November 7, 2012 Greetings My Friend, Becoming a Christian is a day to day moment by moment process. I am not where I was. I am not perfect yet and I am growing still. When I look at life as a continuing learning process I find I am not so upset with myself for not being, doing etc. I believe the hugest comfort I have found in the last few years is that if no one else in the world likes who or what I am, that is ok. One of my current favorite sayings is “Jesus thinks I’m to die for.” That makes me feel very special. So if people don’t like me, I’m now good with that more often than not. I find myself moving along in life, enjoying life and enjoying those God has put near me. I no longer am striving to figure out what I want to be or should be….I truly am starting to like the person I am especially the person I am in the Lord. It feels good way down deep inside of me these days. I also realize I will not be lonely. God always gives me people who enjoy me for who I am. I can’t believe us. The neighbors have several kids most of which are preschool age. They adopted two kittens and carried them everywhere. The one is growing like a weed and the other one is not doing very well. We volunteered to take the one that was not thriving so well. He is tiny, that is something I’ve wanted for a long time, decades really a really tiny pet. I now have a tiny pet and I love him like I thought I would. We lost Puppup and Sara. We think they both were found by coyotes and have not survived. Junior went to a yard sale and the people had a blood hound they were not happy with. It was malnourished big time so Junior volunteered to bring him home. He is putting on weight and seems to be happy and content at our house. Now we have a new kitten. I have no idea why we seem to be the owners of 4 dogs and 3 cats but we love these guys a ton. They give us many chuckles and the dogs going on my walks are about as funny as it can get. They get so excited and run along the road with us. Most people our age tend to let the animals they own die and then they don’t replace them, not us, we seem to be adopting animals left and right….. This kitten, the neighbor was helping Junior with some work around the house and was telling him about the kitten not growing. The wife stopped by and was telling me about the kitten. Both Junior and I said we’d take it in if they wanted, without talking to each other. I find that funny too. He is about as cuddly as he can get. He is comfortable around our dogs. We tend to let our dogs in along with several of the neighbors dogs. We found out that our neighbors do the same for our dogs and let them in their house. So the kitten is used to the dogs and follows them around. The dogs don’t have a need to chase him around. They all do their thing and it is precious. Our older cats aren’t fond of the dogs and hang out in all the high spots more than they do the floor. Well during the day anyway. Alex was wandering around in the bathroom last night and I tripped on him when I got up in the middle of the night. So life goes. These animals are the children we were never able to have as a couple. We met and married when we were older and babies weren’t part of the package anymore. Our babies are these animals and we love them to no end. If someone would have told me I’d have 7 animals when I was younger I would have thought they were nuts. I love coming home from an outing and all the dogs greeting us. They are always excited to see us and frankly that feels nice. The cats are happy sitting in our laps and Blanko likes sleeping in our bed at night all hunkered between Junior and I. The best part about having animal children is that there is very little sibling rivalry and we don’t need to figure out how to make each one know we love them. They know they all are wanted and each will seek us out when they need attention. It works. The dogs all occupy each other and play with each other so they don’t come to us to play very often. They mainly come for pets and the like. The cats also keep each other company so that works as well. Since we are on 9 acres we have plenty of space for them to roam around in as well. Oh I forgot we also have a few outside cats in the outbuildings. They help keep mice and snakes off of the property. Gee I like that a ton. I don’t like those critters and if they don’t hang around I’m not upset. The neighbors have a tiny dog and frankly he is my buddy too. I love the very tiny animals and now I find that two are in my life I am about as content as I can be. We’ve only had the kitten a day or so and this little guy is eating like there is no tomorrow. Junior is always marveling at how big his stomach is when we feed him. I am sure he will be a strong kitty in short order. We also are planning a trip to the Vet to get him his shots. Since losing Missy we feel that we should at least get them first sets of shots to give them a chance. So again I find life to be good. We have animals that let us love them and we love them. We have some good friends and well life is really sweet. May God bless you and keep you make His face to shine upon you. Love Janet