What's That Smell...?

A couple of months ago, I was going through a “nesting” phase (no, again, I am not pregnant…), so I thought it would be a good idea to adopt a cat. In a lot of ways, it has been a good idea, and we’ve enjoyed Alley being a part of the family. But I think I may know why this totally gorgeous Siamese was put up for adoption in the first place, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t have anything to do with the excuse the previous owners gave the shelter. I do think it has everything to do with what has happened to our favorite blue chair.

It seems that Miss Alley has an issue with even slightly dirty litter boxes. Like she won’t use them. At all. Instead she finds the nearest pillow or bean bag (or anything else that’s of the right “squishy” consistency), and lets us know of her discontentment. It took us a while (and one papasan chair, 2 bean bags and a couple of pillows) to figure this out. Imagine our absolute thrill the first time we discovered her little personality quirk. Oh yeah - it wasn’t pretty.

We’ve now learned that we can avoid having to buy new furniture if we just clean out the litter box once or twice a day (we even got her an automatic one that cleans every time she goes). Of course our brilliant deductions didn’t exactly come in time to save Daddy’s blue “man chair”.

Unlike the other showered items, the blue chair isn’t going in the trash. It’s a favorite and too expensive to replace. I’ve absolutely bathed that thing in Kids N Pets (the best stuff on the market for stains and odors, by the way), but apparently she can still smell the remnants of her misadventures. And those of you who are cat lovers out there know - that means she’ll just keep going in that same spot, clean litter box or not.

The only deterrent we’ve found is to lay a long sheet of tin foil over the top of the cushion, which apparently is some thing that cats don’t like. It works just fine, but it rather looks like we are trying to summon contact with aliens using our living room furniture.

As long as we keep that tin foil on there and cover up what’s apparently left of her mess, she’s fine. But the minute that foil gets knocked off and no one’s around to shoo her away, we find ourselves scrubbing Kids N Pets into the cushion yet again. It’s a very frustrating cycle.

Believe it or not, though, this whole experience has caused me to better understand something the Bible has been trying to teach me for years (and no, it isn’t “Thou shalt not murder”). The verse I’m learning about is Proverbs 26:11 - “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” (Sorry Karla, I don’t like that verse either…)

I’m starting to realize that if Solomon had been a cat lover, that verse might have read “As a cat returns to it’s pee…” Either way, the concept is ringing rather loudly in my heart. We tend return to the stench of our sin that has saturated our hearts. We come back to the filthy messes we’ve made, and we make them even worse. And we will continue to do this - continue to sin in the same, disgusting ways - until we allow our hearts to be deeply cleansed with the blood of Christ.

I think it’s important to remember that just like my cat, there’s no way we can clean up the mess ourselves. It’s a job that’s too big for us, and too complicated for us to ever understand. But our Master knows just the way to get it done. All we have to do is allow Him the time to work in our lives.

Sometimes the cleaning is simple, like a washing. But sometimes (figuratively speaking, of course), the whole chair has to be thrown out. Sometimes the filth has soaked in so deeply and the stench is so bad, that He has to carve out that piece of our lives and start over fresh with something new. It’s painful and most certainly involves some sort of loss, but it’s a necessary part of becoming whole in Christ.

I know it’s true that we may never be completely clean and free of the soiled pieces of our hearts this side of Heaven, but it’s a goal we should strive for all the same. We want our hearts to be a pleasing place for our Master’s Spirit to dwell, as well as a place that is fresh and usable by Him.

Is there a stench in your heart you find yourself returning to time and time again? I know there is in mine. Let’s make a point to stop trying to cover it up in hopes that it can be avoided in the future. Instead, let’s find the strength to give it over to God and allow Him to cleanse it from our lives once and for all.

Well, that being said, I have to go steam clean the blue chair before my mother-in-law comes to visit in a couple of days. I really would hate to hear her say “I told you that cat was a bad idea…” By the way, does anyone know if cats can wear diapers? Now that would be helpful…