We have a cat. His name is Clarkson.

We have noticed very interesting things about him during this Movement Control Order in Malaysia, when we are home all day.

On most nights, Clarkson sleeps in different parts of the room. Sometimes in the sink, sometimes in his cat house, sometimes on the headboard of the bed. However, every morning, Clarkson comes to greet us when we wake up by jumping on the bed, walking on us, and asking us to hug or pet him. He does this without fail every single morning.

It's a nice cheerful feeling, to know that Clarkson wants to spend time with us the first thing in the morning when he or we wake up.

Throughout the day, Clarkson goes about doing his things - playing, eating, disturbing the dogs, doing his zoomies, and doing whatever else a cat does. Sometimes during the day, he will come look for us and jump up on us to ask for a hug or ask us to scratch his chin and ears. This is very fun for us because it brightens up our day by helping us to take breaks. It's especially therapeutic for me because I love animals and Clarkson's little visits never fail to put a smile on my face.

Sometimes when he is being naughty, and I feel like I want a hug from him, I have to chase after him and pick him up to hug him. These hugs don't last very long - and he usually jumps out of my arms after a few minutes to continue running around the house. I smile at him running around doing his antics, but inside I feel just a little bit sad because I want to hug him and spend time with him during the day as well.

At night before we sleep, he comes on the bed and hangs out with us for a while. He plays with the blankets and shows us things that he has caught (mostly beetles and plastic tabs) before he jumps off and goes to choose what he wants to sleep in for the night.

As I think about his behaviour, it brings to mind the sort of behaviour we humans have with God.

In the morning, we wake up, and we go to God in devotion or prayer. We spend time with him. It's a beautiful way to start the day. I get a cheerful feeling too, and I believe God is happy as well.

Throughout the day, we learn to pray unceasingly and sort of do a Touch-and-Go with God as well. When we're especially busy, we forget to pray throughout the day and I'm sure God is sad that we forget to spend time with Him. I'm sure the way I feel when I want to give Clarkson a hug while he's running around and Clarkson jumps out of my arms to keep running around, that's how God is feeling too.

At the end of the day, we end the day by spending time with God, just like Clarkson, and we tell God all about the little things we've done that day before we turn off the lights and go to bed.

It's interesting how a house cat can teach you lessons on personal devotion. I can't wait to head back out to nature again to learn more. :)

Edit:

We are currently hosting another cat called Miller, who is named after William Miller. We originally adopted him from his previous home where he was being bullied by other cats, hoping that he could fare well in our home. However, he doesn't get along with Clarkson at all and they fight each other every time they are not separated. We sadly have to now rehome Miller for his own sanity and wellbeing to a single cat household - and we have found a great and better forever home for him with our dear close friend - Joseph Tean!

However, as the MCO extends more and more, Joseph is feeling particularly excited and a little anxious about getting Miller to him - because he lives in Penang and interstate travel in Malaysia is currently banned.

So, a few days after I wrote this post, a friend of mine named Joseph Tean shared a very similar lesson that he too learnt from his cat! :)

Interesting, isn't it, how we can learn lessons from cats? :)

• It may be because we do not have children to learn these lessons from. ;)