Lessons from Irene

Just in case you were wondering... WE SURVIVED! Irene killed our electricity for a day and half, threw tree branches across our yard, and made us miss the summer finale of Leverage. But we're ok! And not only did we survive, but I also learned a few things.

#1 God answers prayers. The news had been reporting for days that this could be the storm of the century. Our local weathermen were predicting the storm to make landfall right over our heads as a Category 3. Instead, Irene began to break apart some before hitting us as a Category 1. What had the potential to be another hurricane Katrina turned out to be just a minor mess-maker for a majority of our area. And I am so crazy thankful to God for it.

#2 I should not spend all the celebrated hurricane day in my worn out pajamas. Because crazy people will unexpectedly show up to check on me in the middle of the storm. Like my boyfriend, Bob. So note to self for next time: Jeans and a comfy t-shirt.

#3 I am way too addicted to Facebook. It nearly killed me that our cell service was out and I couldn't check my news feed or post statuses about the hilarous thing my mom just said. I actually had to handwrite notes to remind me of what I needed to post when I had service again! Can you believe that?! Who handwrites anything anymore anyways?! Crazy, I know!

#4 We have the absolute best neighbors. The Wachs next door allowed us to plug in to their generator to power our fridge and some fans so we could sleep that night. I pray God blesses their socks off. If we ever end up moving out of this house, I will see to it that our new place has an open house next to it so the Wachs can follow us.

#5 LED flashlights are the bomb dot com. I stole acquired this teeny three-bulb LED flashlight from the church and used it when I had to walk around in my dark and scary house. Not only did it keep the vampires away (I've had too many nightmares about them lately to deny their presence just beyond my line of sight), but it was also super useful for temporarily blinding sisters. Everyone should have one.

#6 Storms are the perfect opportunities to mess with our cats. The hard rain and loud wind makes Patches skiddish. So when I sprinkled some water on the unsuspecting kitty at 3 am, she got crazy wide-eyed and jumped back about five or six times before running at full speed down the hallway. Dad and I nearly fell out of our chairs laughing.

#7 It doesn't take much to make me laugh a lot when I'm missing out on sleep. See #6.

Thank You

It was like a scene out of the newest action movie. The brave cop and hero of our film switched on his blue flashing lights and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. Chasing the speeding SUV down the crowded road, he swerved around the other drivers while requesting reinforcements. It was a dangerous game of cat and mouse as both the law-breaker and the cop waited until the other would make a mistake resulting in either the capture or escape of our villain. Finally in a flurry of broken car parts, the criminal lost control, slamming into another vehicle into a ditch and sending himself off the road and into a nearby parking lot.

This scene did not unfold on a screen in a packed theater, but rather just a few yards in front of me yesterday afternoon. After spending the day with family and friends, I was driving Grace and Bob home in my car when we witnessed the wreck. Our jaws dropped as I pulled to a stop on the busy road and we watched wide-eyed as the cop jumped out of his car, pulled his gun on the criminal, then tackled him to the ground. I would have got out to check on the person in the other car, but if they were severely hurt I would have been hysterical and only got in the way of the others who had already rushed to their aid. So when we had a chance, we left the scene and continued home another way.

Only Bob did the driving instead of me. I was so overcome with anger toward the idiot driver that I couldn't think straight. How could someone have such little respect for human life that he would endanger everyone sharing the road with him? Did he even care about the person he had just slammed into? If I had been the cop, I wouldn't have let the man surrender, I would have emptied my gun on him at my first chance. (Now that I know how to shoot one, Mwahahaha) As these thoughts and questions swirled in my mind, I grew steadily more angry and I tried my best to keep from cursing.

It wasn't until later that night when another thought consumed me. What if we had been just a few cars further ahead? What if we were the ones he hit? Would we have survived the wreck? If Grace and Bob had been hurt, I would have crossed the street and wrestled the gun from the cop so I could shoot the man myself. I know it sounds awful and very un-Mandy-like, but I really think I could have done it. When people I care about are hurt, I have the potential to get violent, and this would have been no exception.

As if whole ordeal was nerve-racking enough, thinking of all the what-if's and worst-case scenarios nearly cripples me. But I was skimming through of my Bible tonight when the book flopped open to Psalm 121. This is a Psalm of Ascents, from a collection of songs the Jews would sing on their way to Jerusalem as they crossed treacherous terrain. Verses 7 and 8 say "The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." How comforting are those words!

