My daughter is living with me and has been for the past four years while she has been working to get her degree. In addition to my daughter, I have also housed her two felines.

One of her felines is a flame point Siamese cat. This cat is beautiful. He has orange highlights, set against brilliant, silky white fur and bright, sky blue eyes.

He is an inside cat, but he has an identity issue, because he thinks he is an outside cat.

This morning he flew past me as I went out to attend to things on my back patio.

He wanted to eat some grass this morning and there is plenty of grass in my back yard to eat.

Whenever I open the front door, he either sneaks around to stroll through my front bushes or he walks down the sidewalk. He likes to roll on the cement in the hot, summer sun.

Then there are the times I go to my garage and I look down at my feet and yes, he is right underfoot.

I am a bit worried that something may happen to him. We have some dogs in the neighborhood who are under the impression that cats are a free lunch. So, I try to keep him contained in my house. It can be a very time-consuming effort.

So, this morning when he slipped out my initial reaction was to run after him and chastise him while I threw him back inside. I stopped before I got to him. He was just eating grass and sometimes cats need that for their digestion. He was in the backyard and no dogs were around.

I stood there on my back patio, watching the cat and then I looked up at the clear blue sky. A few wisps of clouds hung in the air as if they had been painted on the canvas of sky. I breathed in deeply, noting no wind was trying to steal my breath. A bird flitted through the air and I inhaled the sounds of nature.

As I gazed at the expanse of the sky, I whispered “You are magnificent. You are just magnificent.” I looked at the beauty surrounding me and my heart was filled with gratitude for my God.

Sometimes worship can be in church, but I find fellowship with God is unhindered when I am in the midst of nature. Maybe that is why my daughter’s cat is always slipping outside…