cat woman

I think that I had perhaps one of the worst experiences of my life at the dentist office. And no…it wasn’t because of what happened in the dentist’s chair, nor because my children were acting crazy in the waiting room. Although, those two things alone could have made for a really bad day, it was the cat woman that tanked my afternoon. Yes, I said cat woman.
I was sitting in the waiting room of the dentist office, when the receptionist came out and began opening all the windows and the doors. She turned the ceiling fan on high and then sat down beside me. For a minute, I thought I might had forgotten to put on my deodorant. The young receptionist, quietly apologized and then began to prepare me for what was to come. She explained that there was a woman coming into the office that lived with 30 cats. She began to describe what was about to happen. I couldn’t imagine it being as bad as what she said, so I thanked her for the heads up and went back to reading my book while I waited.
A few minutes later, the cat woman entered the office. Doors and windows wide open, fan blowing and all of the staff in the office now wearing masks, I alone was left in the waiting room with the woman. What followed became one of the worst experiences of my life. The woman entered the office and sat down beside me and for the first few minutes, I was convinced that what the receptionist had described was an exaggerated story and that all would be well. But then….this smell wafted over towards me and I realized that the receptionist had not adequately prepared me. The smell that permeated the office was worse than any litter box, pet store or back alley I had ever encountered. It was as if the cats had urinated all over her for days on end and she had not bathed, laundered or even cared that she reeked. She sat casually on the sofa, reading her magazine as if she was the most normal person on the planet. Meanwhile, my eyes watered. My nose was burning. I wanted to cover my mouth and face. I was holding my breath for long stents and trying to breathe through my mouth. But that made me need to wipe my tongue off because the smell was so strong that I could taste it. I thought I might pass out from the smell and began to beg God to put me in the dentist chair-for that would be better than sitting in the stench.
The reception cracked her window and spoke to me through the hole to say that she would get me out of there shortly. Shortly, could not come soon enough. And the whole time, all I could think is how could this poor woman live in such a stench and not even realize it, care or know that she is causing such distress to others simply by her presence because of her smell.
While I was hugely critical of the cat woman, I had to stop and evaluate life for a second because of her. We may not reek like a litter box, however, we are all much like the cat woman. We walk into rooms and into people’s worlds and don’t even realize the stench we inflict on others because of how we have chosen to live. We are clueless that the things we love can sometimes cause a stench to our lives that affects those we are around. And yet, others can smell it, taste it and want to run from it because the stench of our lives is more than they can stand to be around. We all know people who reek in different areas. We even warn others to be prepared for the encounter, but nothing can prepare us for the stench of life all over another person. And I certainly don’t want to be the person carrying the stench.
I wanted to look at the cat woman and share with her that she was KILLING me and that while she might love her cats that her love was killing those around her because of the stench it created and that she needed to STOP it, bathe and launder. And then, I realized that we all have things that we love but that create such a stench in our lives. It could be our families, our entertainment, sports, careers-things we love, but instead of it creating a fragrant aroma in our lives, it has created a stench that is affecting others and killing those we are around. It would be anything that doesn’t make us love Jesus more.
The Word is clear that we are to be a fragrant aroma. So perhaps we ought to do a smell check and see how we are doing in this area.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 2 Cor 2:14
ALL FOR YOU