America Resolved

I am fond of New Year's resolutions. I feel that we all have a thing or two we could resolve to do better. I am so fond of resolutions that I often assign resolutions to others. I once asked a friend if she would honor my resolution for her before I told her what the resolution was. She said, "Yes." I said, "Okay. Resolve to work on your marriage." She said, "Grrrrrr." But she did and that was a good thing. I have been thinking that there are few things that our country can improve on. So America, listen up. This is your short list (long list to follow).
1. Resolve to give the children back their childhood. Turn off the electronics and send the kids outside to play. Someone said to me once, "Young kids need to learn how to use electronics so they don't fall behind." I asked, "Fall behind what?" I learned how to use a computer when I was in my twenties and believe it or not, even at that old age, I took to it pretty quickly. I have never thought at the end of a day, "I wish I had spent more time on my computer." However, many times I have thought, "I wish I had gotten outside more."
2. Resolve to censorship. Yes, folks, zip the lip. I am actually censoring myself right now. Censor all unholy language, images, thoughts, music and activities. Train yourself to restrain yourself.
3. Resolve to practice kindness. I'm not talking "random acts of kindness," I'm talking purposeful acts of kindness. Think to yourself, "What kind thing can I do for someone on purpose today?"
4. Resolve to be a good citizen. Wake up America! Why should God Bless America if we're not being good citizens?
And finally, an alliteration,
5. Resolve to practice prayer, patience and peace. Praying for others teaches us to be tender hearted, grateful and humble. Patience teaches us to be. . . well, patient for those we pray for. And peace flows from prayer and patience which makes practicing peace a good practice.

Happy New Year!

Family's Gift OR Where Are The Caches?

Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) is finding treasures (or caches) hidden outdoors by using a GPS device. The caches are hidden in public places outdoors and then their location is published on the Internet. You plug in the location on your GPS and then your treasure hunting begins. Some caches are camouflaged, some hung in trees, some buried in brush, some hidden in logs. So far we have found 3 caches. After you find the cache, you write your name and the date on the log in the cache container and if there is a treasure, you may take it, providing you leave behind another treasure in it's place for the next seekers to find. And, NO, you may not leave one of your children behind as a treasure for someone else to find, tempting as that may sound, it just wouldn't be right! . . . right . . .?

Our Gift OR Where Are The Tissues?

Need I say anything more?

Husband's Gift OR Where Are The Bandaids?

Can you guess what I got my husband for Christmas??

Below is a clue. . .

Need I say anything more?

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!!

Cat Adoptions? Part III

My daughter asked me once, "Mom, how do you go from talking about peppers to telling people about Jesus?" I laughed because I'm not a good witness. I say stupid things that I wish I hadn't. I think of all the clever things I should have said as I watch the person walk away. I'm not that witty on the spot. But, at a predestined meeting, I was convinced, I would be a fabulous witness! It's just that it is so rare that we have a foreknowledge of being able to share Jesus with someone. After my first conversation with Debbie I knew I wanted to share the good news of Jesus with her. I told my husband and my children, "I just want to share Jesus with her!" I told Debbie over the phone, "I have the perfect cat for you and I can't wait to meet you." She said, "I'm not sure about the cat." I said, "It's okay," but I was thinking, "Who cares about the cat!" I met Debbie at the shelter and she said, "I don't think I'm going to like this cat." I said, "That's fine, but let's go meet her." I had my Jesus speech ready and rehearsed. I introduced Debbie to Buffy and there was an instant, mutual love. From that moment on I may as well have disappeared because to Debbie, only Buffy existed. I managed to say, while I was leaving, that I believed God intended for her, Buffy and I to meet. If she heard me at all I wouldn't know because she said nothing, not even good-bye. Do you think the story will end here?

Cat Adoptions? Part II

. . . the phone rang, it was Debbie. She answered an ad I had placed and was interested in adopting a cat. The local animal shelter has a wealthy benefactor who is paying folks to adopt out "hard to place" cats. Ironically, we just tried to foster a "hard to place" 15 year old boy, but that went terrifically bad. Maybe I thought I would have better results with cats. I placed a clever, quirky ad and I wasn't at all surprised when I received my first call. I was, however, still surprised over my involvement in this project. Yes, there is a financial gain for me, and yes, I love the thought of finding loving homes for hard to place cats, and yes, I love a challenge, but my life is busy and complicated and full - who needs one more thing to do? My first call with Debbie went just about as you would expect. I answered all her questions and I asked a few of my own. She said she would think about it and call me back. And call me back she did . . . 5 times! Each time I spoke to her she revealed a little more about herself and her life. Each time I spoke to her I cared less about the cat and the fee I would get and more about her. My husband said, "Congratulations, it looks like you'll adopt your first cat!" I said, "I don't care if she takes a cat or not, I just want to tell her about Jesus." And there it was . . . the purpose I had been wondering about. Isn't it just like God to use one lonely lady, one stray cat and one unsuspecting soul to work out His purpose? . . . to be continued . . .

Cat Adoptions? Part I

Since I have a history helping cats it was no big surprise for the shelter or some of my old friends to hear I am adopting out shelter cats. But it was a surprise for me. I see myself as more of a people person and not an animal person. My husband and I fostered kittens for over a year when we first moved into our house 24 years ago. The room that is now my 21 year old daughter's room used to be the kitten room. We would take in kittens while they were waiting to be adopted and care for them. The reason we (I) agreed to do it was because the very first two ladies who befriended me when we moved here were animal people and I loved them (I still do). It was their cause and I wanted to support my new friends in their life's work. Not having any causes of my own at that moment and being new to the area and having a new husband who readily agreed to whatever his kooky wife wanted, we gladly took in stray kittens and took care of them. I love all my animal people friends because without them the world would be a very sad place. Ever since we stopped fostering kittens we have spent the rest of the 24 years in our house ministering to people. So, it was kind of a surprise that I agreed to adopt out shelter cats, until, that is, the phone rang... to be continued...

Purrfect!

I have just agreed to help adopt out cats from a local no-kill shelter. I don't personally fully agree with no-kill shelters in all cases. There are some cats that have been in this shelter since 2004. Sadly, they will likely still be there in 2014. Is this humane? I don't know. However, if I can help adopt out some of these cats by the end of this year, I will feel like I have done some good. I went to a meeting to get the details of how I could help. A local pet supply store has agreed to let us bring some cats there. We can set up 6 cages there for 4 hours a day, Friday through Sunday, for the next 3 weeks. Someone was concerned about bad weather and asked what we should plan to do in case of rain or snow. The person organizing the adoption said, "Oh, that wouldn't be humane to be outside for that long!" To which I responded with a hearty, "Thank you!" To which she responded in a slightly haughty manner, "I meant, (long pause) it wouldn't be humane for the cats!" To which I responded, "Heck, they're the ones with the fur!" In spite of that, I am scheduled to work tomorrow and Saturday. Which is purrfectly alright with me.