By Larry Young 

I sat down to write and our Tuxedo cat named Tiptip jumped up on my lap, demanding immediate love and affection. That got me thinking about all the other six cats and two dogs we have… and even our three children, who at one point or another, were all “discards”, leftovers from other broken relationships. Somebody discarded Tiptip near our street, so she made her way to the chair outside our front door, and  announced we were to feed and love her for the rest of her life. Sitting next to me in the kitchen is Carena, an American miniature Shepherd, discarded two months ago by our neighbor across the street when he ended up in the hospital and didn’t want Carena back. Then there’s Otis, who spent half of his life in and out of canine shelters, salvaged by a girl at Hoodview church from an abusive owner. All six of our Ragdoll cats came from the same breeder, discarded for different reasons. Lastly, I adopted all three of my children; unwanted, abused, and one from Cheryl’s heartbreaking past. 

The common thread in all this is love, put there in our hearts by God. I love my wife Cheryl with all my heart, and I wouldn’t change a thing…other than her serious health problems. I love all my children as my own blood, and we put all of them through Portland Adventist Academy; but they went their separate ways. I complain a little about Otis and a few of the cats for pinning me down under the sheets in bed, when I futilely try to get up. Even then if I’m not careful, I might step on Carena’s paws or on the tail of an awaiting cat. We love them all: each is a very different little personality, with their own likes and interests and love language… but they all reflect that love back to us, and it’s not always about food. When I’m hurting or sad, Otis will come over and lay over me as if that will protect me from an invisible monster, and several of the cats will lay on my feet or tummy, and make “biscuits” while trying to purr me to sleep. No self-respecting mouse or monster can gain access to our house without setting off all the “animal alarm” systems.  

All of this fits into God’s plans, because God doesn’t make junk… nor discards. No wonder Jesus groans over his creation, seeing the impact of sin (…and sins) on our fallen world. Jesus said: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem!…How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” (Matthew 23: 37). A number of years ago, we did have chickens here, and I watched while one of our hens gathered her chicks under her spread wings as the rain began… then I remembered Jesus’ words. You are not a discard, no not one!! Jesus is extremely motivated to claim every one of us as His sons and daughters, and to take us up in the arms of His angels on the last day. How do I know? Because all our dogs and cats said so… in their own way.