)
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TITLE: Three Cats and a Baby | Previous Challenge Entry
By Barbara Culler
10/14/21 -
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At the same time purchasing the dining set, I’d also invested in a lovely matching hutch, filling the glass shelves with crystal, china, and sentimental figurines. It, too, was getting re-homed. Packing the china for Stevie, I recollected how it had belonged to my mother, who recently passed away, and now her granddaughter was inheriting the dainty floral set.
When Stevie was 22, she met someone online and married him six weeks later. When the abuse started, she was frightened. But when she became pregnant, her life was in danger, and she returned home broken and scared. And in possession of another cat. God was guiding and protecting us the entire time of escaping the abuser and dissolving the three-month marriage.
I was present at Abby’s birth by C-section, and as the baby grew, I helped care for her and the overwhelmed Stevie. When she was a toddler, Abby preferred sitting directly on the chair rather than using her booster seat while eating — and making messes at the table. I grew to have a special relationship with that precious little girl.
A month after Abby’s second birthday, I was laid off and sought a new job. Meanwhile, Stevie had met a wonderful man at church, and they married the following June. They moved out of state, leaving me alone — with two cats, for the first time in several years. I always knew that God was at work, and He eventually provided a job where I remained for the next nine years.
Meanwhile, Stevie and her spouse, Tanner, bore three more daughters, and Tanner legally adopted Abby. Over the years, I visited as I could, longing to live near them, but I had responsibilities that kept me tethered to this state.
But now, I’ve been released from all ties. Where is God leading me? To sell my home and move to the opposite coast to live with my niece and her family. That has been my hearts’ desire for the past five years. Now, God has made it clear that my time has come. The day after the house went on the market, it sold. Most of my furniture went to families in need, and my other belongings, except a few moving with me, went to a Christian non-profit thrift store.
As I watched the progression of my beautiful hutch and table carried out the door, my emotions were conflicted: there went a significant part of my life. Yet, in less than two weeks, I will embark on a new adventure. Abby is nearly 16, and her youngest sister is nine. The other two are almost 11 and 12. I no longer need the furniture to have the memories of times past, for I will have the real deal in the present. Oh, and they have three tuxedo cats.
I wholly believe God has tasked me with a new purpose of being a role model and mentor to the four girls, as well as helping their over-worked parents. I’m a bit anxious, yet excited. God will protect me on that cross-country road trip, and I will live out the remainder of my life amongst my beloved family. Indeed, God is faithful in His love and care for all my life.
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