Training Camp. Cats. Fundraising. Training Camp. Cats. Fundraising. Training Camp. Cats. Fundraising.
That's what my brain is saying right now.
Training Camp is in 4 days, and excited doesn't even begin to cover it. I am SO ready to move forward in our World Race experience, experience brokenness and spiritual and emotional renewing, hang out with my L Squad family, and just get a little taste of what is to come.
But, believe it or not, that is not what is weighing on my mind the most.
See, we have three wonderful cats, and they have not been able to live with us for the past 5 months. This has been incredibly hard for me. I am a Cat Person, with a capital CP.
Most people who go on the Race and have animals are able to trust their care to their families or close friends. Unfortunately, Josh's family cannot take them because of severe allergies, and my family cannot take them because they are full up on animals, with 4 cats and a dog.
Because we live with Josh's family, and have since the end of February, they have been staying at a temporary foster home. This foster home will not be able to keep them the whole time we are gone, however, because they are full on animals, too, with 5 cats and 4 dogs (not including ours).
One of our cats, Willow, has found a permanent foster home for the entirety of the time we are gone. She is currently living in Houston, Texas, and I am SO grateful that she is adjusting well and being taken care of.
Willow, at her new house, playing with the box instead of the new toy. So typical, haha.
This is Moo. He is a 1 year old tuxedo cat. We adopted him by default when I still worked at the shelter. I was working intakes that day (checking in and vaccinating the new arrivals to the shelter), and a lady brought in a crate of 4 four week old orphaned kittens. Their mom was a stray that lived on her property, and had just been hit by a car. She brought them in because she knew they wouldn't make it without their mom, and she didn't know what to do. At that time, we had a really bad outbreak of upper respiratory infections (a common respiratory disease in cats that is very contagious, and hard to control in shelter environments. It is eventually fatal if not treated with antibiotics). I knew if we took these kittens in, they would just go straight back to the vet to be put to sleep. As newborn, orphaned kittens, they are the most susceptible, and rather than dooming them to a longer, miserable death, it would be more humane to put them to sleep. Usually when I encountered tough situations like that, I would try to be neutral about it, and not look the animal in the eye. It is the only way to get through the day sometimes. I accidentally looked in the crate, and into the 4 pairs of huge, round, sad eyes, and I just couldn't do it. I decided I was going to try to find someone on the staff to foster them, but no one could. So, I took them home (and told Josh after the fact, when he was on his way home from work, lol). Three of the kittens died, one by one, in 3 days. It was really hard, but kittens really need the nutrition that only their mom can provide, and they were just too little and fragile. But Moo was always the strongest, and would hog the food from the other kittens (as I assume he did with his mom's milk). He's a survivor.
We totally intented on taking him back to the shelter when he was old enough to be adopted, and figured we would only have him about a month. He had to be 8 weeks old, and weigh at least 2 lbs to be adopted, because all the animals were spayed or neutered before they left the shelter. He was 8 weeks, but he had a hard time gaining the last few ounces. I would often take him back and forth to work with me, and somewhere along the way he got sick with a URI. So, we kept him for longer to treat him for it. By the time everything was said and done, we had him for 3 months, and the thought of someone else adopting him was too hard. I tried to put him up for adoption, but they whole day he was in adoptions, I was on edge, crying, and when I would go to visit him, he would cling to my shoulder and cry, like he was saying, "Mom! Take me home. I don't like it here!" I was also coming up on my one year anniversary of working there, and you get a free adoption. So, I convinced Josh and we adopted him officially.
Moo is a sweet little guy. In fact, his nickname is Little Guy. He is very food motivated, and would stand in the kitchen, every night, and cry if we hadn't given him his treat yet. I once caught him on the kitchen counter, licking the cheese off of the grater. He is not so much of a cuddler, but that is because he likes to think that he is independent, but deep down he is still the baby. He loves Desmond, and likes to do whatever he is doing, and learns naughty tricks like running out the front door from him. He's kind of more of a low key guy, and he prefers a more chillaxed environment.
He LOVES this little yellow squishy ball. Out of all the expensive Christmas gifts I got them, this 50 cent ball was the favorite. Of course.
Also, we are still fundraising. We have met our deadline for Training Camp, but we are still far from our deadline to launch in September. We have to reach the $13,000 mark by August 18th, and we are currently sitting at $7, 414.69. It has kind of been discouraging the last few weeks, because our account has not moved in awhile. I know that God will provide, it's just hard to see it sometimes. If you would like to donate, either click the Support Us tab above, or send a check to:
Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
Make sure to write "Josh and Jen Mendenhall-The World Race" in the memo.
Thanks, and peace.
