Heart Keepers Ministries

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Attention Deficient

by Debbie on August 31, 2010

When we first adopted our cat Moon, he was our "shop" kitty.  We had another cat at home that did not socialize very well with other cats, therefore we settled for letting Moon's new home be our business.  It took a while for Moon to adjust to his new home but he seemed to do well as long as we were there with him.  I hated to leave him alone on the weekends but I always made sure he had plenty of water and food.  I would go visit with him on Sunday's after church and let him outside for some fresh air. He never seemed to want the fresh air as much as he wanted to just spend time being near me, having me pet him and talk to him. It was quickly becoming apparent to me that Moon did not like being left alone. We eventually decided to take Moon home with us and introduce him to our other cat. The transition and introduction went much better than we had expected. For a while we would take Moon back and forth to work with us each day but he soon began to meow loudly each time he had to go to work as if to say "I don't want to go to work today, please let me stay at home with my new friend." We caught on and began to leave him at home with our other cat. It worked out very well except for one thing. During the very early morning hours Moon began to come and sit on my chest and gently nudge my face with his paw wanting me to spend time just petting him and talking to him. One early morning hour with Moon sitting on my chest, the Lord spoke two words to me that helped me better understand why Moon was doing this. The words He spoke were "attention deficient". I began to understand that Moon needed more attention than he was getting and he was making sure that he got it from me even if he had to wake me up to get it. After about 10 to 15 minutes of my stroking and petting him he goes back to his bed.

Moon's gentle nudges during the morning hours remind me of the Holy Spirit gently nudging me at times to get up and spend time with God. God likes my attention too. He also likes yours. Are you giving God the attention that he wants? I try to spend time with God in the early morning hours because I need his attention and I know he wants mine. The early morning hours are my most peaceful times and it seems God speaks more often to me in the early part of the day or perhaps I am just listening more for his voice.

Psalm 5:3
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Psalm 88:13
But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Psalm 90:14
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 143:8
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Isaiah 50:4
The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens me to listen like one being taught.

Mark 1:35
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

I have to admit that I don't like being awaken by my cat Moon. To be honest I would much rather sleep. However he is so persistent and obviously has a great need for my attention. Moon was abandoned by his previous owner and left alone to basically take care of himself but God put him with me so that I could take care of him and provide his needs. It just so happens that one of his needs is lots of attention. He does not like being left alone. He is like my shadow. He follows me wherever I go. Everyone is amazed by how much he loves me. Somehow Moon knows that I am the one that will take care of him. He has learned that I love him and will make sure he is safe and that he is well taken care of. I am so thankful to be able to give him the attention that he needs and wants.

I can certainly say that when I feel the nudge from the Holy Spirit to get up early to spend time with God, I sometimes would much rather sleep, but I know that I need his attention and he wants mine. So I get up and make time for him because he is the one who can meet all my needs. I hope you will pay attention to the gentle nudging from the Holy Spirit and wake up early and spend time with God. The truth is we are all "attention deficient" just like Moon. We want attention and the best place to get it is from our Master. Make it a point to spend time with Jesus every morning and he will give you the attention that you greatly desire. Then you will be able to give your attention to the things and people in your life that so greatly need your attention. Look around you and you too will see those who are wanting attention from you. Is it your children? Is it your spouse? Is it your pets? Is it your job? Is it your elderly parents? Is it yourself? Is it God? Don't continue to be "attention deficient" any longer! Be as persistent as my cat Moon and get the attention that you need from God so that you are able to give those around you and yourself the attention that is so needed.

Heavenly Father,
Thank you that you are available for me and want to give me the attention that I need. Thank you that you never sleep and that I can come to you anytime to receive your love and attention. I know that I too am "attention deficient" and I want to make sure that I get my attention deficient met by you instead of something that will only leave me more empty. Thank you that you too want and desire my attention. Help me to get up early and spend time with you in prayer and reading your word so that I can receive your attention and be able to give my attention to others who are in need of it such as my children, spouse, friends, parents, pets, myself or others who are attention deficient. Thank you for providing all my needs, especially attention! In Jesus name, Amen.

