“Can I get a cat?” Rachel asked her parents yet again.

And yet again her parents  tried to explain to her that it was impossible. They already had a cat-hating dog. If they adopted a cat, it wouldn’t be able to live safely with them in their tiny trailer. It would most likely become dog food.

But she couldn’t understand that. Dogs and cats can live together. She had seen and read enough to know that was true. But then, that was probably in someone else’s world, not her’s.

“God, someday, can I get a cat?”

Things changed when they moved to their new house.  A two-story house! Surely there was lots of room to add a cat!

“Can I get a cat now?” she asked.

“No, we told you. We can’t have a cat while Spike is around. He doesn’t like cats.”

Not the answer she wanted, so she went over their heads once again.

“God, will You give me a cat?”

So it was with great delight that she found a kitten while on a bike ride with her family.  It was so tiny and so alone and so scared. This had to be her cat!

“It looks sick,” her dad said.

“We can’t leave it here. She needs to go to the vet,” her mom said.

Rachel added her voice to her mother’s, and secretly thanked God for her kitten.

They made a bed for it in the garage, and Rachel spent as much time with it as she could.

“Can we keep her?” she asked her parents.

“No, we’ve already explained. We can’t have a cat with Spike. He will end up killing her. We need to find this kitten a home.”

As her parents tried to find a home for this kitten, Rachel intensified her prayers to God.

“Don’t let them find a home. Don’t let them find a home. Don’t let them find a home.”

As the days became weeks, Rachel’s mom couldn’t understand why she couldn’t find anyone who wanted a kitten. But Rachel knew why.

And so did God. He knew that Rachel was going to need Cassi  to help her through some very rough teen years. So He protected Cassi as she went from living in the garage to living upstairs in Rachel’s room. And over next 15 years, Cassi became a symbol to the whole family of His love and compassion and how He sets things in motion, often years in advance, to take care of needs that only He can see. What an amazing God!