CATS: The Peculiar Trip Take-along

This weekend and next weekend our family travel to really big events. The second event the Chuck Hinkle siblings and their families gather in Indiana to celebrate a double birthday. Grandpa turns the big 80 while his eldest grandson turns 30.

Both weekends we have totes and backpacks to tide us enroute. On this first weekend trip my red tote bulges with a wallet, cracker snacks, toasted pastries, plasticware, bug repellant, napkins, water bottles, maps, and a tiny flag. 

Via free wi-fi I peeked at the Thursday news bits. As one in 10 mortgages will sink in foreclosures, and the Dow sinks equally into the mire, I find I lean on some extra peculiar trip take-alongs: CATS. 

We used to own a tuxedo cat, Princess Violet and a gray striped cat, H.S. or Hide n’ Squeak. Often H.S. fled to dark corners, while Her Royal Highness demanded a lap, now. Paw in front of paw each tread the independent paths of their monikers, yet ever dependant on we the food, health, litter providers.We no longer have our two darlings, nor new cats. 

On the big and small journeys this CATS uphold me away from home:

C--Contrite hearts. Let us approach our event with humility, bowing our heads in confession of our wrongs. For my family our tradition is to relinquish our wrongs at the foot of a Cross and receive absolution.

A---Adoration of our Maker. Our Maker made us to spend time relating to and addressing Him as we as loving each other. Adore the Creator of the Universe; acknowledge who our Creator truly is; speak His name only in reverence and affirmation. 

T---Thankfulness. "In everything give thanks," the true Good Book encourages us. "Everything" includes thanks in the hardships, health challenges, devastation, and current crisis. Because they remove the dross of stuff and reveal the essentials--faith, charity, hope in our Creator.

S--Supplication. That's a fancy word for asking and turning heavenward for our needs and the needs of others. If we have permission, can we pray for each other at the big events we attend? Could we pray for those we encounter and come to care for others en route to our final destination?

Step by step more and more find they walk their individual paths the best by faith. I know I walk quirky and independent, but keenly dependent on God's ultimate care, my footfalls land perfectly in line with where I need to be.