Saturday, May 3, 2014

Review: Cats Are Part of His Kingdom, Too


Cats Are Part of His Kingdom, Too
By Cindy Vincent
Mysteries by Vincent, LLC, 2013


A touching devotional that cat lovers will enjoy!


Summary

As Christians, sometimes it’s hard for us to comprehend the love our Heavenly Father has for us, His Earthly children. Author Cindy Vincent began to realize the depth of His love after caring for several rescued cats and then bringing them into her home. That’s when she began to notice the parallels between her relationship with these precious felines and God’s relationship with us. After all, as a pet Mom, she works in so many behind-the-scenes ways to make life wonderful for her little feline family, much like God works behind the scenes to make life wonderful for us. Yet much like her cats have no comprehension of all that she does for them, we have no comprehension of all that God does for us.

Before long, she began to see lots of parallels, and decided to put these down in the form of Daily Devotions, to demonstrate just how very much God loves us.




My thoughts

First let me state that I love cats, so Cindy had a very receptive audience for this book to begin with. This is not a deep or theological book, but rather a tender collection of meditations that anyone who loves cats will relate to and find inspiration from. I was also pleasantly surprised at Cindy's spiritual insight in being able to draw parallels between her relationship with her beloved cats and our relationship with a loving God. Indeed, Cats Are Part of His Kingdom, Too!

"Witty, inspiring, feel-good, heartwarming, and touching" are a few ways I would describe this sweet book. It contains 33 short devotionals, each with an observation of behavior or characteristic, followed by a brief application and Scripture passage. Cindy is an excellent writer and her words easily flow across the page. These devotionals would be good for personal meditation, but I also think they would work extremely well for teaching moments with children.

Here's one of my favorites as an example:

        When we adopted Moose, he was an orphan kitty and barely three weeks old. he was probably the runt of the litter, and his Mom had been killed before he'd even been weaned. That meant we had to bottle-feed him with special kitten formula if he had any hopes of survival. So there he was, this teeny, tiny little black fuzzball, curled up in the palm of my hand, sucking noisily from a doll-sized bottle and staring up at me with adoring eyes.
        I asked my husband what we should name this miniature kitten. He smiled and said without hesitation, "Moose."
       "Moose?" I laughed. "That's a pretty big name for such a little guy."
       "He may be little now," my husband said. "But someday he'll be a great, big cat."

Cindy goes on to write that God "doesn't just see us as we are today. He sees our future and he sees what we'll become, as long as we continue to walk with Him and keep growing in our relationship with Him." That's a message that always brings comfort and touches my soul.

Other devotionals remind us of even more spiritual truths:  that God loves us in spite of our imperfections or brokenness . . . that we really don't need to worry, because God will take care of us . . . that we can trust Him because He's always there for us . . . that God has blessed each of us with special gifts . . . to open our eyes because there are miracles all around.

I appreciate all that Cindy has done to rescue and love cats, a precious part of God's creation. I enjoyed every minute spent in reading this collection and recommend it all who have a love for cats.

Please note that Cats Are Part of His Kingdom, Too is free for Kindle from now through May 6!


Cat Show Princess

Cindy Vincent was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and has lived all around the US and Canada. She is the creator of the Mysteries by Vincent murder mystery party games and the Daisy Diamond Detective Series games for girls. She is also the award-winning author of the Buckley and Bogey Cat Detective Caper books, and the Daisy Diamond Detective book series. She lives with her husband and an assortment of fantastic felines. You can learn more about the Buckley and Bogey books at www.buckleyandbogey.com.

Connect with Cindy Vincent on Pinterest - Buckley Bergdorf, Cat Detective, Goodreads, and Buckley’s Blog.

This book can be purchased at:
Amazon - Kindle version - free through May 6, $2.99 after that
Amazon - Paper - $7.79
Barnes & Noble - Paper - $7.79

You can also add it to your Goodreads bookshelf.

Thank you to Amber Stokes for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.





GIVEAWAY

This giveaway, like the tour, is a special one - and a little different from the usual set-up! To enter, all you have to do is leave an honest review of Cats Are Part of His Kingdom, Too on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and/or Goodreads (it can be the same review on all three sites!). Then share the link(s) via the Rafflecopter form below, and you'll be entered for a chance to win a Swarovski cross necklace (valued at $130) or a set of the Buckley & Bogey Cat Detective Capers (one of which was featured here back in December)!

To make this giveaway even easier to participate in, check out these tidbits:

1) The book will be FREE for Kindle through Tuesday, May 6! You can pick up your copy HERE. (Regularly priced at $2.99.)

2) The giveaway will be open throughout the month of May. The tour only lasts a week, but the giveaway will stay open the whole month so you have plenty of time to read this short but sweet read and submit your entries!

Follow the Rafflecopter link below or visit the blog tour page to enter when you're ready!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

8 comments:

  1. Thank you soooo much, Carole, for your review and your kind words!! And thanks also for being part of our blog tour. We truly appreciate it!! Your blog looks absolutely gorgeous -- I love the title especially, since, yes, I agree, mere words hold tons of power! I'm hoping and praying the words of my devotional book touch the right people at a time when they need it.

    Buckley and Bogey and the rest of the gang send their regards, too!

    Have a blessed day!!

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    1. And thank you so much for your kind words, Cindy! To have a love for Christ and a love for cats in common is truly special.

      I greatly appreciate your comments about my blog also. I've been a church pianist for almost 50 years - and while this blog is primarily about book reviews, I also wanted it to occasionally include another format of words with power, music. When I came across the picture at the top, entitled "Forgotten Tunes," it really resonated with me, reminding me of so many of the beloved hymns that are rarely sung today.

      My Ebony (totally black, affectionately called "Ebby") sends his best regards also, Cindy. We rescued him at our back door late one night, about 6 wks old, starving, a parasite firmly attached to his neck, and terrified. I just love this little guy!

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    2. Ebony sounds very handsome, and like such a sweetheart!! Buckley and Bogey are always keeping a lookout for a few good characters to help them at the Agency now and then -- the Buckley and Bogey Cat Detective Agency, that is.

      That's fantastic that you've played the piano for so long! I just bought a piano and I'm planning to take lessons. You've given me something to aspire to!!! I'm 55, and I figured it was about time! What was I waiting for?

      Have a wonderful evening, and thanks again!

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  2. Wonderful review, Carole! I'm thrilled by your enthusiasm for this book and tour, and I'm so glad you joined us for this fun event. :) Thank you!

    ~Amber

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    1. It has been a pleasure, Amber. You are very good at publicity - well organized, providing helpful information, staying in touch. I stay pretty busy ("over committed" is probably a more accurate term), but would love to work with you again.

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    2. Aww, thank you so much for those kind words! :) I hear you about being over-committed...but yes, I hope we can work together again sometime! Please do keep in touch. :) You have a lovely blog!

      ~Amber

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  3. I so very much enjoyed this interview! I also am a cat lover and we have a big yellow tabby called "Butter". She is the joy of our life along with our little dog named "Tommy". They are best buds. I would dearly love to read your cat mysteries and also this devotional book. I have never been to a mystery party nor heard/read that type of literature, but it definitely sounds like a winner. Thank you so much for your words of love that God has inspired you to write and to share with others. I'm looking forward to reading your works. Paula (Songbird) Friend

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    1. Paula, I always appreciate your comments, and especially that you took the time to share here. And you're a cat lover too!!! You'll have to tell me more about Butter. If she's half as cute as her name implies . . .

      Cindy's devotional is free through tomorrow, so be sure to get a copy if you have a Kindle. See you on Spark!

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