I firmly believe God protected us yesterday. It could have easily been us in the other car, but God had His hand on us. He continues to amaze me with the ways He so obviously works in my life and my weak words of gratitude simply aren't enough. I want my life to be a "Thank You" to Him. I want to be pleasing to the God who loves me by living in absolute faith. (See Hebrews 11:5-6) He deserves nothing less.

Stupid Things

Quite often, I have some super stupid moments. Right now you're thinking "Well duh!" and I would be the first to agree with you. I've had more than my fair share of saying stupid things that I regretted immediately and buying useless items instead of putting the money toward my Chick-fil-a addiction. But I did something particularly stupid last night and didn't realize it until I walked out to the car this morning. This is what I saw...

Terrifying, right? When trying to fix my sticking gas cap cover thingy last night, I unlocked my car using the spare key. And then I forgot to take it out.

In light of recent car break-ins in the area, this was dangerous. If even a fully rehabilitated thief had seen this tempting scene over night or early this morning, he would not have been able to resist it. My car, complete with my bunny buckled in the backseat would have been gone. Instead of kicking myself like with other stupid things, I would have been crying and calling all my police connections to help me.

After the initial shock of realizing my stupidity, I couldn't help but thank God. He protected my beloved car and my cute purple bunny even before I knew they were in danger. Even in huge moments of epic fails, God still proves that He cares for me. I musta thanked Him a hundred times this morning while driving my safe car to work.

And then all day I proceeded to check outside the windows at work to make sure it was still there.

How to Bathe a Kitty

One of our cats is super old and apparently has become unable to bath herself properly. Poor thing. We tried using those special waterless baths in a bottle for kittehs and even some wipe thingies, but they didn't work too well. So we had to actually give her a water bath. And now I shall pass on my tips to you, just in case you ever find yourself in a position to bath a particularly angry cat.

How to bathe a kitty

1. Find a dirty kitty. And I mean really dirty. Even if your cat has just rolled around in in the most disgusting places in your yard, it may not be worth it. Instead, wait to see if your cat gets really super dirty and stays that way for a while. Only then should you attempt such a dangerous mission.

2. Grab the kitty and hold it at arm's length. I understand you want to comfort it and love on it and tell it that it'll all be ok. But as soon as you bring it anywhere near the bathtub, it will try its best to dig its sharp claws in to whatever is nearest. AKA, your flesh. And then you'll never get it in the tub if its arms are wrapped around you and secured indefinitely by surprisingly large talons.

3. Have one person hold the cat in place in the water while the other one does the washing. And that one person should make the cat face the wall so the temptation to claw its way out is lessened. Know that if it even thinks it sees the door, it will bolt for it and drip water all down your hallway, on your coffee table, and in those unreachable places under your couch.

4. Pour water on the kitty and rub it gently. Try not to focus on all the unknown stuff coming off the cat and dispersing in your water. You don't want to know. And if it seems like the kitty is kind of enjoying the bath, it's not true. It's faking, hoping that you'll loosen your grip and giving it a chance to bolt for it and drip water all down your hallway, on your...

5. After a sufficient cleansing, wrap your soaked kitty in a towel that is still warm from the dryer. Massage gently until much of the water has been absorbed. And then let the cat go and enjoy laughing as it shakes its paws.

6. Leave the angry feline alone for an hour and then enjoy your clean, fresh-smelling kitty!

Now that I'm done giving you all my hard-earned wisdom, I need to go nurse a wound. Who knew claws could go that deep!?!?

Found It!

While I was preparing for bed on Saturday night after a long day at the theater in Jacksonville, I looked in the mirror and realized I was missing an earring. And this was not just any earring. My family got me a pair of beautiful sparkly diamond earrings for my 21st birthday last year and I've worn them nearly everyday since. Sure, it's an inanimate object, but it holds so much sentimental value for me. I seriously love those earrings. Here's a much better picture of them than I was able to take...

So you could imagine my unhappiness when I discovered one was missing. On the verge of tears, I prayed for help to find it and then combed the floor of my room and the bathroom. I feared that it had gone down the shower drain, or worse, been lost somewhere in the Jacksonville mall or movie theater, never to be found again.

