You wouldn’t know this about me if you only know my blogincarnation, or met me after 2005, but I really love cats. Really love them. I’ve owned three: Kilmer, Gershom and Ignatius Polycarp (Iggy to his few friends) and would have one now except my husband made the unfortunate discovery that after having bronchitis annually for five years, the autumn after we moved into a cat free apartment I didn’t get bronchitis. “What’s a little chronic lung inflammation?” I say. But it’s no more cats for me.
As much as I love cats, I understand that they have a different standing in the world than people do. Cats are great, but despite what they would have us believe, when God created someone to care for the rest of creation, to be a steward of all God wrought and most importantly to bear the very image of God, that wasn’t the cat. It was humanity. We are broken with sin and we often do not bear the image of God well, but all of us do bear it. It makes us different from all the creatures and it should shape our view of the world.
My church has a wonderful ministry called Promise Christian Academy. It is a christian school for children with special needs. These children have developmental and physical challenges because this world has been corrupted with sin, but each one of them bears within them the image of God and Promise not only recognizes that, it exists because of that. Promise is very dear to me, and I have seen the marked impact it has made on the lives of two of my friends who have been called by God to raise special needs children.
Right now Promise Christian Academy has the opportunity to receive a $15,000 grant from Monsanto. Whatever you feel or believe about that company really isn’t the point at all here. The point is that a large company headquartered in St. Louis gives a small amount of money to a local charity every year, and this year it could be Promise. I believe it should be Promise. Unfortunately this is a grant awarded by popular vote and at the moment Promise Christian Academy is running second place to a cat shelter.
I have never done this on this blog before, and it might make no difference whatsoever in the out come, but I would like you to consider clicking here, (or clicking on the picture to the left) typing “Promise” into the box labeled “quick search” and voting for the care and education of image bearing children. You don’t have to live in Saint Louis. You don’t even have to live in the United States. All you have to do is confirm your email address once (through an email they will send you) and you can vote every day for the remainder of the contest.
We only have until August 26, which isn’t that long, but would you please consider voting for Kids before Cats.
Life More Abundant 