One summer I was mowing the yard with my mom and at some point I heard her yell “run!” I quickly abandoned the lawnmower and ran up the hill and around the house and opened the back door for my mother who was running significantly slower than I was. I helped her into the house and got her something to drink after she claimed down. I didn’t see the threat before running but I didn’t need to and as it turned out as my assumption regarding the reason behind her instruction was correct.

I was searching for something to give my Rabbi and his wife. I loved them very much so I just wanted to give something. I found his wife a pretty lacy kippah for ladies that had pearl colored beads in it which I really thought was very beautiful and something she would like.

That period of time may have lasted about a year or so, but the amount of time isn’t that important. What I really want to tell you is how I got there. I am not one to blame God for things…well actually I take that back. Thinking about it now I recall how I did have a tendency to assume God was punishing me if anything went wrong, be it cat dying or anything else, before learning more about God’s love for me. But even back then I viewed it as punishment justly deserved, not something worth getting mad at God for - unlike this time.

I was in a training class for a new job. One day the teacher mentioned that we had been exposed to strep throat because someone who was in the class had it but she decided to go home and the teacher didn’t have the time to disinfect everything in the room before the whole class got there. As we went on with the lessons she repeatedly showed concern that she might get sick and seemed to be sincere in her concern for avoiding illness and she wasn’t the only one in the class concerned about it.

My cat wasn’t satisfied to eat kibble out of his bowl that had been sitting there all day. He wanted to see me personally pour it out fresh from the bag each time. But what can you expect from a cat with a name like King? Many times after hearing his pitiful meowing thinking he had nothing to eat I’ve followed him as he lead the way to his bowl just to find he still had food, but he wanted to see me pour cat food out of the bag before eating. Despite pointing to the food right in front of him he’d just look back at me with his cute eyes waiting to be fed, or more accurately to see me give him more kibble although he already had some-because he wouldn’t accept what was in front of him.

I am used to traveling pretty far distances for work but one thing I never really used while driving was cruise control. I knew it was there but I didn’t want to experiment setting it while trying to get somewhere quickly and I didn’t care enough to bother when I had spare time. But one day I finally figured out how to set the cruise control option and I loved it.