A Window-Seat Howl and Suspicious Tracks

 

Dear Diary,

It was minus 5 degrees when the alarm went off, but our day truly started at 3:00 a.m. because Mini suddenly jumped up onto the window seat and let out a howl—long and wild—like a little coyote right inside our own house.

Sister Mary Claire and I sat straight up. Thinking she needed to go out, we made it a quick trip. The cold air bit our cheeks, and the snow squeaked under our boots. Mini acted very watchful the whole time—ears out flat like airplane wings, nose working, eyes searching the dark as if she could hear something far away. We didn’t see anything moving, but when Sister held the lantern low, we found something amiss: suspicious tracks crossing the yard where they shouldn’t have been. That made my heart beat faster, because it meant something really had been out there, even if it had already slipped away.

When we got back inside, Sister Mary Claire said, in her gentle way, that Mini knows things we don’t, and we should always respect her wisdom and her sense of awareness. Sister said God sometimes warns us in quiet ways—through a sudden feeling, through signs we only notice if we look closely, or even through a faithful little creature who keeps watch when we are sleepy.

At Mass, Father LeRoy spoke about the Child Jesus remaining in the Temple, and how Mary and Joseph walked along thinking everything was fine—until they realized Jesus wasn’t with them. Father said they didn’t ignore that awful feeling or keep going out of pride or hurry. They turned back right away and searched until they found Him. And I kept thinking about Mini’s howl from the window seat—how she woke us up and made us look, and then we found the tracks. If we had stayed cozy and careless, we would have missed the warning.

I want to be the kind of girl who listens when my heart needs waking—so I don’t drift along pretending all is well when Jesus is calling me to turn back and seek Him.

Little Prayer:

Jesus, please wake up my heart when I’m getting careless, the way Mini woke us up tonight. Help me notice the “tracks” that show me I need to turn back to You, and give me courage to seek You quickly and faithfully. Amen.

Love, Kathy