R's cat, Tonka, went missing last week. How do we get so attached to these furry creatures who wake us up in the night demanding food or that a door be opened for them and who leave their fur or their dirty paw prints all over the house?
I reminded her of when Dexter went missing when we were living at Mrs. H's while we built our house. We had already sold our old house, were deep into building this one, T had lost his job and we weren't even sure that we'd be able to keep this house that we labored over every day and then Dexter went missing. I just knew he'd been killed by a coyote or some stray dogs that were around Mrs. H's house.
I felt the Lord telling me to release the cat, to surrender to His will and I just couldn't do it. I fought it. I felt like I had already given up so much (ha, that's the American in me) and I wanted my cat back. I did finally come to that point where I surrendered. We found him a day or two later. I had to crawl under some pricker bushes and drag him out because he was so scared of the stray dogs but we found him. He's still leaving his fur everywhere and waking me up in the night to go out "cattin'".
After we got the house done, T still didn't have a job. Every time he went for an interview and didn't get the job I can remember praying, "Why God? What's so wrong with this job that he didn't get it?" We surrendered. T had worked at his first job for 10 years and the second one for 5 years and then he didn't keep a job for more than 6 months. Then for a period of 13 months he was only employed for 7 of those months. But it brought him to where he is now, where he has worked for that last 5 1/2 years. He loves it. He never would have taken this job had it been offered to him before he had been unemployed. And we are so glad we surrendered.
We spent 4 years trying to bring J home. Those were difficult years with LOTS of "surrendering" moments. Difficult things with the O and with Haiti in general. Difficult things with the girls. Difficult things with church. Difficult things with family. We learned to surrender.
Recently I have felt the Lord leading me to pray that our children will see the Lord's hand in their lives and that they will surrender to Him. I hesitated to pray that because I know the pain that can be involved. I surrendered and prayed it over them. Girls, if you're reading this, learn quickly! ;)
I believe that a place of surrender is exactly where God wants all of us. He wants us willing to give up control, material possessions, friendships, etc. to submit to His will. To be willing to obey Him. He wants us to be at a place where no thing stands in the way of obedience. No comforts, prestige, or desires are more important than God in our lives.
I'm not where I should be in this. But I'm certainly not where I started out either. I can certainly think of things that I'd have a hard time letting go of but the list is not nearly as long as it used to be. One thing I know, God does not waste experiences. "In this world you will have trouble but I leave you My peace." Yield your life and experiences to God and see what He can do with it. You will be amazed.
The definition of surrender is; to yield to the power, control or possession of another upon compulsion or demand. To give oneself over to something (as an influence).
Dexter is still with me. He is 13 years old now. And R found Tonka yesterday afternoon. She called me at work, crying, and said, "I found Tonka." I asked if he was okay and she said, "Yeah. I'm crying because I'm happy." Lessons from the missing cat.
How about a thankful list. I'm thankful for unwasted experiences. I'm thankful for family and friends. I'm thankful that we are in a school system who works so well with J. And I'm thankful for Dexter and Tonka, silly cats.
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