Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Podcasts
    • Stuck in the Middle With You ↗
    • Madang with Grace Ji-Sun Kim ↗
    • Highest Power: Church + State ↗
    • Non-Disclosure: The Silenced Stories of Kanakuk Kamps Survivors ↗
    • Change-making Conversations ↗
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

Praying with the cat

OpinionPeggy Haymes  |  July 23, 2012

No, that’s not a typo. Let me explain.

I am the head of a not-so-blended family. I have two dogs, Oakley (my first dog ever) and Ralphie (adopted as a companion and best buddy for Oakley.) Although my older cats have passed from the scene, when my father father moved into assisted living I inherited his cat (whom he inherited when my mom died.)

When I finally got around to reading the Humane Society bio of Little Bit, I found that she’d been rescued from a pack of dogs, which explains a lot. I call Little Bit my gangsta cat because I’ve never met a cat so spoiling for a fight with a dog. On the rare occasions that my dogs get into a fight, Little Bit races down the hall to jump into the middle of them, gets in a few good licks and then runs away.

Needless to say, we don’t all curl up by the fire together.

So I’ve begun starting my mornings in the guest room, where Little Bit sleeps. Taking my coffee and journal and maybe a book in, I take advantage of the time to reflect while a cat curls up and purrs in my lap. It’s our quality time.

One day it hit me: What a great time to pray. I was still. It was quiet. What a great opportunity that was just handed to me as I was doing something else.

Sometimes, maybe even many times as my clients think about making changes, they think about big things. Hard things. Thinkgs that will re-order their days. And sometimes change is like that.

But more often I think change and growth and healing and becoming more of who we truly are is more about learning to see. Seeing those opportunities that are already right before us. Seeing the chance to do one small thing differently.  It may not seem like much at first but over time, all of those small things add up and we realize that where we are is not where we were.

 


OPINION: Views expressed in Baptist News Global columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.
Tags:CatsDogsGrowthFaithful LivingHealthy Livingchange
Peggy Haymes
More by
Peggy Haymes
  • This BNG series of articles on Christianity and democracy led toward the July 4 celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The series was curated by Carol McEntyre, senior minister at First Baptist Church of Greenville, S.C.  See the series here.

     

  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Check out our podcasts

    Stuck in the Middle            Highest Power

               Madang                 Non-Disclosure

          Bible Divas                  This Is My Story

  • Politics • Faith • Resistance: by Greg Garrett

    BNG interview series on the state of faith, politics and resistance in our nation.

    See also Greg’s series on Politics, Faith and Mission

     

  • Featured

    • Talarico pledges support for church-state separation

      News

    • Muslim panelists say Islamophobia makes no sense to them

      News

    • Federal judge allows religious charter school in Oklahoma — for now

      News

    • Coalition urges care for freedom of religion and speech

      News


    Curated

    • Pope warns a ‘paradise of machines’ could undermine humanity as he opens France trip

      Pope warns a ‘paradise of machines’ could undermine humanity as he opens France trip

    • Edinburgh University ends divinity programmes as theology faces a changing future

      Edinburgh University ends divinity programmes as theology faces a changing future

    • Sukkot reminds us we can be vulnerable without falling

      Sukkot reminds us we can be vulnerable without falling

    • Why Private Religion and Public Religion Tell Different Stories

      Why Private Religion and Public Religion Tell Different Stories

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2026 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS
    • bh