Kitty Under the Christmas Tree

It’s been an interesting several weeks! I’ve started a new medicine and am waiting to see how I will respond to it. I’ve had some other health issues that have been annoying, but they are being taken care of, so I am thankful. And I can’t believe that the month of December is actually here. Christmas will arrive before we know it!

I want to really be mindful this holiday season. It’s so easy to get caught up in the presents and the decorating and even the family gatherings (none of which are bad things). But I want to focus in on Jesus and His birth this Christmas. I want to take the time to be still. To listen for once in a while, instead of talking. To use my ears instead of my mouth.

I hope to find some kind of advent idea for blog posts that will help me to be able to do this. But even with this desire for writing blog posts about advent, I could get caught up in the craziness. So I just want to be able to share–when I can–from my heart, about what God is teaching me. Hopefully as I share this it can be encouraging to someone else, as well!

To end this post I’d like to send greetings from my kitty, Misty, who loves to lounge under the Christmas tree. We haven’t even gotten the tree decorated yet, but she’s already found her spot underneath on the tree skirt, where she can blend in with several early Christmas presents that we have received.

I hope that each of you has a Blessed holiday season, and that the remembrance of Christ and what He has done for us will leave a lasting and an invigorating impression on our minds and hearts. ❤

Our Connection with Pets

friends-Misty-and-Daisy-2I love my pets–my husband and I have a cat named Misty and a dog named Daisy. They bring us a lot of happiness and fulfillment.

When you are bored, they excite you with their enthusiasm and their playful attitude. When you are lonely, they snuggle up with you and make you feel loved. When you are frustrated, they somehow seem to understand–even though you can’t verbally talk to them or they to you.

It’s also been an experience watching our pets learn to become friends–well, sort of! 🙂 I brought Misty from my parents’ house to my husband and I’s house when we first got married about two years ago. It took some time for Misty to adjust to her new home, but she finally started to settle in. Then for our anniversary this past May, we adopted Daisy from a shelter.

Misty is an adult cat, and Daisy is about a year and a half old, so there was some contention at first between them. Daisy wanted to play, and Misty just wanted to lounge around and sleep! But over time, the two have found a way to co-exist, and to even enjoy each other’s company once in a while.

friends-Misty-and-Daisy

One day after bringing Daisy inside from a walk, she curled up next to Misty on our couch. It was so sweet, and thankfully I was able to snap a picture to prove it! 🙂 Seeing them doing more than just tolerating each other makes me so happy.

Our pets definitely have their quirks! Misty loves to eat, sleep, and snuggle up on plastic bags. She also cannot ignore a cardboard box of any kind. She needs to inspect it, scratch her back on it, but most importantly, attempt to get inside of it. Another thing that she likes to do is jump up on the computer chair in our office and have some “Misty time.” It’s so funny, because we’ll be looking around for her, and then we’ll check the office and she’ll peak her little head out from underneath the desk, on the desk chair. It’s one of her “spots,” and it’s just one of those things that is understood. We affectionately call her “Execukitty.” 🙂

Execukitty

Then there’s Daisy, who enjoys sunning herself inside the front glass door to our house. She loves watching people and other animals passing by (and usually can’t keep herself from being our guard dog and barking at them). She also enjoys observing squirrels as they race around our front lawn and eventually find shelter in trees.

Daisy-in-the-sun

I’m thankful to God for pets! As Reid Scott put it:

As long as I can remember, I’ve always had pets. Something about the connection you share with this entirely different species just blows my mind. My 11-year-old pit bull, Bella, has taught me so much about being a real human being.

Do you enjoy pets? What type(s) of pet(s) do you have? What are they like, and how do they make your life better? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section! 🙂