Dear Kitty,

I carefully carried the box to the garage door and kicked the door a little to get my husband’s attention so he could open it for me. About the same time he turned the handle, my box began to suffer the effects of the ill emotions of its inhabitants. The Momma barn cat and her 4 kittens were going to the vet for their checkup and to be altered so there were no more kittens produced in our little zoo.

At one point I had a pet carrying crate, but with the kids…yeah, who knows where that went. The box seemed like a good idea until it exploded in the van like a bag of popcorn under cooking pressure. Except instead of yummy popcorn, it was 5 cats with claws and an aversion to riding in the van.

As I dodged Momma’s claws, picked one kitten off my thigh, noted the kitten going under the passenger seat and fur floated around my nose, I thought “If I can just make it to the clinic…” Common sense told me to repackage the cats more securely, but it wasn’t that far…how bad could it be?

About 100 yards from the driveway, Momma began the death cat howl and clung to the back of the headrest as though molten larva coursed through the van carpet and she must not drop. I turned up the music a little as her kittens began to join in shrill harmony, but they just got louder. There are many stop lights from my house to the clinic, which is perfect because I was peeling cats off me like socks in the dryer with no dryer sheet.

Tiny claw marks dotted my arms and legs. My eyes were wild with a declaration of trauma as I went into the clinic, begged for a crate that locked and a little help de-cat-ting my van. In no time they were admitted, I was given a “claim ticket” and I was alone in my van on a peaceful, no feline squalling ride home.

Such a parallel to moments in our life when we think of the little hiccups of issues that come up in adversity.

For a moment, a little common sense wiggles in and suggests perhaps we better prepare ourselves, but then we get all caught up in just getting through it. Thinking that we can handle it and get through it.

Somewhere along the way we are trying to brush ourselves off, bleeding a little and trying our best to ignore the chaos around us while we just focus on the destination.

But there is only so much we can do when we are being attacked and find ourselves distracted and ill equipped.

It wasn’t until I reached the people who possessed what was needed to control the situation that I was going to have peace. It wasn’t until I walked in the door crazy-eyed, asked for help and allowed them to take over.

Are you at that place right now in life where you have an issue screeching in your ear, attacking your hair and another problem is using your bare leg as a scratching post? Are you overwhelmed and just trying to get to a safe place?

I don’t believe it is possible to continue navigating through your path on life safely when chaos is jumping out of the little box you thought contained it. There is going to come a moment that you are going to have to stop, ask for help and remove the craziness. Whether you put the cats in your car yourself or they found their way there without your help, you have to acknowledge that it is in your hands alone to allow it or remove it.

It’s time to let someone help you de-cat your car so that you can continue on your path of purpose. You can’t keep going like this.

Ps 37:40 And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked*, And save them, Because they trust in Him.

* I’m not really comparing cats to being wicked, but if you had been in the car with me this morning….

Categories: june 2013 diary entry

Tags: Adversity, help in hard times, overwhelmed, stuck in car with wicked cats