So, here's the story.
Mark has a cat. He's had Lewis for seven years. Lewis is a good cat really. He doesn't require a lot of attention from me at least. But he does like to be wherever Mark is in the house. Early on in marriage, I did set a boundry that Lewis could not sleep in or on our bed. So, he didn't and got over that relatively quickly.
I've had cats my whole life. There was Snowball, Frisky, the one that had kittens on my bed in the middle of the night (can't remember its name), Tasha (born on my bed in the middle of the night), Angie's cat Sissy, a few others that I can't remember thier names, and last but not least Callie. The cats have lived both inside and outside. They have slept in my bed.
BUT, when I left to live in Turkey, I had to give away my kitty. Callie went to live with the Smiths in Ruston. What a sweet family to take my kitty. So, I've been pet free (and thus pet hair over everything free) for six years now. I never recognized the fact that my pets might bother other people. I never thought any of them shed hair at all, to be truthful.
Then I married this incredible man who happened to have a cat.
And that cat sheds hair.
And that makes me nearly insane.
We've talked for months now about how much I can't stand the cat hair. I'm constantly rolling the carpet and my clothes and furniture with lint rollers. All the while, I'm wishing I could just relax and not let it bother me so much. But I just can't.
A few months back Mark said, "Do you think we should try to find another home for Lewis?"
WHAT????????
I could not even imagine being the reason that someone would give up a pet. I did not want that to happen. (Mostly, I didn't want it.)
But fast forward to discussions about kids in our home one day in the future and those kids learning to crawl and them getting cat hair all over their hands and then putting their hands in their mouth . . .
And it became MORE THAN I COULD HANDLE. AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
STILL, I could not imagine asking Mark to give up the cat. But he decided that it would be the right thing to do. He began asking around, "interviewing" really to see if anyone would be a good fit for Lewis.
Enter our friend Ben.
Ben is a single guy. He doesn't mind cats and even already "knows" Lewis.
So, last night after dinner, on our date night, Mark and I loaded up Lewis and all the paraphanalia that goes along with a pet, and took Lewis to his new home.
It was slightly traumatic.
For Lewis. For Mark. For me.
Afterwards I said to my incredible husband:
"I'm pretty sure that besides Jesus and my parents, I cannot think of anyone ever making a sacrifice for me on this level solely out of love. Thank you."
He is a good man.
I am a clean freak.
We only make it work because of love and all the sacrifice that Jesus shows us.
We are all sinners. We all have hang ups that must just make God so frustrated with us. But He still chose to sacrifice His Son, His true love, for us.
Thank you Mark for showing me Jesus.
