Jasper and Josie

Shortly after we moved to Hendersonville, our youngest son asked for a kitten. Our oldest son didn't want a cat in the house and didn't want to have anything to do with the cat once we brought it home. We went to the pet shelter and our little guy had found his kitten. Jasper, with his orange-red-yellow striped fur. I am not sure what the actual or official color is, but he has orange-red fur.

Josie is suppose to be his sister. She is grey with white patches and white paws. She was extremely little, most likely the runt of the bunch, tiny as she was. Well, we agreed to adopt Jasper, but Josie wouldn't let our oldest son move without showering him with attention. Our son bent down and began to pet Josie. He spent a lot of time with her and must have fallen in love with her immediately. Our son who wanted nothing to do with a cat for any reason looked up at his father and me. He simply asked, "Can we get two kittens"? I looked at my husband and I looked at the kitten and looked at my son. His kitten cold heart had melted, he wanted not just any kitten, he wanted the one who was desperately trying to get him to notice her.

Josie and her brother were adopted that day. Jasper knew which person in our family had chosen him. Jasper's loyalty was to Andrew. Andrew was his boy. He laid next to him, played with him, fed him, and slept with him. Jasper was his and Andrew was his boy.

The scrawny little Josie stole Tony's heart and just as her brother did she had spent all of her time and attention with Tony. She would run to the door when she hear him coming to the door. She would sit in his lap alone. She knew that he was hers and she was his.

Josie and Jasper both knew the rules that day we walked into the animal shelter. They knew that they needed to win the heart of whomever came looking for a kitten. Jasper by nature is friendlier with strangers than Josie is. Jasper looked healthy and robust for a little kitten. Josie, by all accounts was the lesser of the two kittens. Small in size, we found out shortly after arriving home, sickly. She doesn't like strangers. She will hide and wait until they are gone to come out to eat, potty or play. But that day, Josie knew her life laid in someone else's hands. She knew that she needed to step outside of her comfort zone and take that risk. That risk to show love to someone she just met. That risk to share of herself what she didn't want to lose. She wanted to be loved, cared for and taken home. She wanted to be saved from life in the animal shelter. She wanted to go where she would be loved forever.

Josie and Jasper wanted what we are all looking for. They wanted to be accepted, to be loved and cared for all their days. Don't we all have the same wants, needs and desires. We want to be loved, we want to be accepted and we want to be cared for all of our days. I know the only source of that love, acceptance and care, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God's perfect plan was to have his son come into the animal shelter (the world) and give us what we need to find him and let him know we need him to take us. The best part of all, Jesus takes us. Each and every one of is able to be adopted by Jesus. This is exciting, this is life altering and this is all we need to know that we will be loved, cared for and accepted. We are accepted no matter how sickly we may appear, he accepts us no matter what.

Do you have a desire to be loved, accepted and cared for? Go ahead and step outside your comfort zone and ask Jesus to take you with him.