Sandra Kindt is always up for a good story, written or verbal, although there is that cookbook she won in elementary school that hasn’t seen the light of day. But the times she’s been caught reading historical novels with a highlighter—because there’s always something to learn—should make up for that. After earning an MA in communication, she taught Organizational Behavior at several universities and Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in the corporate world. Her love of writing goes back to the journals she started in the fifth grade, when she fancied herself Nancy Drew. She loves to hang out with her four grown-up kids and six grandchildren. It’s like visiting the best parts of herself.
A mangy alley cat isn’t at the top of anybody’s adoption list. Nevertheless, when Grandma Sandy scoops it up into her arms, her heart nudges her to take it home, and she listens. Grandma always trusts her feelings.
Lots of tender care soon transforms the mangy cat into beautiful, round Chubbs. But when she loses her sight, will she listen to her feelings like Grandma and learn to trust the one who loves her most?
Interview With the Author:
What is your book about?
Chubbs: A Blind Cat learns to Trust is a faith-based, inspirational story about a cat who learns to trust her rescuer. The relationship between Chubbs and Grandma Sandy is a comparison to the relationship we each have with God. Literally blind, Chubbs must learn how to navigate her world just like figuratively blind, we must learn to depend on God’s Spirit to help us navigate our lives.
Why did you write a children’s book?
I wrote this story to share with my grandchildren and to introduce ideas that could be helpful in our noisy, confused world.
Have you always loved cats?
Definitely. When I was in the first grade, I came home from school and found my cat Calico wildly yowling. She was pregnant, but I didn’t connect the dots between her pain and her condition. I did what made me feel better when I had a stomachache. I took her inside and laid her on a heating pad in my bed. When she began howling again, my dad came in my room and scooped her up in his huge hands and took her to her own bed in the outside storage room. I followed them and watched with wonder as she birthed three kittens.
What things do you enjoy the most?
I love reading, writing, exploring family history, quilting, and photography. I used to take pictures of my children all the time when they were young. I also love matinee movies as long as there’s a lounger chair, Diet Coke, and popcorn.
How do you choose what to read or write?
True stories inspire me. Imagining myself in the story offers an experience I may never have otherwise. Chubbs's story is true. Writing about life’s experiences from a spiritual perspective is important to me because I believe that spiritual life and daily life aren’t separate.
What are you good at?
Sewing and Quilting are in my bones. I began learning those skills when I was ten. Sitting on my Grandmother’s bed, I watched how she effortlessly completed a project that seemed too hard for me. I don’t have her patience. Quilting her way, by hand, did not work for me so I had to find a way to quilt with a sewing machine. My quilting style today is very therapeutic. It helps me focus. I’ve learned to follow directions, and I’ve learned much about life by painstakingly “ripping out” my mistakes and starting over.
That’s another thing I good at—being resilient. If I don’t succeed the first, or second, or seventh time, I rally the courage to try again.
I can do hard things. Life isn’t always comfortable or fun. But I know I am resourceful and determined when circumstances require me to be. And most of all, I know that I don’t have to do hard things by myself. God watches over me when things are hard, and I don’t know what to do.
How do you like to spend your time?
When I need something magical, I visit my darkroom where I can watch images emerge from a tray of chemicals.
To rediscover hope, I play with my grandchildren.
To deepen my faith, I study, pray, meditate, and serve. When I’m serving or studying, I’m reminded that my Heavenly Father is always with me.
If I feel cynical or lack trust, I resolve to be more trustworthy.
To escape, I read. I can transport myself into another time and place and imagine how I might carry on in another world.
