I suppose I should explain the long absence: but I won't.  I don't have many--any--followers so I'll just pick up on life as it is right now.  

God has blessed me with a new love in my life.  A true love.  Izzy.  She's a tabby kitten about 6 weeks old and she has my heart completely.  I texted a picture to my friend Kathy back in Florida with the message: my gift from God.  Kathy's response: there must be a story.  She knows me far too well--there is ALWAYS a story!  

For a quick recap I am now working for the Dept. Of Social Services auditing their summer food program.  Basically driving all over the state of South Carolina.  I love it!  Meeting new people; planting seeds for God and learning more about myself and God through others.  

A few weeks ago I was on a stop in Camden.  The address of the site I was supposed to go to was not to be found.  I decided to drive down the road and ask for clarification: this was a small town.  Kinda got the feeling everyone knew everyone.  Well, the first place I came to was a vet clinic.  So I went in and asked about the address. The receptionist pulled out the local phone book: about 1/4 inch thick: yep definitely a small town.  Unfamiliar with the address she said it could be the local sport arena.  I thanked her and on a fluke asked if they adopted pets, specifically cats.  She proceeded to lead me out back to two cat houses.  One for adult cats the other for kittens.  I went to the kitten house and was impressed by the cleanliness, care and attention the employees have to these precious animals.  One of the helpers asked if I was interested on adopting and I said yes...eventually... But unfortunately my then roommate claimed to be allergic to them.  

Well, as life happens a few weeks layer my aforementioned roommate decided to up and leave without a goodbye.  Lovely person right?  Oh well good riddance.  I decided I was ready to committ.  Saturday--a week from my decision to adopt would be the day I would drive out to Camden: a 45 minute drive and get my new baby.  I prayed about my decision, asking God to put it into place the perfect companion for me.  A kitten that needed me as much as I needed her.  And I was definitely set on getting a girl.  

As the week continued and work got busy I began talking myself out of it.  Perhaps I should wait.  Maybe it would be too much work.  With all the emotional upheaval from being abandoned without electricity, internet, phone and tv service for awhile and trying to get everything settled I had been overly stressed.  Maybe I wasn't in the best state of mind to do this right now.  On Friday morning as I was driving to my first site I had talked myself out of getting one.  I decided what I really wanted was to be with family so I called my aunt who lives about an hour away to see if I could come by on Saturday.  Well, come to find out they were in Florida so that was out of the picture.  Oh well.

My first stop led me to a YMCA where I met a beautiful woman named Patricia.  After my initial assessment and observation of the site and the food program we began discussing God--as He is the center of my life and my conversations always include Him.  We talked for a good twenty minutes and as I was about to leave I realized I still  needed her to sign a few things.  As she was signing I noticed her nail polish and commented on how much I liked the color but had never had my nails professionally done before because I couldn't justify the cost.  She said she used to feel the same way: that for years she had been afraid to embrace her beauty because she didn't want to steal away glory from God: she didn't want to appear to care more for her appearance than she did for God.  Then one day God opened her eyes to the scripture where it said that she was "fearfully and wonderfully made" from Psalm.  It was as though God was telling her He was okay with her feeling pretty and that He had created her and she was worthy.  As a person who has always fought allowing myself to feel pretty for fear of becoming haughty or prideful: these are the words I needed to hear.  I told Patricia as much through tears of gratitude for her words.  Patricia asked that I do one thing for myself that weekend: buy something just for me.  I told her I had been thinking about buying a cat and perhaps I would reconsider it and just do it.  

Well, after my second site visit I was on my way home and beginning to realize I needed to stop and eat. I thought I would turn off on the closest exit and run by an IGA and pick up a few things to go along with what I had brought from home.  As luck would have it I turned off an exit where country miles existed between landmarks thus taking me completely off the beaten path to find the local IGA. I decided it was a ridiculous thought and decided to turn around and go to the next exit.  Well lo and behold the next exit was for Camden.  I turned off the highway and made my way down the road a bit not exactly sure of where I was in relation to the vet clinic.  Not two minutes down the road I came to the road to the vet clinic.  I turned off the road at the old sport arena, parked my car under the trees and stopped to eat.  All the while thinking,"well maybe I could just stop by and see if there are any kittens".  I finished up lunch and made my way to the clinic all the while praying God would lead me in the right direction.  

I reintroduced myself to the receptionist on duty and she directed me to the kitten house where a young girl met me and guided me inside.  As we entered there were only two kittens in the inside--all the rest had ventured outside.  Both kittens had climbed up the gated area and were at the very top as though trying to climb out.  I picked up a little tabby and held her close to me and she just snuggled up against me and closed her eyes putting her head to my chest and purred.  As honored and precious as I felt I figured she did this with everyone.  Out of curiosity I asked the employee if it was a male or female.  She took it into her arms and confirmed it was indeed a little girl.  Well, I didn't want to just impetuously make a decision so asked the young woman if I could go out back and see the rest.  I petted and played with various others and they were all cute of course.  Each one I inquired about though ended up being male.  So I asked the little tabby I had initially picked up if she would like to be called Izzy--the name I had decided to name the kitten I was going to adopt.  As I asked the question the young assistant said,"Oh I have a dog that is named Izzy!"  Ha!  Somehow this declaration made it all too apparent to me that God was in approval.

So now I have my Izzy.  In the four days that I have had her I have learned a great deal about myself, God, and love.  We are just beginning this awesome journey together and I am ever so excited to see where God is leading us and how much the three of us: God, Izzy, and myself will all grow stronger together.  I have never loved something so much.  It sounds crazy but the deeper I fall in love with Izzy the deeper I fall in love with God.  I am ever so grateful to the Lord above for giving me new life through this little being.  My life has turned around so much in the past few weeks.  All for the better.  I feel I have lived the past five years with a weight upon my heart and my spirit.  I was bitter at first because of the sudden cowardly abandonment by my so-called friend.  Now I see it was for the best for me and my spirit.  I was once a butterfly flying free and somehow got netted and sent back into my cocoon.   It is in this cocoon that I changed and reformed into a different butterfly.  I have finally reemerged and am ready to fly again.  No I might not be as beautiful as my original form but I am stronger and have more determination than before to live and fly for God.