I Live in My Parent’s Basement with 50,000 Cats…

The title is what it says.

No, I did not get a cat. I will not get a cat. Gross.

In the house my parents recently bought, there is a huge bathroom in the basement where me and my sister’s rooms are. And the walls are covered in cats. Lots of cats with staring eyes and odd facial expressions.

I love our new home. There is plenty of room to entertain people and I’m really figuring out how to make my space my own. It’s wonderful.

But the title is what it says. I live in my parent’s basement with 50,000 cats.

Not exactly living the dream.

Here is a close-up of my lovely cat friend. I think the hearts beside the names signify some sort of rating system, though I’m not sure why Fat Cat is better than Calico Cat…

‘Tis the season for engagements. ‘Tis the season of remembering that those engagements are not my own. ‘Tis the season for discontentment and materialism and poor-me-ness. ‘Tis the season to forget what this season is truly about and wallow in self-pity and loneliness.

This season is not about me. Not the Christmas season, not this season of life, and not life in general.

And yet I feel entitled to pout. Pout because I live in my parent’s basement with 50,000 cats. Pout because I am alone at Christmastime. Pout because I have been alone for a while. And pout because its just easy.

Honestly, I often hold a negative view of singleness because I am lazy. Rather than seeing each season as the classroom God has placed me in, I wine and belly-ache, trying to get my way with no avail. I am wasting what God has given me in the hear and now.


Rather than spending this time investing in the friendships, opportunities, and time he has given me, I allow myself to sit and do nothing. By doing nothing, I get bored. My days become filled with discontentment, loneliness, and honestly too much Netflix. Rather than investing in a redemptive friendship, I watch White Collar reruns. Rather than deepening my relationship with God, I deepen the butt divets on my couch seat. Rather than taking time to better myself and my craft, I piddle away my creativity trying to formulate witty tweets and statuses that will garner numerous retweets and likes. I am wasting this season.

I am not seeking God more fully, I am not growing in community, and I am not becoming a better writer. I’m hardly traveling beyond the basement!

If this is singleness, then yeah! This is shit!

But I have fallen for the grand lie. You see, I have not been doomed to singleness and a life among the cats. I have been blessed so completely with opportunity up the wazoo!

This is the cat I can seen from the shower. Notice his disturbed facial expression. I call him Peeping Tom Cat.

Here is the truth:
My parents are wonderful God-fearing people who have encouraged me to live my dream and pursue the calling I believe God has given me (aka. writing.) My parents are sensible people who understand that writing pays nothing…. sometimes negative nothing. As such, they allow to me live in their house RENT FREE as I pay off my schooling and pursue a job in the publishing industry. Let me repeat: I live in an awesome house, complete with pool and cat-laden bathroom RENT FREE.

As such, I have an opportunity to gain experience in my field of study. I have a splendidly patient supervisor who wants me to learn and make industry connections. God has equipped me for this position in oddly comical ways and has provided wise counsel exactly when I need it.

I have time in the evenings to work on the novel I’ve been itching to get to for the last three years. I have a chance to host small groups in my home and grow in relationship with the word of God, the people of God, and the spirit of God.

Because I am living rent free and have a wonderful job that helps me keep the loans in check, I can begin to save to travel. I have the chance to invest my time, treasure, and talent into so many things that I would not be able to be as devoted to if I had married right out of school.

God has blessed me with the season of life that I need right now to become who I am called to be. I am not settled yet. I am not all he is going to make me. I am not ready to be married and it is not until I get off the couch, and out of the basement, and into his word that I begin to realize there is more to this season than my wants and desires. There is a God who is shaping me to be his servant no matter what lies ahead. 

I live in my parent’s basement with 50,000 cats.

Title is what it says. I live there as God trains me to go out and embrace his will. I won’t have the company of the cats forever. Time to devote to my writing won’t be so generous in the future. The quiet moments with my Father won’t be as easily gained.
I need to enjoy and embrace this season while it is here. This is one chapter of many more and the next one can’t begin until this one is written.

It’s gonna be a good chapter. I can feel it.