CHAPTER NINE
Tilly became used to the daily life of the animal shelter. They went out to the yard. They talked about things that were important to them. She and her friends helped each other. They made sure that the cats who needed help got help. They welcomed new cats who were lonely and afraid. At dinnertime, they came in, and visited with the cats who couldn’t go outside. As time went by, more of the cats in the special rooms were coming out of their cages and talking to the other cats. More cats were going out in the yard to play or talk together.
Sometimes, cats or kittens would get adopted by kind people. When that happened, Tilly was both happy for them, and sad that they were leaving. The cats who were closest friends to the ones who left would get depressed, because they missed their friend. Some of the cats would get depressed because they wanted to be adopted themselves, and didn’t know if anyone would ever take them out of the shelter. Others would get upset because they liked living at the shelter, and were afraid someone would adopt them, and make them leave the place they called home. Tilly did her best to help all the cats. She made up her mind that as long as she was here at the shelter she would do all she could to store up treasure in heaven. She reminded herself that every time she showed someone else kindness, or did something nice for them, it was the same as if she had done it for Jesus. That made it easier for her to keep loving and helping cats who could be mean or ungrateful toward her.
But deep down inside, Tilly really wanted to be adopted. She longed for a home where she could be free to go outside when she wanted to. She wanted to be able to go outside in the early morning, or even when it was cold or raining. Here, she could only go outside when the shelter workers were able to take the cats out. She longed to have a big and soft chair to rest on. She missed the petting and stroking she enjoyed as a kitten, and wanted to feel a gentle hand on her once more. She made sure the shelter workers knew she was on the list of cats ready to be adopted. She had friends in the shelter who would tell her when people showed up looking for a cat. Whenever that happened, she made sure they saw her. She prayed every day to Jesus, asking Him to provide a home for her outside the shelter.
As the weeks went by, Tilly saw less of Gershom and Carly than she had before. She missed seeing them, but she knew they were busy helping others just as she was. Every few weeks they would get together for a meal. They would talk about Jesus and all the things He said. Then they would talk about how the things Jesus said helped them to love and help others that week. Tilly tried to remember what Jesus said. His words told her about His love for her, and how to treat others the way He would.
Kiam and Calvin often joined them whenever they got together. Kiam was helping out in the special rooms. He was such a kind and gentle cat. Even Joey and his friends saw how much all the cats and kittens loved him. He would talk and play with all the kittens, no matter how small they were or what their special needs were. He made sure all the kittens got attention. He was even allowed to take Jacob, a little blind kitten, outside in the yard when the workers saw how much he could be trusted to take good care of him. This was something no one else was allowed to do. The little kitten loved going outside. He was smart and liked adventure. Without Kiam to take him, he would have spent most of his time locked in a special room.
“Jacob’s real smart,” Kiam told Tilly. “I’ve learned so much from taking him out to the yard. There’s no place in his world for prejudice, for judging others by how they look. He sees others by the words that come out of their mouth. He knows if your heart is good by what you say. He told me that if I ever wanted to really see someone, I should close my eyes and listen. That’s how you can see inside their heart.”
Calvin began to teach and encourage the other cats who were in the special rooms. He seemed to have a special ability to reach out to others who were recovering from injuries and illnesses. One day Tilly saw him talking to a cat who always stayed in a cage in one of the special rooms. This cat never talked to anyone. But for some reason, she began to let Calvin come near her cage and talk to her. She even talked to him once in a while. She listened to him when he told her about Jesus and how much He loved her. She wouldn’t listen to anyone else.
During one of their meals together, Calvin told Gershom and the others that he once wanted God to heal him so he could help others like they did. He said that one day while he was praying, the Holy Spirit spoke to him in his heart.
“What did He tell you?” Gershom asked.
“He told me that Jesus shows His strength and compassion by how He works through every one of His believers. He said that when we come to Jesus, He sees everything we’ve been through in our lives, and He knows what places in our hearts have been broken.”
“What does that mean?” Tilly asked.
“That means that we all have certain things that happened to us, and when they happened our hearts were broken. Like when you lost your home, Tilly. That broke your heart. Now, you have a special place in your heart for others who have lost their homes. When I got hurt in the accident, my heart got broken, and now I have a special place in my heart for others who have been hurt in accidents. Kiam was laughed at because he’s different from most of the cats here, and his heart was broken by that. Now, he has a special place in his heart for others who are laughed at because they’re different. When these things happen to us, our hearts get broken. Jesus knows this. He also knows that sometimes, when our hearts are broken, we try to protect our hearts by turning against others or getting as mean as the ones who hurt us. But Jesus brings His love into our broken hearts so that instead of us getting mean, we learn to help others whose hearts have been broken like ours. For a long time I was mad at Jesus because of what happened to me. I wanted Him to fix me so I could walk like I used to, so I could help the other cats in the special rooms. He asked me what I wanted to do. I told Him I wanted to reach out to others who were lonely. I told Him I was lonely once, and I wanted to be able to help others who were lonely. He told me that He was with me in my cage, even though I didn’t know it at the time. He told me that He felt the same way about wanting to reach out to others who were lonely, or slow, or laughed at because they’re different. He said that He knew His believers sometimes wondered why bad things happened to them in their lives, and why their hearts were broken by things that hurt them. He said that someday He was coming back to earth, and when He did He would heal our broken hearts completely. There would be no more accidents, no more sickness, no more lost homes, and no one would ever be laughed at because they were different. But until that day comes, we must have faith in Jesus because He loves us and cares about us right now. Instead of becoming mean inside because our hearts have been broken, our broken hearts should become our reason for looking to Jesus because He’s the healer of broken hearts. Then He can use us to reach out to others who have suffered like we have. He showed me that I was already helping others who were lonely or afraid. I decided then that I wanted to stay here for all the cats in the special rooms. I want to teach them that Jesus loves them and cares about them.”
Everyone was quiet after Calvin finished talking. After that day, Calvin still came to eat with them once in a while. He spent most of his time with the cats who were in the special rooms, teaching them about Jesus and helping them by being an example of the love of Jesus to them.