My kitten, Munchie, is a miracle story.  My Mom found her on our doorstep.  She was severly injured.  Her leg was badly mangled.  We rushed her to our local vet who was not able to do the leg amputation  surgery until we built her up.  Our vet would give us 10 days to build her up with nourishment  and antibotics.

Every day I had to clean her leg with betadine solutions, give her antibiotics and rock her in my arms.  She was so loving, always purring and trusting me.  She was in pain, but still she loved with all of her heart.  I felt ashamed of myself.  I have not endured as much pain as this tiny kitten.  My physical abuse from my ex fiance was nothing compared to what this poor cat had to endure.  Her leg was hanging by a thread.  I cried as I held her and kissed her gently.

She pulled through the surgery and was an inpatient for awhile.  When the discharge date arrived, she came hopping to me full of love.  I have never witnessed so much gratitude and it was the best Christmas Eve I have ever experience.  She survived the surgery.  I felt so much gratitude to our Creator and I still do. 

Some of my co-workers made fun of me for saving her, saying I was wasting my money.  Others felt it was wonderful.  That Christmas I learned the biggest lesson about love.  Invest in love and love will flourish.  No matter what circumstances come our way be they unfair and unjust, our heart is precious and should remain unscarred.  Munchie Mania's heart was unscarred by life's harshness.  She had so much gratitude to be alive.  To me, she became the personifcation of love, of girl power.  My little girl purred constantly, exploring and coming over to lick and nuzzle any human who came her way. 

She taught me that her handicap would not interfere with her spirit.  She was a love bug warrior giving kisses, nuzzles and sweet purrs.  Her mission was to spread joy no matter what.  What a blessing!  Imagine if we decided to purr and be loving, spreading joy like this little cat.  What a revolution of love we would have!

This past weekend, I had to take her to the vet once again for breathing difficulty and she was put on a nebulizer.  Thank God she is doing better.  I realized we can learn alot from animals and that animals reflect the purity of God's love.  Imagine if we decided to invest in love and acts of kindness instead of cold, hearted corporatoins.  How would this transform our world?  To me, life is sacred be it human, animal or plant.  Image if we invested in love with our children and hugged them more or even loved our inner selves more.  I feel we are more precous than diamonds.  We were woven by the hands of God.  No mater what faith you are, God is love and everywhere.  His prescence is within us, beyond us and even in life's creatures.

Love is precious.  It is life itself.  No matter what, we can just let the joy of gratitude permeate our soul because in essence, each day is a gift.  Each day is a blessing and if I could have one prayer, it would be for everyone on beliefnet to have a cat just  like Munchie  who is so loving.  She teaches me every day about the paradox of love.  Love is not about perfection but the imperfection of the authentic self which has a gratitude and a strength beyond the stars.

In truth we are the stars.  Munchie taught me not to limit who I am.  It doesn't matter if I'm fat or thin, rich or poor--all that matters is love, to be kind and to take the time to hop over and nuzzle another human being with words of love, caring, respect and dignity.

Munchie is the best thing that ever happened to me.  If you check my profile, you will see little Munchkie.  Open your heart and let her hop right on in.  She will  nuzzle your heart and envision her gratitude toward you.  She loves you for who you are.  Now that's more divine than chocoate! 

God bless everyone and remember there is much to learn from a little handicapped kitten.  I call it the spark of divine love.