Who needs an alarm clock?

Gotta love my cat, Toby. Of course each morning, he comes into my bedroom, crying and meowing for his breakfast...way too early, mind you. So, this morning, even with my earplugs in, I heard his cries and completely ignored him. Then, the next thing I know, I am hearing what I think are things falling in the bathroom.

I pull out my earplugs and again, things tumbling...or so I thought. Nope, I know that sound....the sound of birds wings, frantically trying to escape!

Yep, Toby, my hunter boy, caught his first MO bird today and brought it in to my bedroom's bathroom...probably wanted to show mommy what a great hunter he is and at the same time, wake me up! I've been here before...bird in house, that is. So, I found a towel, and was able to capture the poor thing, in my shower stall as it cowered on the floor of the stall, and release it back to the wild.

Hadn't really planned on writing a spiritual application, but as I'm sitting here, I feel like the Lord is giving me one, so here you go:

Yes, Toby is acting out of instinct, but the picture is relevant. How often do we think we are doing a good thing, doing the right thing, but what we do is actually harmful and destructive? From our perspective, this is what "needs" to be done. It's only when we see the flying feathers and the bird poop on the walls, floor and shower stall, that we realize that the choices we've made have harmed someone or caused some sort of destruction. It could be a financial decision we've made that has landed us or someone else in a mess; or maybe it's a relationship choice we've made where our actions have brought hurt and harm to others, even though we thought it was the best choice for us.

Toby has an excuse: he's a cat. He's acting on instinct. We, on the other hand, have no excuses. Oh, we can blame our sinful nature, or better yet, the enemy of our souls, but in the end, God gave us a will and we exercise it daily. Am I willing to take a hard look at the "birds" I may have harmed in the process of doing what I thought was the right thing to do? More importantly, am I willing to do the hard work of clean up? Or will I just let the feathers and poop stay where they are and walk away?

Food for thought....