The Worst Cat in the World

The worst cat in the world. 

This is not a post for animal lovers. As a former pro-cat ambassador I can tell you that I am now pro-choice.... the choice being to love or hate them at your own discretion. 

About 6 months ago my life took a different turn then I had ever taken before. 

After 33 years of living with other people in the house, I was finally getting a house to myself. 

My housemate had decided to move away for work and I started making plans about this new chapter of adulthood. 

As I pictured my house with nobody but me abiding in it, I imagined it to be a mixture of sadness and happiness. While I was excited for the freedom, I worried that I would turn into a hermit or a hoarder without the accountability of someone being there to judge me. I also worried that I would die alone and be found half eaten by Alsatians a month later. But mostly I worried that I would have nobody to talk to. 

I imagined my life coming home from work and I needed something to greet me. I needed something to curl up next to me at night and I needed something to take care of. With no boyfriends on the horizon, I settled on the addition of a furry animal. 

This is what lead me to make a terrible life decision and learn a big fat life lesson. 

I researched and researched and saved my pennies and a week after my housemate had made the big move, I was ready. I had found the breed of cat I wanted to buy, I had decided against adopting from an animal haven (save your judgement, I got my comeuppance don't you worry) and I was ready. However, it was proving to be a very difficult task. I began to get obsessed with finding this perfect animal. 

Every breeder had sold out, lived miles away or didn't reply and I was getting frustrated. How can I have this perfect little single life in my perfect little cottage without my purrfect fur ball kitten? 

So, I stood in church on a Thursday night church meeting and while everyone was praying for their family, their jobs, their health, I'm ashamed to say, I prayed for a kitten. The scary thing about this was that God responded. And in a big way, what not in the way I expected. 

"I don't want you to have one," he said as clear as day. 

He gave me a reason why (which I am still working through and may tell you one day, dear friend, but not today) suffice to say, I was not happy! 

"Okay," I said. 

The same way I would say okay to my mum when she wanted me to clean my room growing up. I had every intention of obeying unless a better option came along. 

Another option came along very quickly. The very next day at 3.30pm I received an email. Someone who I had emailed weeks ago had a kitten ready for me. I finished my work day, rushed down to the pet store, bought a truck load of cat "essentials", and travelled over an hour drive to pick up my new little mate. 

The Sweet Harmless little thing

The whole way there I blared loud music and ignored any inner dialogue that was knocking at the door questioning my decision. The whole way back, with my new kitten on board, I had a rock weight in my stomach. 

“Desire without knowledge is not good— how much more will hasty feet miss the way!”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I had rushed into this decision with hasty feet. I knew what I wanted and I wasn't going to let anything stand in my way. I was going against the knowledge I had been given. I knew in my guts it was wrong.

The cat, a little boy kitten called Harvey was a cute little ball of terror. He was aggressive, possessive, anxious and destructive. He fretted when I left the house and showed me by weeing on my furnishings when I got home. The worst thing, however, wasn't his behaviour but my intense and prolonged allergies to him. 

Harvey's True Nature

If anyone asked me about how it was going I'm pretty sure I lied straight to their face. How could I tell them I didn't want to go home, that I regretted the whole thing? I was pro-cat, but this thing was satan's spawn. 

Long story short, 4 weeks later, with scratches up my arms, a severe cough and sinus issues and urine soaked furnishings on the kerb side, I placed a gumtree advert for the little menace and re-homed the kitten to a lovely couple. I still carried my residual allergy symptoms on 3 weeks later. 

I learnt a huge lesson those few weeks, a lesson that I hope to carry through for the rest of my life. To listen and obey. 

“Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭11:28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I count my blessings that my life lesson could be taught with the example of a kitten rather then something far more serious. I could have kept the cat, life would have gone on, but the truth was evidently clear. Blessing abound for those who listen and obey.

I would like to think that this was a lesson put in place so that the next time I hear the voice to stop that I do and prevent something far more damaging from happening in my life.

I heard it said the other day. 

"Go as if life is giving you the green light but be on the look out for the red!" 

When you chose to be a believer and put your life in God's hands you need to go but you also need to listen. Just because you think something is right for you, doesn't mean it is. 

For those who are wondering, I am loving this home situation sans-pet. I have found that life has become very peaceful and quiet. I have ensure I have stayed in touch with friends but I also enjoy my time of serenity. This season is sweet, rewarding and blessed. And who knows what is in store just around the corner... I just have to go and obey! 

Have you ever had the red light moment with God and went for is anyway? What does that red light look like or feel like to you? For me it is a rock in the stomach and deep knowing that it isn't right. 

Maybe you are going though something similar right now. It's never too late to stop and figure out what it is. Sometimes your breakthrough is waiting at the crossroads of the last thing God directed you to do. Maybe it's time to back track and realign with God's plans that he has for you. It's never too late to fix it all up. (You might just have to throw away a few soiled cushions). 

Xxx 

Shannon

The Godliness of Singlehood

The Godliness of Singlehood

When I was in youth group in the 90’s and early 2000’s, there was common thread amongst visiting preachers. They would always show photos of their wives and declare to the group how hot she was

“Isn’t my wife smokin’?”

