Monday Monday!! The Prodigal Returns

 Hello Monday!  This week is starting out beautifully! The weather is perfect at 70 degrees and sunshiny and beautiful! The low was 59 this morning! The high will only be about 82, with low humidity! So that is pretty close to perfect for north central Florida in mid October (or anytime!)   And Praise God! The hostages are free in Israel, and there is PEACE in the Middle East! What a marvelous miracle that is! We give thanks to God for His mercy and grace on behalf of Israel and also the innocent families and people in that region who have suffered so much for the past two years. May this peace be a lasting peace and may hearts to be turned to God in praise and thanksgiving! We are thankful for the work of President Trump and his team of ambassadors and other leaders in that region who have finally come together and agreed to end this brutal war.  Now we pray that it will last and that families will be able to get back home and rebuild their lives. That will take a long time, but at least this is a good start.  May God send the help they all need to be restored. 

Thank you all for your kind comments on my last post (and always!)  For those of you who have asked and have been concerned about my wayward porch kitty, "Blackie", I am happy to report that he came back home this morning!  He had been missing for almost a week, except for one late night visit Saturday night at 11:00 p.m.  We were asleep in our beds, but we have a security camera on the porch and it made a "ding" sound, which woke me up and I checked the camera through my phone, and there was Blackie, jumping around from the chair to the table and down again toward the food bowls, which were empty.  So of course I jumped out of bed and ran outside in my bare feet and nightie to welcome the wayward prodigal home.  I "killed the fatted calf" and prepared a feast for him (a scoop of Meow Mix with a few "Temptations" cat treats on top) and gave him lots of "hugs" while he gobbled up his food. Sunshine came running up the steps from the woods nearby where he likes to hang out at night and welcomed him home too.  But alas, as soon as Blackie was finished eating he disappeared again and did not return all day yesterday or last night.  

So this morning I was a big dismayed when I went out to feed the kitties and not even Sunshine was there!  I called and called and no one showed up.  So we went on about our business and took a ride and a walk and came back home and Sunshine appeared for his breakfast.   A little while later I looked out the window, and there was Blackie, again acting like nothing was amiss, as though he'd been here all the time and why was I so worried?  

So, of course I ran out there and loved on him again and made sure he had plenty of food and water...and Sunshine showed up and was a little bit standoffish at first, 

I think Sunshine was deliberately turning his back on Blackie and he came over to where I was sitting and plopped down in front of me as if to say, like the Prodigal's older brother: "‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’  Luke 15:29

(You can read the whole story HERE in Luke 15:11-32), and here is what the father said to the older son...

31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ” 

And pretty soon Sunshine warmed up to Blackie just like always, 

and hopefully this story will be "and they lived happily ever after".

I sure hope so!  Especially since we are going away in a couple of days for a vacation, and our neighbor will be feeding them morning and evenings. I hope they don't get scared off by the change in routine.  

Anyway, I thought you'd want to know how things turned out for them.  The Prodigal Son story is always such a wonderful example to me of how God loves us and is always ready to welcome us "prodigals" back home when we lose our way.  I am very thankful for His unchanging love.  

I may not have time to write again before we leave, so if not, I will see you when we return.  Hope you all have a wonderful week too!!