I am still sporting a nice little band-aid on my finger from last week. Seems my little Daisy loves Puffs Plus. See, I have been sick now for three weeks with Whooping Cough. Yuck! It hasn't been fun. I have gone through tissue after tissue. My nose is feeling it too. But my sweet son purchased me the little gems with lotion in them and boy, they have done the trick!
Not only did Daisy attack my box of tissues I had on the bed, but after I threw them in the trash, she decides to sneak it and grab them out of the trash. Double yuck! So, here I am coughing my head off and trying to get Daisy out from under the bed, before she chokes too death on an overload of tissues.
She darts from one side, under the the bed, to the next. I get the idea to sneak across the bed and reach my hand under the bed and grab for them. Ouch!! As my hand went for the tissues, she went for my hand. I missed the tissues and she got a chunk of my finger.
Now, I must tell you, I can take pain. I did not take this well. I was rolling around on the floor with tears flowing. Felt like she had crushed the bones in my finger and no one likes to see blood!
What do I do? I pick up the phone and call my hubs who is on his way to Pennsylvania. I'm not sure what I thought he was going to do, but just hearing his voice made me cry even more. Daisy had never bite me before. That was so out of character for her to do that to me. I wanted to be angry with her. I would have liked to throw something at her!
I didn't throw anything at her. She knew from my tears I was hurt. She was hurt. Her heart was broken. She knew as soon as she chomped down she had done wrong. I knew I shouldn't have stuck my hand in where it didn't belong.
This reminded me of why I don't like cats. When I was a teenager, I was at my sister's house. She had this big, beautiful cat. I loved this cat. I was always petting him. I will never forget the day it happened. My sister had this coffee table with a glass top. The cat was under the table. (Okay, maybe I just have a problem with reaching under things!) Oh, he was under there, just purring away, as I was petting him. The next thing I know, that cat has run off and I have blood pouring from my arm. It happened so fast I didn't know it happened until I felt the wretched pain. That cat tore my arm wide open. I still have the scar today.
From that day, I have never trusted cats. You might even say I have a little fear of them. Do you fear a bite? Sometimes they come from places we never expect. Sometimes that one little bite gets infected and causes quite a lot of trouble.
It just made me think of how often we get bitten by others who are really not meaning to take a chunk out of out us. We just happen to be in the way of the offender. Am I as willing to forgive others who bite me as I am Daisy? That answer even surprised me. I'm not. I think I just might hang on to that anger a little longer.
We reach our hands in at times where our hands are not needed and we pull back a scar that will stay forever. We are humans who make mistakes. We take a lot out on others don't we? Having a bad day? Bite. Not get your way? Bite. Things just not quite perfect in our little world? Bite. When we don't feel good, we let others know. The thing is, hurt people, hurt people.
We can be walking along minding our own business, maybe trying to help another or just simply being kind and we pull back a nub after out of no where we have just had a chunk taken out of us! What are we tempted to do? Bite back. Oh, the times I have done that. You too? It's easy when your finger is throbbing and your trying to figure out what in the world just happened. Your left wondering, "What did I do?" In all those cases, we must remember to love. As hard as it can be, love is that healing agent that brings calm.
We can be walking along minding our own business, maybe trying to help another or just simply being kind and we pull back a nub after out of no where we have just had a chunk taken out of us! What are we tempted to do? Bite back. Oh, the times I have done that. You too? It's easy when your finger is throbbing and your trying to figure out what in the world just happened. Your left wondering, "What did I do?" In all those cases, we must remember to love. As hard as it can be, love is that healing agent that brings calm.
We must be willing to forgive. We must remember not to stick our two cents in where it's not wanted or needed. Be watchful of where we place our hand and our heart. Treat others as we want to be treated. Be quick to forgive, even when we don't hear the words, "I'm sorry". I think sometimes forgiveness is more for us than the other person. Anger doesn't settle well in the heart.
Just as my arm healed, my finger too, will heal. Once we are bitten it breaks a trust, but there is an unbreakable bond between us as humans. What is it? We are all sinners in need of the same grace. We are not always the one getting bitten, but in fact, we can have a hearty bite, as well.
May we remember to be gentle with one another. Forgive and allow healing to take place. We might be able to add a band-aid. Sure, it covers up the ugly bite, but there underneath that band-aid, is where the healing takes place.
" The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."
Psalm 103:8-12
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
Ephesians 4:31-32
