staying away from the flame...

I had an epiphany yesterday... I'm actually pretty proud of myself.

A few weeks ago I got the bright idea that I would get a kitten, not one of my smartest ideas ever. Don't get me wrong, I love Moxy, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into... I truly have never seen an animal that had so much energy or curiousity; she's making my hair turn grey! She can get into 5 different things while I walk into the kitchen to get a drink, and she pretty much destroys whatever she gets into... Her favorite snack over the last few weeks is our electrical cords, so I'm pretty much terrified that she is going to burn my house down. Which would be ironic because my boyfriend is a firefighter and he's not the biggest cat fan... Anyways, yesterday she decided that the lit candle on the table beside the couch was going to be what she investigated, and she stuck her face in a burning candle twice before I could get to her! I had to spray her with the water bottle and then smack her to keep her away from danger. She didn't understand why she was getting in trouble, but in order to protect her I had to punish her and actually physically remove her from where she could be hurt. Are you figuring out my epiphany yet?!?

How many times does God protect me from danger by "punishing" me or actually removing me from a situation? Now, I'm not saying that God sprays us with a spray bottle, but maybe He warns us be putting up road blocks or taking away things that we took for granted or counted on. I think there are multiple times that God protects us from physical, emotional, and mental danger, and we never even know about it. I need to remember that I can't see the whole big picture and that God can; maybe He's saving me from something painful in the future that I would have to deal with if I continued down the same path. So, I'm going to be thankful for the roadblocks in my life that I encounter because those could be tools that God is using to protect or re-direct me.