Our smallest cat, Athena
(AKA “Boopie”) is a plant muncher. For
one so little, it’s amazing the total destruction she can wreck on our green
pals. Her particular favorite is my
large ivy plant; the one (with the able assistance of my mother), I’ve kept
alive for many, many years now. Boopie,
however, is doing her best job to thwart our efforts. It goes like this. Every winter, mom and dad come down to
Florida from North Carolina. Soon after
their arrival, I hand over “Ivy” to mom so she can tend her back to
health. Over the four months they are
here, Ivy thrives, basking in the sun and light from her perch on the dashboard
of my parents’ R.V. When mom and dad
head back to North Carolina, mom brings Ivy back to me; full, lush and stunning
in her greenness. Ivy goes back up onto
her space on top of our pie safe and I set about placing things around her to
keep Boopie away.
Over the years, I’ve tried
everything. I’ve sprayed Ivy with
“Bitter Yuck” to detour Boopie from chewing on her tender tendrils. That didn’t work, because Boopie is really
more interested in getting to the guts of the matter, the shoots near the base
of the dirt. Ok, I thought, once I
realized what was going on, I’ll take care of this. I put all sorts of decorative items and knick
knacks around Ivy, effectively blocking the pot itself. There!
I Boopie-trapped it! Yeah,
right. That little shrinky-dink still
managed to get into the dirt. By the
time mom arrived this past December, poor Ivy was looking as scraggly as I’ve
ever seen her, so, off she went to spend the winter at Sun N Fun.
While Ivy’s been away,
Boopie has turned her attention to whatever she can find outside on the
lanai. Which isn’t much, because, with
the exception of a Thai Sister plant we have in a bed near our pool, we have no
greenery out there. Yes, this is by
design, since the one time we attempted to put pretty plants and flowers out
there, they were decimated (in all fairness to Boopie, she had ample assistance
from her brothers and sister). Still and
again, both Mr. B and I have been surprised at how she seems to manage to find
“something” to chew on out there. This
we know, because within five minutes of being outside, she’ll come back inside
and throw up whatever she’s eaten all over one of our rugs (or the tile floor,
if we’re lucky). When we bend down to
investigate and clean up her “present”, it looks like masticated twigs.
So, we’ve tried to pay more
attention to what may be out there. We
routinely go out and pick up any of the leaves that may fall from the Thai
Sister. We search for any sort of
anything that she may elect to chomp on, including picking up any small bits of
mulch from OUTSIDE the lanai that someone manages to get INSIDE the lanai. Doesn’t seem to matter, she still brings us
little gifts.
I’ve resorted to keeping my
eye on her when she’s outside. As I sit
at the kitchen table working, I monitor her activity. The other day, before I let the cats out onto
the lanai, I went over to where the Thai Sister plant is and picked up the few
leaves that were lying on the ground.
Later, I looked out the window and saw the wee fiend up on her back legs
with her little paws wrapped around the plant’s slender trunk, happily chewing
away on a low lying leaf. I stood up and
thumped on the window while yelling “BOOPIE!”
She immediately dropped four to the floor and looked around, trying to
figure out where I was. She knew she’d
heard me, what she didn’t know was where I was.
She couldn’t see me, but she heard my loud, booming voice letting her
know she was in trouble. While she stood
there undecidedly, I gave the window one more thump and said, “KNOCK IT
OFF!” At this, she ran off and made a
mad scramble for the safety of the house.
I sat back down chuckling to
myself about how funny she looked darting off. As I prepared to return to the
task at hand, I found myself thinking that, if there was a loud, booming voice
that came out of (seemingly) nowhere to keep me from doing something wrong,
life sure would be a lot easier; I’d not engage in no-no behavior, only to go
somewhere and “throw it back up” for either me or someone else to step in and
clean up later.
Athena AKA Boopie AKA The Wee Fiend
Like a lot of folks who have
returned to God, I was hoping life would get easier. But, in fact, the opposite has been the case
more often than not. I know. Probably not the best job in witnessing, but,
it’s true. At least for me. Although probably the more accurate statement
would be my life is harder now because I am trying to change, not that my life
itself has become more grueling.
Everyone knows it’s pretty simple to sit around doing nothing different,
there’s little if anything taxing about that.
But, when you make the choice to behave counter to what you’re used to,
man, it’s a tough road at times. Add to
it the fact that the majority of the “stuff” I’m working on is internal
(thoughts, attitudes, feelings), well, it’s me against me.
Not that I want to give up,
I don’t; especially now when I am starting to catch glimpses of The Kingdom;
moments when everything seems perfectly clear and I’m full of a peace that I
surely wish I could hold onto forever.
That, obviously, is what I’m striving for; aiming to obtain.
Is there no wonder that so
much of scripture has references to peace?
One of the most familiar blessings noted in the Old Testament is found
in Numbers 6:24-26:
“The
Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be
gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
My study Bible notes that, “The goal of God’s blessing is summed up by
the final word, shalom or peace, encompassing God’s good gifts of health,
prosperity, well-being, friendship, justice, and salvation”.
Yeah. I want that!
I just wish that booming voice would give me some instruction how to go
about getting it AND holding on to it.
Of course, I do have
instruction, “a lamp unto my feet”; all I have to do is read my Bible. The more I read it (and study it), the more I
“get it”. And, honestly, the voice I
hear isn’t a loud booming one at all, it’s that “still small voice” you’ve
heard tell about which sometimes gets quite noisy indeed if I stop paying attention
to it.
As for shalom, for peace; I’ve
got that too; I just need to remember to draw upon it, because it came at a
high price.
“Peace
I leave you. My peace I give to
you. I do not give to you as the world
gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27
Mrs. B
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