“Damn girl you fine!”

 “My wife is H.O.T.T hot!!”

These were just some of the statements from the pulpit. While they were just possibly trying to complement their wives, sitting proudly in the front row, they were saying so much more.

They were also sending a message to the rest of the audience. Quite without meaning to, they were helping to create a culture and perpetuate the myths that have long been upheld in our modern day church culture. 

1.       That the ultimate goal in life is marriage. 

2.       That the value in a woman is not how kind, caring, godly, holy or funny she is… its how they look

3.       A hot wife is a reward to a Christian man for being holy (and it’s a status symbol, much like a Ferrari is)

In the secular world, the very same message had already been preached for years. You are not really loved unless someone of the opposite sex has declared it so. Pretty people deserve more love. Your ultimate goal is to find romantic love and then you will be validated.

In the 1950’s up to 80% of all adults were married. (That means people between the ages of 18 and dead) . Now we sit at a very different figure, only 50% of all adults are married at this moment in time. Why? We are marrying later, we are not married, we are getting divorced, or we are widows. With Hollywood, our Baby Boomer parents and society still preaching that marriage is the path to success and happiness, are 50% of people not living up to their potential as one part of a whole? How can we reconcile what is really our cultural views and what is God’s views on our single state?

Singleness is a gift.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul writes these words.

Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.

1 Corinthians 7:7

We seem to have this the other way round. The "curse" of singlehood follows us around, we are asked to come up with reasons as to why were are not married. We are a concern or disappointment to those who care. We are whispered words of advise as to how we can snag a partner. We are taught to fix our "problem".

Single life is a gift, just as married life is a gift. We are in a place of blessing and reward. There are benefits to being single, there are benefits to being married, but the message is clear, either way, your life is a gift. In fact, Paul goes so far as to promote singledom it as the “simpler” way of living, Not that we are comparing.

Your marriage status does not define you

And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there.

God, not your marital status, defines your life.

1 Corinthians 7:17

Wow! Just wow! The scripture clearly states that your left ring finger doesn’t define who you are. How you LIVE, How you OBEY, how you LOVE and how you BELIEVE is the essence of who you are. Marital status is just who you live with.

Paul encourages us to live in the moment right where we are. He encourages us to obey the call of God in and on our lives. We shouldn’t be so intent on the distractions of romantic love that we fail to hear the father’s love that calls to us. To listen to him and follow him is truly where our rewards and blessing lie. He pushes us to love other, not a romantic love but a love of friendship for each other that causes us to protect and give and cherish. And lastly, he encourages us to believe. To believe for what? That God’s got it, that he knows the desires of our hearts, that he knows what we need, what we crave, what is good for us.

Stop complicating it

 I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily.

Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out. 1 Corinthians 7: 29

Today I went to a big event for my church. I arrived myself, sat by myself and felt quite sorry for myself. When everyone is busy and the place is crowded, it is easy for a singleton to feel a little lonely. After the service, I received messages from some different couples about lunch. It was so amazing to feel wanted and loved. It was also really cool to just hang with super normal people who happen to be married.

Afterwards I drove home feeling great and lifted up. How simple it all is, I thought. They found someone they liked and then they married them and now they hang out together, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups. It’s not complicated, they don’t run around lamenting about the big drama that marriage is, they don't play silly games with each other designed to win or lose.  They focus on living and living well.

Like wise in my home life in my work life and in my friendships I am trying to live simply. I am trying to take out the complications of drama and my rights and the "unfair" patterns of life. its about decluttering my life and living well.

Nobody is better than the other.

Marriage is spiritually and morally right and not inferior to singleness in any way, although as I indicated earlier, because of the times we live in, I do have pastoral reasons for encouraging singleness.

1 Corinthians 17:38

Nobody has “won” because they got married. Nobody is ‘holier” because they have waited. We’re on the same level. It’s some time easy for a single person to think that they are not “good enough” and that’s why they have remained single. But maybe, you are actually doing fine. Maybe it is about more than all of that. Maybe it’s about so much more.

So what should we do? Let’s live our lives for this moment right now. Let’s live a simple life. lets live a life dedicated to God's true purpose for our lives.

He knows your heart

Finally, and I feel I need to say this because it speaks to our deepest fear as a single person who wants to find love. Just because you are single now doesn't mean it is where you will always be.

Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
⁶ He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways

Psalm 37:3

 God has got you. He knows what you ache for. He knows how hard it is to be the "forever single". He knows how you feel so lonely when you are in a crowded place. He knows how you lie in bed and wish for someone to hold. How you have secrets you don't feel safe revealing to anybody, how you wish for a confidant.

God knows the desires of your heart. He wants to give them to you. He isn't withholding from you. He isn't punishing you because you are not enough. You need to know that he sees you. Take delight in God, in where he has placed in front of you right now. Enjoy the "safe pasture" of your life right where you are right now. Your dawn is coming. Be still and do good.

xxx

Shannon