She's a small but mighty cat.
We named her Killer in hopes that she'd be a great hunter.
And she is (if you ever want to get a cat to control mice get a female -- they are naturally much better indoor hunters-- though my male cats are great outdoor hunters and once I had a good male indoor hunter).
Since she's been around I've had no mouse problems.
Glory, glory, Halleluia!
And if this was her whole purpose that would be just fine.
But in the last four or five months, she was given a new purpose, a purpose that touches me personally in a very sweet way.
My daughter Maggie (who went to heaven March 21 of this year) loved Killer. She said to me, "Mom, you can't get rid of her ever. She's the only cat I can pick up."
And it was true. Our other cats are large cats. And my Maggie was a tiny 11 year old with not much strength. Our largest cat, Citrus, was and will always be hers. But she couldn't pick him up. He really couldn't even lay on her lap because he was just too heavy.
But Killer was just right. She loved to hold Killer. See the picture below:
All of that is sweet, but what really touches me is what Maggie always said when Killer would climb on my lap. She'd say, "Ah, she really loves you, Mom."
I think she might have said it wistfully because Killer had claimed me (and still does). But she loved Maggie's attention too.
And so now whenever Killer crawls into my lap I think of Maggie saying, "Ah Mom, she really loves you."
And it makes me smile. It makes me think of my Maggie Moo.
What's this got to do with you?
It reminds me of a verse that applies to all of us. James writes, "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow."
The good things in our lives are from God.
And the things in our lives we can't understand and can't quite grasp are very likely from God too.
Maybe there's some characteristic of yourself or a talent or a skill you have that has absolutely no purpose that you can see.
God will use it.
In His time.
Nothing God creates, nothing God promises, nothing in our lives goes to waste if we give it all back to Him and let Him use it for His purposes. Everything can enrich our lives. Everything!
Even death and pain and disappointments.
Those can be gifts in a way too -- though probably not at first.
I tell my youngest daughter Megan I doubt if I will ever say I'm happy about Maggie going to heaven when she was 11. But I can say there have been blessings that have come from her early departure already. I have had incredible conversations with my daughter Megan because of her questions on the "fairness" of life. I saw such love poured out upon us from God and people. I have seen my two youngest children bond for they both lost their big sister. The loss of Maggie has uncovered issues in others I love which gives me more opportunity to minister to them and pray for them more intelligently. And heaven is a place I very much want to go to -- more so now that my daughter is there.
God sees that you've lost something. You've been disappointed. You've been betrayed and hurt, and you have that one talent that seems to have no purpose.
Give all that to God. He'll bring beauty and joy out of it.
I know it as sure as I know anything.