In honor of Thanksgiving (a little late, I know!), I thought I would tell you a story. This is a story about trash. Seriously. Literal, stinking garbage. Sounds like a mood uplifter, right? Well, you see, it all started with these cats…
Oh, how I have a love/hate relationship with the cats outside our gate (and sometimes inside our gate). For one, they hang out around our trash bin. They eat our trash and drag it out all over the place. It’s annoying, you know? But then, they take care of any rat-like animal that may be lurking near our house. So, what can I do? They drive me nuts with their late-night cat fights and trash eating, but I kind of like them because they keep the rats away.
Cat. (It must be noted that none of these cats have what we would call “normal” tails, only adding to their peculiarity.)
These cats got me thinking though. They are eating my trash, what I’ve decided I don’t want, what I throw away. Now, probably, since we’re Americans, we throw away more than the average person here would. We’re learning, but it’s a process to learn to be less wasteful. So, they’ve probably picked a good place. But, there is restaurant upon restaurant down the street. Maybe there are bigger cats there who already claimed their territory? I don’t know, but I wonder if these cats knew it was there…would they go?
Trash bin.
Now, I know I’m crazy. Who thinks this much about cats and their eating habits? But think about it. I think it has some implications for my life. There’s this story from that Father reminds me of from time to time from when I was in high school. We had a weekend where we all gathered together, and this guy came to speak to us. Here’s the story (or best I can remember it) that he told:
It was Thanksgiving day. You know, the one where we eat like kings, with everything you can possibly think of. This day was no different – abundant turkey and casseroles and breads and side dishes and desserts galore. As everyone was busy preparing for the dinner a little later in the day, he tells us that his sister was no where to be found. He began to search for her and finally found her hiding in the pantry, eating corn pops and tootsie rolls. He looks at her, very confused and asks why on earth is she eating that when they’re about to eat a feast! “I couldn’t wait.” She responds. She couldn’t wait for a few hours to eat a feast, so she settled with corn pops and tootsie rolls.
How often am I like that?
I trade the feast for corn pops and tootsie rolls all the time. I trade the marriage banquet for the world’s garbage. I trade the wealth of riches I have in the Father for worthless things on this earth. I give it up, day in and day out. I miss the vision. I miss His glory. He is the Bridegroom, and we are the Bride. Can you imagine the most exquisite wedding banquet that ever existed? He’s preparing a table for us, even in the presence of our enemies. What on earth am I thinking? That’s just it…I’m setting my mind on worldly things, not on things above. I miss the feast because I’m too busy hiding in the pantry eating corn pops and tootsie rolls.
The same thing is true about those cats. I love how I see the Good News in so much lately. It really comes to life when you start to look for it. Now I’m not saying that those cats have a feast waiting for them, but I do know that they’re eating trash. I see how in my own life I feast on the trash of the world when the Bread of Life is offered to me. My Daily Bread has been provided, yet I scrape around, desperate to reach out and taste the world. I’m so thankful that He loves us just the way we are, yet He loves us way too much to leave us like that!
My street.
Oh, how I have a love/hate relationship with the cats outside our gate (and sometimes inside our gate). For one, they hang out around our trash bin. They eat our trash and drag it out all over the place. It’s annoying, you know? But then, they take care of any rat-like animal that may be lurking near our house. So, what can I do? They drive me nuts with their late-night cat fights and trash eating, but I kind of like them because they keep the rats away.
Cat. (It must be noted that none of these cats have what we would call “normal” tails, only adding to their peculiarity.)These cats got me thinking though. They are eating my trash, what I’ve decided I don’t want, what I throw away. Now, probably, since we’re Americans, we throw away more than the average person here would. We’re learning, but it’s a process to learn to be less wasteful. So, they’ve probably picked a good place. But, there is restaurant upon restaurant down the street. Maybe there are bigger cats there who already claimed their territory? I don’t know, but I wonder if these cats knew it was there…would they go?
Trash bin.Now, I know I’m crazy. Who thinks this much about cats and their eating habits? But think about it. I think it has some implications for my life. There’s this story from that Father reminds me of from time to time from when I was in high school. We had a weekend where we all gathered together, and this guy came to speak to us. Here’s the story (or best I can remember it) that he told:
It was Thanksgiving day. You know, the one where we eat like kings, with everything you can possibly think of. This day was no different – abundant turkey and casseroles and breads and side dishes and desserts galore. As everyone was busy preparing for the dinner a little later in the day, he tells us that his sister was no where to be found. He began to search for her and finally found her hiding in the pantry, eating corn pops and tootsie rolls. He looks at her, very confused and asks why on earth is she eating that when they’re about to eat a feast! “I couldn’t wait.” She responds. She couldn’t wait for a few hours to eat a feast, so she settled with corn pops and tootsie rolls.
How often am I like that?
I trade the feast for corn pops and tootsie rolls all the time. I trade the marriage banquet for the world’s garbage. I trade the wealth of riches I have in the Father for worthless things on this earth. I give it up, day in and day out. I miss the vision. I miss His glory. He is the Bridegroom, and we are the Bride. Can you imagine the most exquisite wedding banquet that ever existed? He’s preparing a table for us, even in the presence of our enemies. What on earth am I thinking? That’s just it…I’m setting my mind on worldly things, not on things above. I miss the feast because I’m too busy hiding in the pantry eating corn pops and tootsie rolls.
The same thing is true about those cats. I love how I see the Good News in so much lately. It really comes to life when you start to look for it. Now I’m not saying that those cats have a feast waiting for them, but I do know that they’re eating trash. I see how in my own life I feast on the trash of the world when the Bread of Life is offered to me. My Daily Bread has been provided, yet I scrape around, desperate to reach out and taste the world. I’m so thankful that He loves us just the way we are, yet He loves us way too much to leave us like that!
My street.
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