God's Comfort in a Time of Need

Allie, Jade, and Blue

January 15, 2001

John 11:19 NIV
"And many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother."

We woke up this morning to discover one of our cats, Blue, had died in her sleep last night. Her brother, Jade, was lying partially on her, protecting her, until we could take care of the situation.

Jade and Blue were littermates. Blue was the runt of the litter and always needed Jade's help. He was her protector.

Whenever I got mad at Blue for making a mess in the house, or when I raised my voice at her, Jade was at my feet telling me what he thought of me. Needless to say, they both would get tossed out into the garage to think about their house manners and consider who was boss.

Once, Russell was rearranging boxes in the garage not long after we had moved in this house, and our garage was our storage shed.  He was deep in the maze of boxes and could not easily trace a path out of it. He had been out there about thirty minutes when I heard a terrible commotion and hollering taking place in the garage. Since I was in the house, I couldn't figure out what was going on.

I ran to the door leading to the garage, opened it, and doubled over in laughter to see Jade trying to climb up Russell's leg screaming at him the whole time. Russell was precariously balanced on that one leg, about to fall over.  He had his hands full of boxes and no where to put them down. He was yelling at Jade trying to explain he was not after Blue. 

I looked at the far end of the garage to see Blue sitting with a rather affronted look on her face glaring at Russell as if he had tried to grab her against her wishes. In essence, Jade had trapped Russell, and I had to call Jade off of him. I think Blue had set Russell up, but it was so typical of how Jade was always there to protect his sister.

Allison has been crying all day. Blue was her favorite of the cats. She named Blue when she was a little girl. We buried Blue in the backyard and said some words over her this afternoon.  We even tried a verse of "Amazing Grace". 

Jade is depressed. Death is hard enough to discuss with humans, I sure don't know how to talk to a cat about it.  He has paced the house and the garage looking for his sister. His usual behaviors are missing tonight. Even in sleep, he is not acting his normal self. 

Allie asked me if he'll get over missing Blue. I told her I hope so in a few days. He just needs a lot of tender loving care. 

People who don't own pets don't get the chance to witness this love animals have for each other. 

I know there are other topics I should be thinking about tonight, but all I can do is look at my sad cat and wish I could make him happy again.  Time will heal, but how do I tell that to Jade?  Allie can understand it, she has lived it before with another cat we owned, but still, it'll take time for us to move past Blue's death.

In the meantime, we have appreciated the loving messages of family and friends who have reached out in comfort to us, and we look to God at times like this to comfort us as well.

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Dear Lord, Thank you for our pets who bring us such joy in life.