MIracle (tortie) and Peace (black and white) snuggled up together on our clean towels.
Miracle's Miracle
May 2005
Barnyard cats provide a valuable service on our small farm. They keep the rodents and creepy things down to a minimum. You would not believe how much feed a mouse or rat population can consume. Where there's mice, there's snakes. We value our cats.
We always reward them with a can of tuna when they bring them to us as "presents" to encourage them to continue. To repay them for their efforts, we give them a loving home, lots of attention and good health care. Sometimes we take in cats from other people who can not keep them to prevent them from going to a shelter.
It was one of the adopted cats that was expecting when we took her in. She had 5 kittens. Brandon and Amanda claimed two of them, but had a hard time thinking of names for them.
We lost our son Josiah on April 10th, 2005. Saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest things we have ever done. Shortly afterthat, while we were still healing, the children and I were outside working and playing in the warm sunshine. It was a beautiful day and I felt myself start to relax and unwind from the previous weeks' events. Clint had called to see how the day was progressing and I told him I felt like I was finally relaxing a little.
Amanda was swinging Bethany on the swingset. Brandon was playing nearby in the clubhouse. Joshua and Caleb were under the maple tree climbing on the lower branches. The 2 kittens were going from one to the other of us, trying to keep track of their humans. It was one of those perfect days that make me so thankful we live on a farm in the country.
I was hanging out clothes when I heard the cry. It was one of those cries a mother doesn't want to hear. I dropped my clothes and ran to the front yard thinking one of my precious ones were injured or in pain. That's when I saw Joshua was looking down at the ground. The kitten Brandon had claimed was writhing in agony, but only it's front 2 paws.
Knowing this was probably not going to end well, as I was nearing the tree, I yelled "Amanda, take the 'littles' in the house." She immediately obeyed. Joshua, Caleb and Bethany went to the house. Brandon wanted to stay and I allowed him since it was his kitten. And, he is old enough to understand when an animal needs to be put down.
What happened was that Joshua's large Step 2 Semi Truck (large, heavy ride-in toy) had fell over and landed on the kitten's back as she was walking through the area. Then, Joshua, being startled by it, fell on top of the truck from his branch on the tree which further injured the kitten. Joshua weighs 60 lbs. It was a freak accident that required the kitten to be in the wrong place at exact moment.
When I reached the tree, the kitten was panting and struggling to get up with it's front paws. The lower part of her body was limp and flipped in the other direction. I did not see one sign of movement from below the front legs down. I told Brandon I thought there was a back injury and that I did not expect the kitten to survive. I also told him that I probably would have to put the kitten down. Brandon lowered his head. I thought he was crying.
I would not touch the kitten because the injuries seemed so severe that I was afraid of harming it more. I called Clint at work and asked him to pray and asked his advice. I told him I felt God was asking too much. I had just lost my son and now I had to watch a tiny kitten suffer and die...or even end it's suffering myself...knowing this was going to break my son's heart. What you need to know here is that Brandon has just lost his handraised parakeet, Scout. Scout was handraised, around the clock, from hatching by Amanda and then given as a gift to Brandon. Brandon had taught Scout to talk and do tricks. He was a very lovable people-bird. Everyone in our family was sad when he died from accidental fume exposure due to house rennovations.
When I got off the phone with Clint, I stopped and prayed. I had noticed again that Brandon's head was still bowed and thought he was trying to hide his tears from me. I asked God to give me wisdom so I didn't do anything to hurt the kitten. I asked Him to give me strength to do what needed to be done, whatever that was. I pleaded for Him to spare this tiny kitten's life. I prayed "God, I had no opportunity to intercede for Josiah (my son). By time I learned he was in trouble, he was already gone. I can pray for this cat though. It's worthless in the scheme of things, but it's important to Brandon. Please have mercy and heal this kitten. I ask this through Your Son Jesus. Amen"
What happened next still gives me goosebumps. I looked up from my prayer. Brandon looked up at the same time. We both saw it and we both lack words to describe it completely. The kitten's back looked like it was being manipulated by two hands. It looked like something or Someone was straightening out it's spine...untwisting it. It's body lifted in places it should not have lifted. It was awesome and unnerving. After this, the kitten laid there exhausted. Brandon and I sat there staring at the kitten, not speaking, trying to take in what we had just seen.
Slowly she began to move her mouth, her head, her neck, her front paws. But then, she started moving her side and her back legs...something she could not do after the injury. She laid there and rested, looking completely exhausted. I sent Brandon in the house because I thought she would die.
Instead, she sat up. I was still afraid to touch her. She drunkenly walked her way over to where I sat and sat down and leaned against me. I stroked her head and talked to her some more. Brandon came back and saw her up.
The first thing he said was "I KNEW SHE'D MAKE IT! I was praying to God the whole time my head was down and I just knew He was going to heal her!" The next day, he told me, "Her name is Miracle, Mom. I asked God for one and He gave it to me."
When we shared the story with the family later, we both tried to explain what we saw. I think Brandon said it best. "It was just God."
Miracle is a beautiful tortiseshell kitten and we are very blessed to have her. I am very grateful God spared her life.
Btw, Amanda named her kitten Peace.
MIracle (tortie) and Peace (black and white) snuggled up together
on our clean towels.