Hi everyone, my name is Tom, but my Mom, Cheryl, called me Tompus. She thought Tom was to formal for my personality. I was a living member of the St. Matthew by the Lake pet family until I finished my life on this earth.  When I was a kitten I loved to run and jump and play all day.  Then I got a little older and realized that I was the big guy in the house.  The inside/outside kitties went by my rules in the house.  I took care of everything inside that a kitty was supposed to do.  I patrolled at night.  I was my Mom’s sunshine. I believe we all need some sunshine in our lives these days; not just that sun that shines outdoors but also the figurative sunshine that brightens our days and lifts our spirits. We all need that sunshine that gives us that sense of joy and peace that seems to try to evade us all in this COVID-19 wilderness.  About 9 ½ months of the year 2020 have come and gone. People from all over the world have spent over 80% of those 9 ½ months wondering in this COVID-19 wilderness.  Our “house” rules for living safely and worshiping safely have all changed. Maintaining a distance from our friends, whom we used to freely hug, and wearing masks have, for most of us, become our current normal. Life right now is not all that easy and it is easy to lose hope. The good news is that when we look toward Jesus Christ and his resurrection, we can see rays of sunshine and hope.

​Hello everyone, I’m Graylee, another one of the pets that live with Cheryl and Perley.  We are many and they love us all. As you can see by my picture, I am a grey kitty. During these days when it is raining and the skies are grey, like my fur, and we can’t see an end to this pandemic it is easy to feel sad.  We may wonder when this pandemic will end and feel like we have totally lost our summer of 2020. School is back in session and many vacations didn’t happen this year. Some people near and dear to us have gotten sick or even lost their lives to this virus or another disease.  It can be a sad time.  The good news for me is that I am a member of a big family of pets and we do look out for one another. I used to be what is called a Ferrell cat, out there all alone fending for myself, until Cheryl and Perley took me in.  It is so great being a member of a big family and even better now that I know I am a member of an even greater St. Matthew by the Lake pet family. We all know there is an even bigger family and that is God’s family.  Knowing we are members of God’s family can give us comfort in the middle of all this stuff.  As members of God’s family we have hope of healing when we get sick and hope because of Jesus’ resurrection when one of our family members passes from this life.  We know this life is not the end.