Don't Feed the Cat

From the moment my family and I moved into our new home in Bethany, I knew that there would be some changes and challenges that we would have to deal with. One of the biggest challenges we've had to face is not being able to have a pet in the home. From the time I was a young girl, my family always had pets; dogs, cats, hamsters, even bunnies in the backyard.

Now having children of my own, I hope to continue on this legacy of pets. I like to believe that I have a deep love for animals while others may believe it could be a borderline obsession. Who cares? Potato, tomato, right?

Like all very determined animal lovers, I tried to figure out a way to "abide by the rules" but still fulfill my own desire for a furry companion. This soon became a very easy task. With the help of my children, we were able to identify all five of the stray cats in our neighborhood within a few days.

One cat in particular was very fond of the kids and me. She was probably the only one who didn't run away when we reached out our hands chiming, "Here kitty, kitty." We adopted "Torie," as the kids agreed to call it, as our "outside cat" since we weren't allowed to have pets inside the home. Not to mention both my mom and mother-in-law are deathly allergic to cats, so we could NOT have any cat hair inside in case they stopped by.

In my mind, as long as I could have a pet without "breaking the rules," I was satisfied. Daily I fed the cat and made sure it had plenty of food and water. It even invited its other kitty friends over and shared its meal.

Our backyard was slowly starting to become a cat hangout. My husband must have been thinking, "I did not just marry an undercover cat lady, did I?" Only his love and very stern "No!" prevented me from completely going overboard and bringing the cat inside our home to live.

Thank goodness for his voice of reason because I truly could've gotten us into some serious trouble. In one of my cat lady shopping frenzies, I bought the cat a flea collar and put it around its neck. The next morning, the cat stopped by as usual but my collar had been replaced by a shiny black collar with a bell on it.

That two-timing kitty had a home all along and was only playing on my heart strings. My overwhelming desire for a fuzzy friend allowed me to overlook the fact that this cat already had a home and he, who I found out is named "Bear," was only dealing with me because I laid out food for it to eat for the past few weeks.

By my feeding that selfish desire, I could've have hurt many people. What if my mothers had come over and I had the cat in the house? What would have happened if my landlord had stopped by? How much more time and money would I have wasted if I had continued to feed this feline?

It's so easy for me to allow my addictions and compulsions to completely blur my rational thinking. When I am focused on satisfying my selfish desires, I allow myself to compromise my morals. I try to "abide by the rules" without technically breaking them and as a result I can end up potentially hurting my friends and family.

That's why I am so grateful for Celebrate Recovery. Celebrate Recovery allows me to acknowledge my compulsions and addictions in a safe place. I can admit my wrongs; how I have hurt others; and how they have hurt me in a nonjudgmental environment.

Most important, I am able to see that with God, all things are possible. With His help and love, I am made whole and I can "stop feeding the cat" in my life. I am able to exchange my sins for forgiveness and adopt a forever family who has my back and will remind me to leave the cat outside.

Grateful believer,

Gabby

Unclogged Pores

I’ve struggled with oily skin my whole life but lately I’ve felt like my face has been obnoxiously oily. Why this happens, I do not understand. I do know that on a hot day I literally have enough oil on my face to lotion my entire body. Can you say, “Not cool?” As a result, I sought help in the form of a dermatologist. He had a few recommendations for me, which I’ve felt I have been following through with pretty well.

First, he recommended that I try to drink plenty of water, at least eight cups a day minimum. On a good day, I’ll drink a whole 16oz bottle. Some days I may even drink three bottles if it has the sweet flavor packets stirred in. Flavored water is better water, just saying.

He also encouraged me to take two prescribed medications, one oral medication twice a day and one nightly face cream. Let’s just say that pill isn’t the easiest thing to swallow. For my nursing friends who understand, I only take it prn, meaning as needed, really meaning, when I remember I may choke it down. As for that face cream, it’s more like one night every two weeks I’ll rub it on.
But, for some odd reason my face just continues to oil up and I cannot get it under control!

Finally I decided to take action into my own hands and went out on a limb. I decided to try Deep Cleansing Pore Strips. They are these thin strips that a person would put over their nose, wait 10-15min for it to stiffen and then pull off. Naturally I waited about 7-8 minutes and then pulled the strip off my nose. To say it hurt was an understatement. I literally had to wipe tears from my eyes and I was left with a bright red Rudolph nose.

What was I thinking? Not to say that any of the above treatments were failures, but because of my lack to completely commit to the instruction provided to me, I’m sure I did more harm to my face than good. This situation reminds me of Principle 5, “Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask him to remove my character defects.” Too many times I have allowed myself to half commit to the necessary changes that I have needed to make in my life.

The oil reminds me of the daily temptation that I face. With my constant denial of the need to change, the more the sin, or “oil”, has the opportunity to be produced. Even when given the proper tools to deal with my struggles, sometimes I continue to do the things I know I shouldn’t do or only do what I need to do half-heartedly.

As a result, this leads to me try to deal with the issue on my own and possibly ending in tears because of my inability to fix it. God loves me for who I am, where I am and wants to help me change. However, I have to be willing to submit to every change that HE wants to make and commit to the process whole-heartedly.

The Grateful Believer,

Gabby