Soggy, angry rats (...I mean, uh, cats)
So I bathed our two cats today for the first time since before I was expecting Gardner (I couldn't stand the smell of their shampoo during the early months, and thereafter, I was too large and round to bend over the bathtub!). They were not as tempermental and difficult as I'd predicted, seeing as it HAD been over a year since I had dunked them under. Bathtub filled up to about six inches, I let them stand and let out long, angry meows as I poured water over them with a cup, then scrubbed them with my fingernails with flea shampoo.
Every now and then I'd have to tighten my grip as they tried to dart up and out of the tub. Gardner sat behind me in his little seat, wide-eyed as he heard the cries of each unhappy feline.
Finally, somewhat clean and hopefully rinsed thoroughly, the cats were ready to be let out. I finagled the towels around them as much as I could; about 30 seconds' worth of towel drying was all they'd allow. I dumped each one into the study, where I'd placed a space heater for their comfort, and shut the door. About an hour later I peeked in to see two cats with very enlarged pupils glaring back at me, hairs sticking up on end. It is now 5 hours later, and their fur is still slightly damp.
As I completed this daunting task, I was reminded how helpless they must feel. How helpless any baby must feel, at that, to rely on someone bigger than they are to tote them to and fro, to bathe them, feed them, change them, comfort them.
And in a way, we are helpless ourselves as adults when it comes down to living life triumphantly. We can't live a life that is victorious without the supernatural intervention of Christ each day. Try as we might, our hands are fumbling and our mouths are stuttering....it is He alone that will give us what we need for each day's schedule of events and trials that may arise.
Sometimes it takes servitude and caregiving to bring this human frailty to mind. God remembers that we are merely "dust." I am just so thankful that he uses our mishaps, our handicaps, and our weaknesses as opportunities to exhibit His power. "Look what I can do," He says, and we can merely lie there in awe of how little we are, how awesome He is.
Every now and then I'd have to tighten my grip as they tried to dart up and out of the tub. Gardner sat behind me in his little seat, wide-eyed as he heard the cries of each unhappy feline.
Finally, somewhat clean and hopefully rinsed thoroughly, the cats were ready to be let out. I finagled the towels around them as much as I could; about 30 seconds' worth of towel drying was all they'd allow. I dumped each one into the study, where I'd placed a space heater for their comfort, and shut the door. About an hour later I peeked in to see two cats with very enlarged pupils glaring back at me, hairs sticking up on end. It is now 5 hours later, and their fur is still slightly damp.
As I completed this daunting task, I was reminded how helpless they must feel. How helpless any baby must feel, at that, to rely on someone bigger than they are to tote them to and fro, to bathe them, feed them, change them, comfort them.
And in a way, we are helpless ourselves as adults when it comes down to living life triumphantly. We can't live a life that is victorious without the supernatural intervention of Christ each day. Try as we might, our hands are fumbling and our mouths are stuttering....it is He alone that will give us what we need for each day's schedule of events and trials that may arise.
Sometimes it takes servitude and caregiving to bring this human frailty to mind. God remembers that we are merely "dust." I am just so thankful that he uses our mishaps, our handicaps, and our weaknesses as opportunities to exhibit His power. "Look what I can do," He says, and we can merely lie there in awe of how little we are, how awesome He is.
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