Lighthouse Keeper

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Acts 20:24 NIV

My cat is called Grace. She is a fluffy tabby with no tail (manx) which sounds very fancy but her start in life was not fancy at all.

Grace comes from an outside colony of stray cats that were dumped when some people left a rental house. The cat colony has grown and today, there are about 30 cats in Grace’s family who live outside in the weather.

About five years ago, I put an ad on our community noticeboard that I wanted a potty trained cat for our small business office. A lady replied on Messenger and I drove 10 minutes around the corner to an old rental house. She had a lot of cats. She picked up the fluffy tabby and said “this one’s cute” and I instantly fell in love. The cat had no name, had never been to a vet, and bolted when we tried to bundle her into my car. The lady then offered to bring her around the next day and, just like that, the fluffy tabby with no tail and no name was transferred into a life of, well…. grace.

Grace hid under the bed in my spare room for a week and cried at night as she had never been away from her colony before. I would sit with her on the bedroom floor as she stared wide-eyed at me from under the bed- terrified. I instantly thought “this cat is no office cat, she’s freaking out” and wondered if I’d made a mistake. I fed her treats under the bed which was all very new to her (her former diet was dog roll) and tried to convince her my intentions were good. Day by day, she got used to the treats (and me) until one day she ventured out of the spare bedroom and jumped up on my queen bed. She sat staring at me for a while and then started to purr and then Grace let me pat her.

Each day I introduced her to new things like being brushed, cat biscuits, coming for walks around the garden with me, and listening to the silly little songs I sung her. Grace wasn’t used to all the attention she was getting and would sometimes retreat to a bush in the garden to decompress by herself.

I learned all her funny little ways, and she learned mine. As I sit next to her here on a cold winter’s night and she dozes on an electric heated throw, I wonder what her life would have been like if I had never put that ad on Facebook or driven around to see, or the lady had picked up a different cat to show me. I think of her family of cats out in the weather and think- that could have been her life too.

I think of the great kindness Jesus had extended to me by receiving me into the new creation life and the beautiful mystery of his death and resurrection. And I think how much I want my fluffy Grace just to be with me, to sit with me, to let me look after her and buy her customised pet bowls on Temu. To care for her health and keep her safe. To provide for her physical and emotional needs. For her to have a good life.

If a thief on a cross like me can think these things. imagine how much more our Lord cares for us.

God doesn’t want me to build a mega church or save 5000 souls or run 10 soup kitchens if it means that I don’t receive from Him and testify of His grace. The good news of his grace.

So that’s what I’m going to do here. Next post, how the Lighthouse Keeper got its name.