After more than 30 minutes of crawling on the floor and realizing that I need to vacuum more often, I had to submit to my body's exhaustion. Snuggled up under my blankets with my mind still wondering where it could be, I tried my best to get comfortable. But there was something poking my leg that made comfort impossible. I grabbed the tiny object and turned on my bed-side lamp to see that it was the back to the earring.

This shiny little ray of hope told me that I did not lose it down the drain or in town, but it had to be in the house somewhere. I ripped my blankets apart in search for piece with the diamond, but it was nowhere to be found. Once again, I was too tired to search anywhere else, but I went back to bed knowing that I would probably find it the next day.

Sometime in the night, I vividly dreamed about the earring. First I dreamed that I found it in the middle of my floor. Somehow I knew that wasn't where it was, but I was very close. Then I dreamed that it was in the play pen. (currently in my room for the purpose of hanging up wet clothes) While still deep in sleep, I remembered hearing something fall when I was hanging up a sweater there that evening. At the time I thought nothing of it.

At 4 am, I woke up and immediately threw off the covers and jumped over to the play pen. I carefully ran my hands along the mat but eventually got impatient and lifted it out. Then I saw it. Right next to the edge of the pen was my pretty little diamond earring. I giddily picked it up and immediately thanked God for answering my prayer and showing me where it was. And believe me, a morning hater being giddy at 4 am is a huge deal. Filled with gratitude, I placed my earring in a safe place and went back to bed with a smile.

In Luke 12:6-7 Jesus says, "Are not five sparrows sold for two pence? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not: you are of more value than many sparrows." God cares for every little bird and He cares so much more for me. And not just about my major needs or requests, but also about the little tiny details like the number of hairs on my head and missing earrings.

It is such a great thing to know that I can ask God about anything. And it's even better to know that He hears me and answers me. I am so thankful not only for Him showing me where the earring was but also for loving me enough to even bother with something that's really very insignificant. It isn't like I absolutely had to have the earring. It's just a piece of jewelry and I would have soon been fine without it. But God turned this missing sparkly into a chance to prove just how crazy He is about me. And it makes me kinda crazy about Him.

Resistance Is Futile

No, this post is not about Star Trek.

Ever had one of those days when God's trying to teach you something and you really don't want to learn it? You know what He's saying is true and important, but you want to cover your ears and sing "LALALALALALA" hoping to drown it out? Today was one of those many days for me.

It started out as any other Sunday morning at my little church. I got my coffee with a ridiculous amount of cream and sugar, and then kicked off my cute but uncomfortable shoes under the small table in our almost-as-small classroom, quickly settling into our normal routine. We chatted for a few minutes about our crazy week, then officially began the class as we shared prayer requests. And as always, I lead the prayer. But this morning, I spent a little more time asking God to teach us something today. ...Dangit.

It just so happened that this morning's lesson was about loving other people as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - one of mine, and I daresay everyone's most difficult challenges. I have absolutely no problem loving the people I like, but God calls us to love everybody. We make so many excuses to not show love to some people, and many of those excuses seem very legitimate from our point of view. As I mention this now, the name of someone you cannot easily love has popped into your head probably along with a long list of reasons. Just as it did in my head this morning. But your reasons and mine mean nothing to God.

You may be thinking that it's not humanly possible for you to love that certain somebody, much less everybody. And you are absolutely correct. But yet, God instructs Christians to love as Christ loved. (Ephesians 5:1-2) So how the heckins are we supposed to do that?! Something pretty awesome that I've learned about God over the years is that if He wants you to do something, He will give you the ability to do it. (Philippians 4:13) In fact, if you belong to Christ, you already have that ability! When you accept Christ as your Savior, you are given His Spirit, and one of the results of that is love. (Galatians 5:22-23)

I think that many times we are quite content in not loving certain people. It's simply easier to avoid them altogether and not put in the effort. But think about what would've happened had Christ not put in the effort for us? We would have remained in a state of hopelessness forever if He had not loved us enough to take the consequences for our sins upon Himself. So who are we to say who we will and will not love? God's love is freely offered to everyone and we need to be allowing His love to flow through us to everyone with whom we come in contact.

Like I said, this is a difficult challenge for me, and I'm sure that you would say the same thing if you were honest with yourself. But this was something very important that I really needed to be reminded of, and it's something I'm going to be working on, and I hope that you will too.

As a warning, don't ask God to teach you something unless you're really willing learn it! Because, my friend, resistance to God's instruction is futile. So much better than Star Trek, right?