cat pee and refuge

Homebody.  Noun. A person who enjoys the warmth and simple pleasures of being at home.  

I am the total definition of a home body.  I love a day where I don't have to leave at all. I could spend weeks puttering, organizing, rearranging, cooking, touching up....

At the end of a long day I can't wait to get home, get the fire going, watch HGTV while I unload the dishwasher and tidy up my little refuge.  My house reflects my tastes and my priorities.  It is filled with my treasures and my necessities.  It is my ultimate comfort zone.

So you can imagine my displeasure to arrive home last week and smell a very awful smell.  Cat pee.  Maybe the worst possible smell.  I quickly checked the litter box. Clean.  I followed my nose to a corner of the living room carpet.  Damp and stinky.  After three years of mr. kitty being immaculately house trained what could have possible gone wrong?  I got out carpet shampoo and spent my first hour at home scrubbing the floor.

The next day I could still smell it on arrival home.  I steam-cleaned the carpet.  My chairs were all piled up and the table was scooted against the wall.  The fan was on full blast making my living room feel like The North Pole.

The room smelled fresh and clean for a couple hours.  But I woke up the next morning and could smell pee.  I lifted the rug to see multiple dark spots.  How long has this been going on?

The next day I went to Pet Smart.  I bought dog and cat spray to clean carpets and keep animals far away.  Back at home I doused and scrubbed and aired and dried.  I was desperate to have my peaceful aromatic refuge back.

In the midst of this frustration, I was also preparing a sermon. I was studying 1 Samuel 22 about David who was also looking for refuge.

In Eugene Peterson's wonderful book Leap Over A Wall, he writes about this.

"In David's prayers refuge refers to a good experience, but what got him to refuge was a bad experience.  He started out running for his life; and at some point he found the life he was running for, and the name for that life was God.  "God is my refuge"

This happens all the time: it's one of the fundamental surprises in spirituality.  Whatever we start out feeling or doing or thinking can lead us to God, whater directly or meanderingly.

Whatever our ingredients - a messy house, a flat tire, a cranky boss, late homeowrk, another fill.  There are good ingredients too - fall colors, warm smiles, strong hugs, dear friends.  Whatever the ingredients they can lead us to God."

In this line of thinking, the smell of cat pee ruining my house should remind me that God is my real refuge.  If I'm spiritually mature enough to go there. 

Until I've reached the level I'm ripping out the carpet.  I want my house back.