TGIF Replay: 2015
The official plant of hell is the foxtail.
In case you donāt have it where you live, itās a grass that produces sharp barbs which burrow into the flesh of Ā animals as they walk through it.
Animals like my cat, Miss Kitty.
With each movement she makes the barbs travel farther and dig deeper.
Twice a day (at least) she comes walking in the house looking like a porcupine and I spend the next hour carefully trying to remove them from her long fur.
In a way itās become a bonding process for us as it hurts when I remove themā¦fur is often ripped out with Satanās flowers.
She has to trust that Iām doing something to help her, not to cause her more pain, though that is often the temporary result.
Our bond was put to the test this morningā¦I awoke to her sitting in my chair waiting for me to rise.
A foxtail seed had lodged in her eye and the eye had swollen shut around it.
It looked excruciatingly painful and it was.
The smallest of wings was still attached to the seedā¦if she would let me Iād have one shot to pull the thing out.
She would either trust me and let me try to remove itā¦or claw me to shreds for trying.
To my amazement, she stoically stood up and looked straight at meā¦and I plucked the seed from her eye.
She purred some thanks while cleaning the gunk from her eye with her paw.
Two things I learned this morningā¦
The world is like a field full of foxtails and as we go through it many barbs afflict usā¦some fall off, some burrow down and cause constant pain.
Sometimes we need someone else to remove them for usā¦we can neither see them, nor reach them, but we can surely feel them.
Thank God for those who you can trust and who love you enough to try to remove them.
The second thing is sometimes those barbs stick in a place so sensitive that only the Master can remove them.
Everyone can see the barb and the wound, but the risk is too great to remove it.
It has to come out.
The wound has to heal lest you lose vision and perhaps even life.
It takes great trust to allow Him to work.
Do it anyway, even if it causes temporary pain.
He loves you even more than I love my catā¦consider it a bonding process.
You can be healedā¦
Make your own applicationā¦
i carried toxic anger toward a family member for years. Granted, a lot happened and I was hurt. But, the anger was consuming me and I was not aware of how bad the damage was. A friend came alongside, and we started taking apart my feelings. It couldn’t be extracted in one simple pull. Amazingly, we did the work-I forgave, not because I’m a great person, but because Jesus forgave me. It doesn’t mean that what was done to me was right (that was why I couldn’t forgive him), but anger begets anger, just like forgiveness begets forgiveness.
I can now sit in a room with this person and, although I don’t like him that much, I can love him as another person in need of God’s love. Maybe I’ll grow enough someday to actually like him.
Thanks for the post, Michael. We have foxtails where I live, but Felix has to be indoor only per the housing complex rules. That’s one adventure we get to skip. However, he is obsessed with rubber bands and I always have to be careful to keep them out of reach.
Linn,
Thank you for the application…it fits well.
I wish mine would stay indoors…Miss Kitty has gone on, but I have Smokey and two “strays” I have to groom every day…
We have 3 cats. Jimmy is a bengal mix and gets along with everyone. He can ornery, but is basically a nice guy. Cinder is a psycho, mentally ill cat who wants to be stroked one minute and viciously attacks the next. (Iāve ended up in the ER from her attack and on antibiotics and a Tetanaus shot) Finn, (also called āFattyā} is a rescue cat from the Camp Fire back in 2018, and was burned and had to go through a lot of healing. She has to stay in the master bedroom because Cinder would kill her, if we let her out in the rest of the house. We have signs we put on the sliding glass door to the back patio to let everyone know that Finn is outside and donāt let Cinder out. We have to move quickly to get in and out of the bedroom so Cinder doesnāt sneak in and attack Finn. Itās a crazy life and yet we love each one of these cats and give each one of them the best life possible. I guess God made us this way to remind us that each one of us have our kookiness and He takes us right where we are.
Nonnie,
We could have put your piece up instead of mine today…well said.
I’d like to meet Cinder… š
LOL! Cinder can be so sweet and then tear you apart, with no provocation. I confess, I am afraid of her, but I still stroke her and give her treats each morning. Finn, is so lovely. Just wants to be loved and fed. I think I am a Finn. š
I have scars all over my hands and arms because I enjoy meeting “difficult” cats…usually cats like that have one person they adore and hate everybody else.
None of the ones I feed are mean thank goodness, just weird.