Four years ago, we moved into our present home and inherited a feral colony that was severely neglected. We started putting out food and tried to entice them to come out of the woods. Over a four week period, a neighbor and I were able to trap and fix nine of them.
Because some of them were more hungry than they were afraid, we gradually earned the trust of five of them. One by one, they even allowed us to pet and hold them—all except LJ, this one pictured, but that’s a story for another day.
Fast forward, we now keep the five cats in the garage overnight where they eat dinner and stay safe, dry and warm. After breakfast, their cat door is unlocked and they can come and go.
Every single morning, LJ finishes his breakfast in the garage and then makes a beeline for the French doors on our back deck. He sits there expectantly because he knows on some days, I’m going to see that sweet face and decide he deserves another bite or two of breakfast, or maybe a special treat. If it doesn’t happen, he’ll try again the next day.
LJ doesn’t sit in the garage, wishing someone would bring him more breakfast. He runs around to the back of the house and waits in the place where he is most likely to get it. If I don't notice him or I decide he doesn’t need extra food, it doesn’t appear that LJ sulks about it. He hopes for the best and then goes about his day.
We, too, must bring a spirit of expectancy to our days, and to achieving our hopes and dreams, the little ones and the big ones. We have to believe they're possible, AND … we have to act like we believe they're possible.
Are you embracing each day with expectancy, and then moving in the right direction, putting yourself in the best position to get what you want?
The explanations of faith and trust get muddled in my mind, but I was thinking today that trust is faith with muscles, or faith with legs. Faith is a noun and trust is a verb.
Faith is believing, putting our hope in something. Trust is being expectant of what we believe in, and actively doing our part to achieve desired outcomes, surrendering the rest, and maintaining a disposition of hope and gratitude no matter what happens.
Let’s all strengthen our expectancy and move toward what we really want today, shall we?
