My family has 2 pets. A dog named Libby and a cat named Phoebe. We did have a turtle but poor Myrtle went to go live in a more heavenly pond last week so we are just down to the cat and dog. Phoebe the cat is 16 years old and is as feisty today as she was when we brought her home from the pet store. Every time she does something naughty I kindly remind my husband that he was the one who picked her out. The kids and I wanted a cute little gray kitty but my husband wanted Phoebe because she had the same black and white markings of a dairy cow. At the time that we purchased her, my husband worked for the computer company Gateway and their logo looked like the markings of a dairy cow.
Phoebe was a great cat until we brought home the dog and then she developed an attitude that hasn’t gone away. There is definitely some sibling rivalry on her part or she just thinks that the dog is the dumbest thing on four legs and is just too good to even bother with her. That is until she sits right in front of the dogs dish and will not let her eat until she is ready to move. This is a daily occurrence in our home.
The older that Phoebe has gotten the more she wants to lie in my lap, sleep curled next to my legs while I sleep or curled up in my chair. The only problem with her curling up in my chair is that she leaves behind white cat hair, which means that you have to take a lint roller to the chair every time you want to sit in it. So I decided to try and cover the chair with newspaper or magazines. This unfortunately didn’t stop her from getting on the chair because she would just curl up on top of the papers and leave her hair on the back of the chair. So my husband went and got a small box and put it on the chair but Phoebe just knocked it off and made herself comfortable. So he went and got a shoebox that had a lid attached to it and placed it on the chair with the lid up, next to the other small box. When I came home from work today, I looked over at my chair and found Phoebe tightly curled up in the shoe box. She was determined that she was somehow going to be on the chair even if it meant squeezing herself into a small space to do it.
There was a Chinese custom that would be used on the feet of small girls to stop their feet from growing. They would bind the feet very tightly and that way the feet would be unable to grow. It was thought that women with big feet were not feminine. This caused major problems for the girls as they grew into women. The bones and muscles didn’t develop correctly in their feet or their legs.
When we place ourselves or others into boxes or categories, we stop the opportunity of becoming everything that God wants us to become. Removing ourselves from the small places we have put ourselves into takes courage, determination and faith. It takes faith in our self and faith in God. Faith is standing at the edge of the darkness and knowing that one of two things will happen…There will be something to stand on or you will be taught how to fly. Only God can give you the strength to take that first step and God is the only one who will give you the wings to fly.
Today, take that step out of the box you have put yourself into and experience the wings that God will give you to help you grow.
"Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love." 1 Corinthians 16:12-14
Blessings,
Jill
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