Just call me Mrs. Noah.

It was a Saturday night, about 10:30 P.M. Normally, I am never awake at this time of the night. My usual bedtime is around 9:00...and that is pushing it. I am an 8 hours a night sleeper! (I'm not too pretty, happy or friendly with anything less! Sort of excorsist-medusa-like...if you can imagine the horror of that.) My daughter and I were in the kitchen, when she asked me if I heard a noise from outside the door. "Mom? You hear that?" she asks. "No...hear what?" I ask back. "Something is meowing outside the door", she says. I listened quietly. I heard the "meow". Oh brother!! Not again!! The week before...to the very day, we heard a meow from outside the kitchen door, that leads to the garage. It was a tiny faint "meow". I opened the door, and in ran a tiny kitten. Immediately, I swooped it up into my arms, my heart melting in the process. I recognized it to be my neighbor's cat. So, after a few "awwe"s and "shaa"s, from the kids, I urged them to walk across the street and bring the cat back to the neighbor. The neighbor laughingly suggested that we keep the cat, but my daughter insisted that we did not want it, due to the fact that I am HIGHLY ALLERGIC to cats! I repeat with great emotion...HIGHLY ALLERGIC TO CATS! (Also, dogs, horses, and cows. I'm an allergy doctor's dream!) You can just about imagine my thought, when I heard another faint sound of a "meow" on this particular night. History was unfolding before my ears... Or should I say, before my eyes. I heard the meow a second time so I opened the door to the kitchen, that leads to the garage...and in runs a tiny kitten. But, this time it looked different. It was a different kitten!! Come on! Does my house have a hidden sign, that only kittens read, that says..."All kittens eat here!" My daughter insisted that it was the neighbor's cat, but I knew better. It was late and not an appropriate time to bother the neighbors with our little kitty issue again, so we took out an old pet taxi and decided to board the kitten for the night. Oh wait...let me change the sign to..."All kittens are invited, a succer lives here!" I knew in my gut, that the cat was not the neighbor's, and would most likely be a new resident within our home. Lord help me!! We awoke the next morning and "attempted" to return the cat. Low and behold, the kitten did not belong to the neighbors. Just my luck!! By this time, the kitten had begun to warm the hearts of each person in the house. She was a keeper. I'm in deep trouble. Where's my inhaler?!!! I have come to realize ,that apparently, my name is not only Mrs. Stelly, but Mrs. Noah as well. Over the years, my husband has brought home countless animals that were in the need of love and shelter. None with my approval I might add. But, eventually all melting my heart and causing me to fall in love. At this very moment...we have two daustchuns, Mya and Smokey. One turtle, belonging to Kaitlyn, named Alex. One large cat named Sambeaux...who for some reason thinks he's a dog. And we are currently mourning the loss of our outside dog Jolie (adopted from the shelter) who passed away a few weeks ago. (RIP Jolie) During the years I have been married to my husband, we have had...10 dogs, 5 cats, 1 rabbit named Penelope (she was my favorite), one large white Cockatoo named Cuddles, about a dozen fish..including one that froze solid in the cold weather, so Frankie saved it by warming it up in his hands and giving it mouth-to-mouth, and it began swimming again...I wish I were joking, but no...that really happened, and two turtles. These animals were all madly in love with my husband. All of them! They flocked to him. Even now, the animals we have, literally worship him. Where ever he is..they are. They swarm at his feet. It's eary and freaky! Our oldest dauchtsun, Mya...is obsessed with him. I think she actually thinks she is his wife...not me. She just puts up with me, cuz I belong to him. It's so disturbing. So...with all of this...I have come to the conclusion...that he is the present day Noah...and I am Mrs. Noah. One good thing is...God promised never to flood the earth again. (Genesis 9:11-16) So, I think I am safe from Frankie building a huge boat in the back yard. (LOL) With all the animals living in the house.. I just have five words to sum up how I feel...Thank-God-For-Allergy-Shots! The little kitten is now a member of the Stelly/Noah family. It took us a couple of days to figure out a name for our newest furry friend. We decided that she needed a rough and tough "street" name, being that she had been on her own, battling the other neighborhood strays and digging in garbage cans for her food. We went back and forth. The kids suggested a few names, like... "Queen Latifah", "Little G" (G is for Gangsta), Kaitlyn's favorite..."M & M" (for Meanie Mini), Frankie's favorite.."Diablo"( for Devil kitty, she has a slight attitude towards the dogs), Mason's favorite..."Shakeera Kitty" (said with the "r" rolled) and I simply liked "Mercades"...which had no attribution to living on the street...I just liked it. We had to agree on something. So, our new little kitten's name is...Harley...like Harley Davidson Motorcycles. Rough and tough Harley. Frankie said, "Well, I always said I wanted a Harley". Poor Frankie...LOL LOL LOL...I guess you can't win them all! Says the woman, holding a kitten in one hand...and an inhaler in the other. By the way, I will be saying extra prayers for myself tonight...and the next night...and the next night...and the next night... I was sitting on the couch last night, with little Harley on my lap. She rubbed her soft little face up against my chin, purring with delight. Mason looks at me and says, "I'm glad she lives with us Mom. She was a stray, with no one to love her. But, now she has all of us to give her love." It reminded me of all the people living "astray", all alone, with no one to love them. How many people can you reach out to today? How many people do you know that are living "astray" with no one to give them love? Have you ever been alone, and in need of someone to love you? Just a little something to think about...

John 13:34-35, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love eachother. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."