A Kitten's Adventure Journal Entry

I grew up in a household where cats were something of a taboo. My grandmother had passed her fear of cats as something evil down to my mother and my two siblings were deathly allergic to cats. To make matters even worse none of my friends or relatives seemed to have any either. My childhood was cat deprived to say the least. However, all this changed when I moved to the country. I've never been very wild about mice and a cat to patrol and take ownership of the barn was a must. A friend of mine offered me a tame, pregnant barn cat as a good place to start. Needless to say I quickly fell in love with cats, kittens and the whole feline package. My favorite kitten, Dipstick, was a beautiful black and white long haired beauty. Sweet, smart and cute as a button. One day, when she was about 6 to 8 weeks old she completely disappeared, it was around 10:00 AM and I couldn't find her anywhere - her three siblings were frolicking around the barn - but no Dipstick. I checked again around 2:00 PM and still no Dipstick in sight. I checked under the hay stacks, the saddles, the storage closets, everywhere. About that time her mother came casually strolling into the barn, she looked around and suddenly became panic stricken, she had just realized that her little kitten was gone. After searching for a while, she took off across country and was gone, traveling through the dangerous 3' tall high grass. This high grass is a dangerous place for any small animal, especially for a little kitten. If she'd been out there all day, it would take a miracle to keep her alive and away from hungry predators. A couple hours later, I checked again and there was still no mother cat or her kitten Dipstick. I returned to the house. Trying to keep busy, I decided to make the bed and do a little housecleaning in the bedroom, which resides high on the second floor overlooking the vast flat open countryside and tall grass landscape. As I walked around the bed I stopped to say a little prayer. Actually, I don't know why I didn't stop to say a little prayer for her from the start. Prayer can be such a powerful thing, I've always believed the Lord answers our prayers, but it's hard to answer a prayer that hasn't been prayed. Anyway, I stopped and prayed "Lord, I know she is just a little barn cat but we all love her and we ask that you'll see fit to bring her home", with that I raised my head and glanced out the window and what did I see off in the great distance but two little specks moving through the high grass. Talk about timing. It was Patches, the mother barn cat, leading her little kitten home to safety. What a joyous sight that was. Don't you just love answered prayers and a happy ending!