Making Biscuits?

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

1 Corinthians 13:11

If you are a cat lover, like me, you are probably aware of the feline behavior, “milk treading,” or “making biscuits.”

When kittens nurse, they “knead” their paws (and their tiny claws) into their mother’s body, in any effort to access milk. They often purr, in contentment, an audible signal that they are getting their needs met.

As kittens grow, many of them never outgrow this behavior. Even adult cats still practice  “making biscuits,” often turning their attention to blankets and their human guardians…us.

Each time they do this, it is a time of blissful nostalgia. They revert to the happiness they experienced as those nursing kittens.

It is the feline equivalent of sucking your thumb, I suppose.

My household has been getting a lot of this kitty thumb-sucking.

Last spring, we adopted two kittens, Sacred Sophia Loren (Because of her exquisite lined, Show-like eyes), and Holy Ingenue.

Each feline has their own personality traits and quirks. Like people, some are introverts; some are extroverts.

Sophia, therefore, was our introvert. She hid, was nervous, and took longer to warm up to us.

But there WAS a moment that the light switch turned on. And it involved “making biscuits.”

It was still somewhat chilly weather. Therefore, yes, fully-grown adult me lounged in my adult flannel “onesie.” An adult, wearing footed pajamas.

I sat on the couch, with the kittens getting used to us and to our home, sniffing, being curious.

Nothing earth-shattering about that.

Enter “making biscuits.”

I have photographic evidence.

Behold:

Sophia’s curiosity overrode her fear. She sniffed my onesie, batted it with a paw.

And then she climbed into my lap.

And immediately, something switched on.

She rotated on the flannel. I detected a soft purr. And then, she started “making biscuits.”

What I quickly surmised was that she identified my onesie as her Mama’s fur.

Instant nostalgia. Instant Mama réassurance. Instant comfort/bliss.

This next photo captured that blissful and adorable face, looking at me.

Instant connection. Instant bond.

We had a breakthrough. The next photo, after about five minutes of “making biscuits,” had her curl up in relaxed happiness.

My heart was all a-flutter.

Not to be outdone by her sibling, Holy Ingenue also has her take on “making biscuits,” on “milktreading.”

However, she gravitates towards an inanimate object: our blue bathmat.

Supposedly, cats vividly see two main colors: blue and yellow, In any case, our little Holy Ingenue storms the bathroom whenever she gets the signal that we are headed that way.

And she seizes the bathmat, grabbing it with her biscuit-making paws, kneading, purring, being in bliss, while focusing, with laser-like precision, on the object of her kittenhood nostalgia.

We think that the bathmat, like my flannel onesie, must give off some kind of “mother cat fur.”

Holy Ingenue will have at it for at least a good, five or ten minutes.

After that, she beams with such a look of contentment and pride.

She is satisfied.

For those of us, “of the human persuasion,” it can seem adorable, amusing, and harmless (except, perhaps, for the puncture wounds of milk-treading paws left in us).

And maybe, we can even elevate ourselves with pride, believing that we are so much greater, smarter, and more mature than a spirited kitten.

Not so fast.

“For through the grace having been given to me, I say to everyone being among you⁺ not to be high-minded above what it is necessary to think, but to think so as to be sound-minded, as YHWH allotted to each a measure of faith.”

Romans 12:3

Because, here, my friend, is where you and I gloss over our own thumb-sucking immature ways.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”

1 Peter 2:2

Yes, two camps: Maturity or Immaturity.

Where do you and I reside?

A little “making biscuits” inventory, perhaps?

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”

Ephesians 4:14

It’s not just schemes that cause us to “suck our thumbs.”

It’s-uh- some stuff in our personalities.

Don’t kill the messenger. You and I are “but dust” (Psalm 103:14).

So, our dusty selves have some “biscuit-making,” “thumb-sucking” tendencies, clunking around.

Immaturity shows up in several different ways, like…

Impatience…

Gravitating towards vices…

Temper tantrums (clean up on aisle four)…

Comfort-seeking behavior…

Any of these ringing bells for you?

All of them show up for me, in my life.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Hebrews 12:1

Yep, these things are just some of the examples of being “easily ensnared.”

“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of YHWH’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”

Hebrews 5:12

That starts by learning.

“So as to walk in a manner worthy of Elohim to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of YHWH.”

Colossians 1:10

Learning. Discovering. Applying.

“For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”

Hebrews 5:13-14

When we turn from our go-to habits, our default setting, and our pacifers of all kinds, we can, ever so slowly, but surely, move from immature to mature. And get better results from that.

Is that process fun?

(What do you think?)

Seriously, the maturing process is a sliding scale for each of us. Individual. Unique.

As unique as how you and I have chosen, throughout our lives to “make our biscuits.”

It may not be as adorable as felines engaging in their nostalgic behaviors, nevertheless, these things can signal us going from maturity to maturity, even if/when it seems infantile or juvenile.

But if we keep trying…

“Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

Philippians 3:12

It’s not just a “cop-out” scripture. It’s a reminder of our pesky humanity. And we all have that about us.

Let’s pray.

Abba Father-

We come to you, in The Name of Our Savior, Your Son, Yahshua.

You know how immature or mature we are right now.

You know where we are.

Forgive us and help us with our choices that do not glorify You.

You know how we choose things that we should have “outgrown” by now.

Vices. Addictions. Character traits that are childish.

You know them all.

Help us to change and grow in the way You desire us to become the people You desire us to become.

We need so much help with this. Thank You for helping us, every step of the way.

We receive Your Help now, in Yahshua’s Name.

Amen.

Copyright © 2026 by Sheryle Cruse