lost and found, literally

ashley went missing today. for the first time. and i got worried because she ALWAYS comes running when i call her, no matter where she's sleeping or playing.

so i knew someone must have taken her by force. like last time, when we were in laguna, she went missing because someone had put her inside a big, box-like wooden divider. good thing i heard her meow when she heard me calling.

although i feared it, i knew it was unlikely that she would be run over by a car, or killed by a dog, because this baby's smart and knows how to take care of herself. so really, it could only be kid(cat)napping. anyway, what made the situation worse is that ashley bit my officemate's foot when she was stepped on last week, and we had agreed that ashely be observed for 10 days for signs of rabies (i had already paid for my officemate's anti-tetanus shots and antibiotics). now that she had disappeared, how could we observe her?

i looked for her like crazy again and again all over the office and in the neighborhood, knocking on neighbors' gates to ask if maybe they had picked up my cat. all the while, i was telling God, surely you didn't give me ashley just to create problems? i mean, sure, raising a cat is a financial and logistical inconvenience (and sometimes i get distracted from praying, too), but i simply cannot believe that it wasn't God who gave ashley to me for his good and wise purposes. if it wasn't His will, He would've gotten rid of her much earlier.

so ok, i thought, maybe this is your way of getting rid of her, Lord, and may Your will be done. still, i'd feel bad if i LOST a cat, just like that. if you're taking her out of my life by killing her, Lord, i said, at least let me see her body so i can get over it.

of course, eventually i had to sit down and work. faith, ultimately is about surrender, anyway. and as a show of my faith, i sent a text to six people asking them to pray for ashley's return-- specifically, for someone to bring her back to the office, since i was sure someone had taken her and she couldn't come back on her own. [and honestly, since i believe God is all-powerful, i didn't really see much point before in a lot of people praying for the same thing. not until the other sunday, when someone at church showed examples in the Bible--specifically in Leviticus and another book--of the effects of one person praying as opposed to two people praying. so imagine what five or more can do].

that done, i went back to work. guess what? about ten minutes later, the doorbell sounded, and there was a girl with ashley in hand. i still have to ask around where she came from since she just dropped ashley at the gate. so right now i have fresh scratches and teeth marks from her playing with my hands and feet and hair, but i can only be thankful for amazing grace--what once was lost is now found.

i'm sharing this to you so you know that miracles DO happen, and that the God who cures cancer and puts food on our table is the God of Lost Cats, too

PS ashley's learned to catch cockroaches! although i know it's gross (and unhygienic), i'm just happy she's developing her hunter reflexes =) found two dead ones this morning by her basket, and caught her running after one the other night .