Welcome, Toulouse

Hi everyone! I trust that this week has gone well for your. This week's little blurb will be a PSA to invite you and yours and anyone who qualifies to the VBS that God is allowing me to direct. Cartoon VBS will be for students entering Kindergarten through 5th grade from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Broadway Baptist Church for a week-long journey of learning about the awesome things God does! Help pass the word along, please!

And this week's story is one I never imagined I'd write either, but it happened and I'm here to tell you my story! Enjoy!

Original publication date: Friday, August 14, 2015
Random Writer
Welcome, Toulouse 

Who knew having a pet was more challenging than I would ever imagine?

No, seriously, if you knew...why wasn’t I told?

Last week, my family got its first pet. Toulouse was born as an outside cat, but in an effort to save him from the big bad world we brought him into our home.

And that first day, he hid under the furniture for a few hours.

But once he realized that our house was his new home, he slowly emerged and roamed the house. And after that first day, I realized what we had been told was true: we don’t own that cat, he owns us.

Case in point: that next morning...Saturday morning!...at 6:11 a.m. Toulouse bursted through my bedroom door and started meowing. This is how awesome my family is: I actually thought my mom threw him in there as a joke. Half-awake, I said, “Mom?” but when I realized he just barged in there on his own, I became aware that the continuous meowing meant one thing: he was hungry.

A couple hours later, after roaming the house and being told by me, “Don’t jump on this” or “Get off of that”, Toulouse finally fell asleep in my lap. And for the most part, he sleeps a lot. (Whether that’s a good thing or not, we’re still determining that.)

In the week that we’ve had Toulouse, we’ve spoiled him with wet food and are now trying to add dry food to the mix. We’ve bought him toys that he enjoys, even that one little mouse toy that doesn’t move that great on the carpet.

He only seems to really relax once someone lays on the couch, and then he climbs up on the armrest and falls asleep in the craziest positions. And already, he’s experienced the struggle of taking a bath to clean his coat and get rid of those pesky fleas and ticks. Poor guy, he was so traumatized that he wore himself out and just slept after his bath.

It’s crazy too...I find myself talking to him in the way I would to a small child. “Good morning Toulouse” or “Hey little man”. And I always want to affirm him, especially during his bathing battle--”You are loved, but sometimes we have to do things you don’t like for your own good.”

I’ve also come to find that my world is no longer my own, because my attention has to be on Toulouse to make sure he’s not doing what he isn’t supposed to, and I want him to know that he can just spend time playing and I’ll be watching him. (Now if some of today’s parents would just realize that truth, then maybe the children of today would benefit from that as well.)

And I’m sure that there’s some type of spiritual application to all of this. The way my family looks over Toulouse to provide food and shelter is the way God provides my needs (Philippians 4:19). Self-centeredness goes out the window when you have to look after someone else besides yourself. Sometimes we have to go through tough things--like a cat bath--to ensure our optimal well-being, whether physical or spiritual.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a pet for years on end or you’re new to having a pet, it’s fun. It’s challenging. And it’s definitely a teaching experience. Here’s to hoping our pets provide us with love and joy in the weeks, months, and years to come.