The Raccoon

So our tenants have moved out and remodeling is under way. We noticed first that our front window has been broken. The guys (our tenants) acknowledged that it was a freak accident when they were moving out and of course agreed to pay for it. Incidentally, finding someone to fix it correctly has been an unexpected difficulty. Shocking. Where are all the good workers?

We also noticed that our whirlpool does not work. Now, for those who have seen our house, you know it's nothing fancy, just a bathtub in the master bedroom with jets and what not. But here's the problem. The guys claimed they never used it so they couldn't have broken it. We know it worked when we moved out. We checked the electricity and it was fine. But thing was definitely broken. We asked a friend who has a service company to send someone to check it out. That person found the raccoon nest.

Yes, a little critter had forayed from under our house into the walls, made a nest, and had proceeded to eat one of the plastic pipes or parts of the whirlpool, rendering it broken. Then I remembered all those times in years past when my wife commented about hearing things, little noises, in our house. I would dismiss it with a "I'm sure it's nothing" or with a hardly truthful "I don't hear that".

It made me think. What little critters have I allowed into my life to make a hidden nest and chew on some essential parts of my soul? The critter of anger? Carelessness? Laziness?

The Bible says that your sin will find you out (Numbers 32.23). This raccoon was exposed. The damage has been repaired. But if we don't kick him out, it will happen all over again.

The nest needs to get cleaned out. I'll be doing that this Friday or Saturday. Let's not neglect the work that needs to be done.