Scaredy Cat

I let my cats go out into my backyard today. We have birds building nests in our covered patio area and Kevin and I do not want bird poo everywhere. Plus they aren’t quiet birds. So I thought maybe the presence of big fearsome domesticated housecats would scare those birdies away.

Now, my cats are not normally allowed outside because I am hyper paranoid about something bad happening to them. I know that if one of them never came home I would freak out and drive both myself and Kevin to the brink of insanity. And I am in no way exaggerating.

My cats’ daily existence revolves around windows and what’s outside them (bugs, birds, leaves swaying in the breeze) and what’s coming through them (sunshine and smells of things just out of their reach). When allowed the treat of going outside and finally being allowed to experience what they have been seeing, they both react very differently.

Diesel, the most photographed of the two, is pretty mellow. He generally strolls outside and sniffs stuff and then gets down to business. Diesel is his name and grass is his game. His routine pretty much goes like this: chew on grass, eat some grass, lay in the grass, eat some more grass, move to new spot, repeat. Then he comes inside and pukes up grass. It’s a wonderful, vicious cycle that he would repeat day after day if I let him.

Hmmm….that’s making me remember another reason I don’t let them outside. Grass puke is gross.

Ok, so that’s my big orange cat/cow.

This is Maggie.

You haven’t seen much of her because she doesn’t like the way she looks in pictures. Every day she sits at our windows chattering at all of the different bugs/birds she wants to pounce. From all the pomp at the windows, you’d think that if she were given the chance to be outside she would be a fearless predator.

Nope.

She’s a big scardey cat.

When I opened the back door to let them out, they both ran outside so excited. Then the birds came. Diesel was shocked for a moment and then found some grass to lay in and was fine. Maggie FREAKED out and ran back inside to watch them from the safety of the windows.

She finally had a chance to be the cat she’d always dreamed of being. The cat she was created to be. But instead she chose to run inside and be “safe”.

How many times do I do that? How many times do I stay awake at night dreaming of the things I would do if I only had the chance? How many times have I had the opportunity to act on those things only to be like Maggie and do what is “safe”?

In reality, Maggie is a predator. She was made to stalk and eat little birdies (not that I want her to…AT ALL…ew). But today (and honestly every time she has the opportunity) she was afraid and wasn’t true to her nature.

Many times, I am the same way; happy to live behind my windows (or computer screen), seeing the world but not really living in it. I have so many opportunities to be who God made me to be: fearless, compassionate, selfless, kind. But instead I retreat to what is comfortable: scared, selfish, ornery, apathetic.

Thank you, Lord, for the little ways You reveal Your truth to me. Thank you for your wake up call to be true to the person you have created me to be and called me to be.