Trimming Away...

I trimmed my cat Snickers' claws today. In the past, we've taken him to the vet or to Petsmart or something to get them done. That would entail $10-$15 dollars, getting him into his car-carrier, driving there, holding him down as some idiot (that's been most of my experience trimming at Petsmart) is worried he's going to bite them. Instead, saving the hassle, I did it myself with some nail clippers.

The last little while, we've gotten our friend Heidi to do it. She has a cat and was well versed in such things. I had tried once before on recommendation from a friend, while Snickers was still a kitten. I think I cut the quick, he yelped. I hadn't tried again until today - at least not with human nail clippers.

For the most part, it worked like a charm. He sat on the bed, I held a paw. I went slowly, he barely moved. He didn't meow. I was impressed. But getting to the last couple nails, he got ornery. I ended up just doing the front claws - and really only clipping a little off - as not to get too close to the quick and hurt him. At least I was somewhat successful.

But as I was trying to get him positioned and settled down to do his back claws (ultimately - unsuccessfully) I got to thinking, as I often do, about God working with us. It's funny, I often equate my relationship with my cat to God's relationship with me. It's not so much that I like to think of myself as God... but that I'm probably alot like my cat - stubborn, fiesty, independant... the list goes on. And God wants the best for me - but I don't see that.

Anyway, I was thinking that God has to trim us too. There are things that just grow on us, that get out of control, and unless God can trim them, eventually we'll end up hurting ourselves. We can say "that's natural" about our growths all we want, but in the end, they'll end up being harmful to us if God doesn't trim them, or cut them out entirely. But, like my cat, I don't understand when God says "stand still, don't squirm, take it easy, I'm doing this for your benefit" and all I do is squirm, meow and act like an idiot - which only makes the process more painful. But the process goes on no matter what, because like me and my cat, God knows what's best. But also, like me and my cat, sometimes God will only go so far, and allow us a little time, before He comes back and does the rest of the job. In the meantime, we can cause ourselves some pain, but we think we did the right thing by getting away.

We all have claws in our lives that need to be trimmed - or we'll end up hurting ourselves and others. Unless we allow God the free reign to trim our claws, when He does it (and God WILL do it) it's going to hurt quite a bit.

Happy Thanksgiving all and enjoy your turkey and trimmings...