The Simple Life

About 4 weeks ago (that’s a month for those of you in Bedford, TX) our hamster died. I say “our” hamster because everyone in the family took a turn caring for it. Technically it belonged to my daughter Jenna and its name was Snowball. But we mostly referred to it as “it” and it was ours as we cleaned its cage, fed it, got it water, etc. Really, it was kind of cute and fun for Jenna and kids to watch/play with.

Snowball was about 2 years old- which I hear is like 23 in dog years, 136 in people years. Mindi finished putting Jenna to bed on a Thursday and came down to tell me, “You need to check the hamster- she stinks!”

Why I had to check the hamster when she stunk is beyond me, but apparently its in my Hubby Job Description (along with unstopping clogged toilets, etc.) So, I checked her, and sure enough she was STANKY! I lifted up her little igloo house (who knew hamsters live in igloos in the deserts that they come from?) and she was already expired. I took her, put her in a little plastic baggy, put the baggy in a box, and put the box in the garage. I couldn’t just flush her or put her in the trash. Jenna would want to see her and have a little burial ceremony. We have an unofficial Sugar Land Pet Cemetery in our backyard.

We didn’t want to tell her that night as she was going to sleep and we didn’t want to tell her the next morning as she had school and there was no reason to upset her for the whole day. So, it fell on me to find out how we were going to tell her after school.

As I was thinking through this, Mindi and left to do some errands. We turned the corner from our house, and there was something seriously wrong at a neighbors house. Someone was coming out of the backyard yelling something, and another neighbor was on the phone. I asked what happened and he told me, “I think we have a body.”

I went to the front door, peered through the window to see if someone was struggling, trying to breathe- I had no details. As I pulled away from the window, I saw what was wrong out of the corner of my eye- the old man that lived in the house was laying on the floor of the foyer in a pool of blood.

We came to understand that he had killed himself with a pistol about 15 minutes before we had all arrived at the house.

In a period of less than about 14 hours, my family was struck with the urgent simplicity of life. Just when it seems like this life is about paying bills, doing our jobs well, excelling at sports, passing the next exam with flying colors, or being a good spouse or parent, life brings reminders of what is simply real.

I was stripped of some confusion, busyness and lack of direction that day. A simple truth was reintroduced into my life and I had to talk to my family about it in no uncertain terms: sin is real, the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, death is the result of our rebellion, life is about bringing the most glory to God that we can.

That is the simple life. In the wake of these 2 deaths we are reminded that we over-complicate what we are doing and where we should spend our energies and passions.

Don’t forget what we are doing here- simply bring light and life to a world that is doomed to separation from God by lifting up Christ whenever possible. It really does simplify things.