Boots Has Got Your Back

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

MOLLY LEANED against the weathered fence. The sleeves of her thick jacket protected her arms against the rough wood. If only a jacket could have protected my heart, she thought as one of her five barn cats rubbed against her leg.

“Hi, Boots,” Molly said, bending to pet the gray-and-white short-haired cat.

Boots, barely a year old, still had plenty of kitten energy. After receiving sufficient attention from Molly, he darted off into the tall grass. Molly chuckled as he pounced on a brown leaf and wrestled it to submission.

“Good job there, buddy! Way to get that leaf,” she cheered.

It felt good to smile since recent events had been anything but happy. Two weeks earlier, Molly had spoken up against something at work she knew was wrong. But instead of being lauded or listened to, she had been fired—after ten years in a job she had imagined would be her last. Worse than the loss of income, the loss of daily structure, and the loss of friendships was the sense of betrayal she couldn’t shake. People she had trusted weren’t who she thought they were. And because her job was in Christian ministry, that revelation hurt most of all.

As she stared off into the distance, Molly prayed aloud. “God, I thought I was where you wanted me. What am I supposed to do now? And how will I ever be able to trust anyone again?”

Molly had been repeating these questions for days, but she still had no clear answers. She closed her eyes and rested her head on her forearms. A moment later, she was startled when something fuzzy touched her cheek.

Boots!

“You sure know how to scare a person.” Molly looked from the ground to the top fence rail, gauging the distance. “How in the world did you get up here?”

Boots rubbed his head against Molly’s shoulder. He cautiously put a front paw on her jacket, then climbed onto her arm, and settled himself into the crook of her elbow. Molly stood perfectly still. The cat provided much-needed comfort.

But after a few minutes, Molly’s arm started to go numb from Boots’s weight. “Sorry, Boots. Time to get down.”

Rather than jump, Boots simply scooted up Molly’s arm and settled between her shoulder and neck, purring contentedly.

“Well, instead of a parrot, I have a cat on my shoulder.” Molly laughed to herself.

Molly figured that the moment she moved, Boots would bolt, so she slowly stepped away from the fence. Boots didn’t move. Molly walked toward her truck. Boots didn’t move. She pulled a gardening flat of mums from her truck bed. Boots didn’t move.

“Well, I guess we’re going to plant these together,” she said to the cat, repositioning him around her neck like a feline scarf.

Day after day, week after week, Boots would climb onto Molly’s neck as she tended her new garden and prayed about what to do next. He stayed with her as her heart began to heal and as an idea—a dream—began to form. And Boots was there as Molly took the first steps toward a new job opportunity. This new venture was one she never would have pursued without the help of a loyal cat who reminded her daily that God was trustworthy and had not left her.

PAWS & PONDER . . .

Have you ever felt betrayed? How might meditating on the love and faithfulness of God help you heal from that betrayal? What is one thing you can do today to focus your heart on the love and faithfulness of God?

Paws & Pray

Lord, it is so hard to live on this earth and not experience the sting of betrayal and disappointment. Lift my eyes to see your love and faithfulness, and remind me that you will never betray or disappoint me. Give me discernment to know when to speak up, the courage to do what is right, and the endurance to keep going even when things become difficult.