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2 Corinthians 2:14 – But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. (NIV)
Earl Grey came to me as a three-month-old kitten. I am not much of a cat person, but there was something special about Earl.
My granddaughters called him "Jungle Cat", since he ran like a gazelle and climbed anything and everything. He also loved to travel in the truck, and he followed me just like a dog wherever I went. He came when he was called, never scratched the furniture, and had impeccable manners.
When we moved from northern British Columbia, Canada, to Alberta, he thoroughly enjoyed the trip and adjusted well to our new home.
The morning that I arose and saw that he wasn't sitting in his usual spot waiting for his breakfast, I knew that something was wrong. Earl never did come home again, and neither did my daughters' Siamese cat, Daisy. We discovered coyote scat along the driveway and out along our gravel road. Coyotes love a good feline meal.
I was heartbroken. Earl was just under ten months old. He had hardly begun to live. I wondered why God had opened my heart to adopt this little fellow, only to lose him in such a short time.
As I took the dogs for their daily walk, I often pondered my loss and what seemed like the senselessness of Earl's death. Then one day, the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the fact that I had written several devotionals about Earl, devotionals that pointed both myself and others to God's goodness and presence in our lives. In remembering this, I realized that Earl's life had not been lived in vain. His short life was used to glorify God and His kingdom. What greater purpose and victory could any life have?
As we proceed into another new year, I urge each of us to consider our own lives and how we are living them, whether for ourselves and our own desires, or for Christ and the glory of His kingdom. Also consider that because God was able to use a kitten to bring glory to His kingdom, how much more He is able to use each and every one of us. May our hearts thus be open to the power and guidance of His Spirit, day by day, making 2024 a remarkable and spiritually victorious year as we choose to live for Him and Him alone.
Prayer: Father God, what a great and marvellous God You are! Open our hearts today to desire first and foremost to live for Christ, through our obedience to Your Word and the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. Use us, Lord, to glorify Your kingdom, so that as many souls as possible may be won and changed forever for Christ in 2024. In His name, we pray. Amen.
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daughter: "Update May 12, 2025: Please keep praying for my daughter. She needs the Lord in her life*** April..." 
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Amen.
Life is a gift – we need to use it well.
Thanks for the devotional today! Keep writing!!
So sorry about the fur babies. We do get attached. Have a happy New Year.
A great and inspiring devotion to start the new year. Happy New Year to you and your family,
I always come away from your writing with a new God inspired revelation. Praise his name for using everything we have to glorify himself. Thanks for sharing!
Lynne:
So sorry about Earl and Daisy. It’s so hard losing loving, loyal pets.
(On)
Good morning, Lynne,
Thank you so much for using your life to glorify God. Thank you for telling us about Earl, the kitten whose life was used to glorify God.
Thanks Lynne,
You always write so well, and we always relate.
God bless and Happy New Year.
(ON)
Thank you, Lynne,
I loved your devotional today.
May God use each of us in 2024 to glorify His Holy Name.
Amen!
Thank you, Lynne, for using this good kitten illustration to challenge us to live our lives for Christ.
(Sorry that you lost Earl Gray though)
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and yours!
Happy New Year Lynne,
Thank you for this today. Sorry to hear about Earl Grey but it is true how God can use even a kitten to show His desire for mankind.
God bless you.
Lynne – My eyes are tearing up as I grieve the loss of Earl; he had become dear to all of us.
Our family shared similar blessings with our cat, a cat unlike any other.
God certainly enriches our lives with these exceptional creatures.
We lost our old black lab grand-dog a few days ago. He was difficult. We loved him.
I sat on my couch and cried for a long time. A pigeon friend sat at the window through it all and brought me comfort.
Thank you, Lynne.
Your devotionals are always amazing and heaven sent.
Lynne, your example of Earl Grey being used in devotionals to illustrate spiritual truths God made clear to you is a wonderful reminder. It made me think of how we believers are to be “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5) as our lives can remind others of spiritual truths. Every time I sip a cup of Earl Grey, I’ll think of your good little cat and how you found lessons from God through him.
Oh Lynne, so sorry to hear what happened to your kitty cats. Pets become such a part of family and are dearly missed. You do such a great job in your devotional writing in coordinating life happenings and the importance of seeking and following our loving Lord. We gain such added peace and comfort honouring Him in our lives. Blessings for these writings you do and may the New Year be a special one for you.
Sad to hear of the cruel loss of Earl Grey. But today’s Daily Devotional strengthened my New Year Resolve, to walk in Wisdom.
“May our hearts be open to the power and guidance of His Spirit, day by day, making 2024 a remarkable and spiritually victorious year as we choose to live for Him and Him alone.”
Thanks for the blessing of this encouraging Prayer,
(BC)
Hello Lynne – it’s been awhile since I’ve taken time to read the reflections. My husband has developed dementia, and my time is very largely taken up with my regular Bible readings and with watching over him. How lovely to hear your ‘voice’ immediately as I decided to read more widely again. Your point here is so in line with my new experiences of being basically housebound. As always, your stories inspire me, and I’m so grateful to God for such provision. God bless.
Dear Lynne, I love the name Earl Grey and he was a mighty Special cat! How wonderful to read of how much joy he brought to your life and to the countless number of others who were introduced to him and to Jesus through the devotionals he inspired you to write. The love, tenderness, and compassion in your devotional today reaches our hearts in a gentle yet powerful way and we give glory, honor, and thanks to God for the way He allows us to be used in His service, for His glory as He deems best. Thank you for your devotional today!
Good morning, Lynne,
Happy New Year and thank you for the positive twist to a sad story. I try to look at the positive side of things that happen around me. Usually there is one even if I don’t see it right away and it takes some time to open my eyes. It is hard to understand that God allows all the disasters that are happening around the world, even though I know it says it in the Bible that these things have to happen before Jesus comes again. It is hard to see so much suffering. I am sorry for your loss of Earl Grey. He sounded like a very special friend. We need nature to occur, we just hope it won’t affect us personally.
Wishing you and your family “a remarkable and spiritually victorious year as we choose to live for Him and Him alone.” Blessings.
Dear Lynne,
How sad I was to read about your losses. Especially Earl as your stories of his young journey with your family to your new home did and do have a moving impact on me.
Your writings of his little life and those of your family and how God is instrumental in your lives are a powerful guide to my Christian walk.
I admire your gift to remind us to capture and reflect on those moments in our lives, good, sad, hard, and easy and remember the “author and creator” is there. We need only search for them. Earl helped in this.
You are, and have been, blessed and I personally appreciate your sharing in your writings as they seem to always resonate with me.
Thank you and may God comfort you at this time.
Thank you, Lynne. My son just lost his dog who ate everything in sight, literally. She, too, had something to tell the world.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging devotional with us. How sad for your dear cat, but his little feline life truly did glorify God!
Blessings.
Lynne, yes, I remember reading about Earl before. I am so sorry you lost him and the Siamese cat. I love your teachings and always learn something.
I don’t know how you do it, but I am glad you do. Take care. And May God bless you and yours on two legs and four.