CHAPTER FOUR
TILLY AND THE MORNING GLORIES
CHAPTER FOUR
Tilly went to the food dish to have some dinner herself. The orange and white kitten stayed on his perch, with his eyes shut. Tilly thought for a minute that she had seen him open his eyes and peek out at her, but she couldn’t be sure. She finished up, took a long drink of water, and returned to her small cardboard box. Lying down on her bed of clean rags, she waited for Gershom to return from his meal. Suddenly, she felt a warm and gentle tugging at her heart. She felt so good, as if she had just been picked up and petted by someone who truly loved and wanted her. She knew then that she had been adopted into God’s family. She wanted to tell Gershom right away that she was sure that she had been adopted into God’s family, but she had to wait until he got back. She was also sure that she would go out with him tomorrow.
She began to think about what it would be like when she went out with Gershom and met some of the other cats. While she wondered what the other cats would be like, she heard a sound in the small room. Peeking out of her box, she saw the kitten making his way to the food and water dishes. He looked over, and saw Tilly looking at him.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Tilly. What’s your name?”
“It doesn’t matter much in here,” he replied. “But since you asked, it’s Reuel.”
He took a big mouthful of food, and began eating. Tilly watched him as he ate his fill, and took a drink of cool water. He made his way back to the wall, and in one powerful jump was safely on his high perch.
Tilly looked up at him, and asked, “What do you mean when you say your name isn’t important around here?”
He looked down at her and smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile at all. It was more like an angry smile.
“Well, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “This is just an animal shelter that’s full of unwanted animals, like us. I’m just another name on a long list of names in here.”
“Not to Jesus, you’re not. He knows all of us by name. He loves every one of us,” Tilly told Reuel.
“Who is He?” Reuel wanted to know.
“He’s the Son of God. He came from heaven to earth to tell everyone about God. God is His Father, and ours too. They lived in heaven, where everything is beautiful, and no one ever was unwanted. He wants us to be members of God’s family. He said that anyone who believed in Him, and prayed in His name, would be adopted into God’s family. They would all get to live in heaven with Him someday,” Tilly explained.
“Really, He said that?” Reuel asked.
“Yes, He did, and He loves us,” Tilly answered.
Reuel began washing his face and paws. He licked his lips, and said, “Well, that food is better than the scraps I ate before.”
“Oh, were you out on the streets for a while?” Tilly asked.
“Might as well have been,’ he replied.
Tilly went back to her little bed to rest. She wondered what was taking Gershom so long. She wondered why Reuel didn’t seem to care about being adopted into God’s family. She thought that maybe she didn’t explain things well enough. She would ask Gershom about this. Lying down on her bed of clean rags that fit her small body just perfectly, she tried to wait up for Gershom. But as it got later, she found herself falling asleep. She was too tired to stay awake.