Pickles, NO!

I recently became a proud parent of a 10 month old cat named Captain Pickles. He is so sweet and soo lovable. He is also the most curious cat in the world, I swear.

The first morning with Captain while I was drying my hair I heard a mysterious ticking noise coming from the kitchen. I turned off the hair dryer, and discovered that Captain had jumped onto the stove and managed to turn the gas on at the same time. I immediately set Pickles on the floor and turned the gas off. “God, please keep this cat from killing himself and burning down the apartment while I’m at class.” I prayed.

It has been two weeks now, and the apartment is still standing, and Pickles is as curious as ever. I have to be on my guard every second to make sure he’s not going to knock over the coffee pot, or jump on my dresser and eat an earring. I even have to make sure I put the lid down on the toilet or he will dive in!

I love him soooo much that the other day I got him a very special present, a spray bottle. He hates it, and I hate it.

Anyway… being a parent is completely new to me. I’ve only ever been the child. One of the most interesting things that I have noticed is that I don’t mind these things about Pickles. He could go from his litter box, to the toilet, knock over the coffee pot and eat all my cheese, be soaking wet from the spray bottle and I would still love for him to lay on my pillow next to my head while I sleep, and he does:]

God welcomes us to do the same. When we do things that we know are wrong, when we fall and make mistakes, God still wants us to go to Him for rest. God still welcomes us when we break everything that is good for us, when we are covered in the mud of guilt, soaked from consequences of selfish decisions, and lost within our own curiosity of the world and what it offers. God STILL wants us to come lay with Him, He STILL adores us. God says, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28).

Sometimes when God doesn’t do what I ask Him to, or when something goes wrong I get frustrated instead of going to Him. I need to recognize that in these moments, God is not spraying me for fun, or to punish me, but he is teaching me. He has my best interest at heart and doesn’t want me to get hurt or to break things, He loves me so much that He would rather me get mad at him than allow me to hurt myself. Similar to when I try to discipline Pickles, He hates it, and I hate it.

Then, when I am filthy with sin and guilt, He still invites me to rest with Him. Too bad shame likes to keep me from doing this sometimes. I’m glad Pickles doesn’t feel like he needs to sleep in the corner for what He did. I want him to rest with me!

I’m really glad that even though I spray Pickles and keep him from doing the things he wants to do (toilet diving) he still wants to be my friend. And even when he knows he’s dirty, or bad, or wet, he will still come to me and rest on my pillow. I think this is a lesson we can all learn from Captain Pickles.