Betsy

Betsy may be a wee little thing and a bit of a fraidy cat, but don't underestimate her hunting prowess! She can leap six feet up on the wall to snatch geckos, wait hours to pounce on a cockroach the moment it emerges out from under a cabinet, and snag birds on the occasions when she ventures outdoors. She's pretty much an indoor hunter, though. We've got enough stuff inside to keep her busy.

She's named after Betsy Stockton, the first single female missionary of the modern era. In the late 1800s, Betsy Stockton, a former slave, felt called to be a missionary. However, people were shocked that a single woman, and an African-American at that, would even think of going out as a missionary. She was determined, though, knowing God had called her to serve abroad. Finally, one mission board accepted her to go to Hawaii as a missionary on the condition she accompany a white family as their servant. She humbly agreed, and ended up running a school and a nursing clinic and was the strong support that took care of the whole mission there and kept the work running and the missionaries functional. I was so impressed with this woman when I first heard about her that I named my beautiful little kitten after her. (Side note: Clive, featured in a previous post, is named after C. S. Lewis.)