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ICU

by Debbie on July 10, 2010

My cat Moon is a beautiful Russian Blue!  Russian Blues have a gray, wooly coat of fur, a large face and large round green eyes.  He is so sweet that we call him Moon Pie.  He absolutely loves attention.  When I am busy and he does not seem to think that he is receiving all my attention he will lie flat on his back and look at me upside down with his big green eyes and if I don't notice him right away he will let out a pitiful meow to get my attention.  I always stop what I am doing and look directly at him and say " I see you".  One day as he was lying there flat on his back and I was saying "I see you", a thought came to my mind.  Moon is an "intensive care unit (ICU).  We rescued Moon after he had been abandoned by his previous owner.  We found out through various circumstances that Moon is a sickly cat and will always need intensive care.  He requires a lot of attention, love, and vet visits.  My family and I have grown to love him dearly.  He seems to be so grateful to have the intensive care that we offer him.

As I pondered the thought of Moon being an "intensive care unit".  It made me think of how we are all really "intensive care units".  We all have a disease called sin that makes us sickly and requires that we receive a lot of attention and love from a loving heavenly Father.  Sometimes we all are flat on our backs and in desperate need for God to see us and hear us.  It reminded me of a story of a woman who had been put in a bad situation and ended up being abandon by those who she thought cared for her.  Here is her story....

Genesis 16

Hagar and Ishmael

1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"
"I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.

9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael, [a]
for the LORD has heard of your misery.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward [b] all his brothers."

13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen [c] the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi [d] ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Genesis 21:8-21

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring [b] will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."

14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she [c] began to sob.

17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

There was a lot of sin involved in this story if you ask me.  Everyone in this story needed intensive care!  Our focus is on Hagar for now though.  She may have caused some of her need for intensive care but don't we all.  She however was not neglected by God.  He saw her and heard her when she was flat on her back.  When Sarah and Abraham abandoned her she was not abandoned by God.  He took care of her, encouraged her, and gave her his guidance when no one else would.  Without God she would have died in the wilderness.  God saw her and he heard her!
Do you feel abandoned and alone?  Has someone that you loved or cared for stopped loving you and caring for you?  Have they sent you away or walked away from you?  Are you in the wilderness wondering what you are going to do?  I have some good news for you.   God sees you!  Cry out to him!  When you do, he will hear you!  He will stop whatever He is doing and come to your side and give you intensive care.  He knows exactly what you need and what you need to do.  Don't be afraid anymore.  He will make sure that all your needs are met.
1 Peter 5:7 (Amplified Bible)
Casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all) on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Philippians 4:19 (NLT)
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

My cat Moon had been left in the woods basically to take care of himself and he was not used to that.  He had been an inside cat for all his life therefore he was in terrible shape when we got him. He was skinny and had sores on him and almost died.  He had to spend the night at the vet in intensive care hooked up to an IV.  It is truly a miracle that Moon is alive today.  As I write this he is lying flat on his back looking at me with those beautiful green eyes so I must go give him some intensive care.  I am so thankful that God lead me to adopt him.  I am convinced that when Moon was abandoned to the woods that God saw him and heard his cry and spoke to me to go and rescue Moon.  I am so thankful that I obeyed God and that Moon has the intensive care that he needs now.
I hope that you know that God sees you and hears you no matter where you are and what has happened to you.  He will not abandon you even if everyone else has.  He loves you and he cares intensively for you!   Tell him what you need today and he will see to it that your needs are met.  If he did it for Moon Pie he will certainly do it for you!!
Dear Father who sees me,
Thank you so much that you see me and hear me when I cry out to you.  Thank you for rescuing Hagar and her son when she was abandoned by her husband and Sarah.  Thank you for rescuing Moon when he was abandoned by his owner.  Sometimes I feel alone and abandoned by this big world and I feel as if I am flat on my back and that I may never be able to get up.  Please rescue me and give me intensive care during these times so that all my needs will be met and help me to know that you will never abandon me and that you will always take good care of me regardless of what others do to me.  I love you Lord and I thank you for caring for me so much that you gave your only son Jesus to die for me.  I know that is the greatest act of love and I am sorry if I have ever doubted your love and care for me.  Lord I am crying out to you now....please take care of me!!  I am an intensive care unit and I need your intensive care always.  In Jesus name, Amen!

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Don’t Be De”feeted”!

May 29, 2010

There seems to be a battle going on over my feet!  Yes, I said my feet!  See, I have two cats and they both love to lay on my bed at my feet.  They will paw and slap at each other until one of them is de"feeted".  It is usually the cat that I have [...]

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“What Cha Doing?”

February 13, 2010

With two cats and a pet cockatiel in my house, things can get messy sometimes.  I find myself always cleaning up after one of them.  One of my favorite things to say to my cats is "What Cha Doing?".  They have never answered that question with words but boy have they ever answered it with [...]

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