Houston, We Have A Problem… A Problem… A Problem… A B.I.G. Problem … … …

MORNINGS. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the morning daylight hours are truly becoming one of my favorite times of day. I love sitting in my rocking chair … Bible, journal and devo in my lap with pens and colorful highlighters in hand. 

I love having the sliding door open to enjoy the fragrance of freshly mowed grass… mixed with the delicious smells of potted jasmine.

I enjoy watching and hearing the birds chirping and squabbling for their turn at the bird feeder.

I’ve even come to enjoy the playful antics of  “The Squirrel Twins”… along with their parents.

*FYI – the “Twirl-a-Squirrel” – yes, there IS such a thing! - eliminated my morning angst -  as those furry, creative critters would spend MY precious minutes jumping from tree to feeder.  THEIR GOAL... to consume as much bird seed as quickly as possible before I start banging on the sliding door.

Ah yes - Mornings. Sweet.  Peaceful. Beautiful. Quiet mornings. 

So, with a firm grasp of control over mother-nature once again … my morning “quiet-time” blissfully continued -  uninterrupted.  That is until a strange movement  ON the tree caught my eye. A bird? One of the “twins?”  As my eyes came into sharper focus (remember it’s morning!) … my once tranquil setting was filled with Disbelief - Shock and Horror! What I saw was a beady eyed, ropy tailed R.A.T. … sitting motionless … staring right at me… taunting me with his fat little self. I was NOT amused!  As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. Address – unknown. Unknown, that is, until I saw him a bit later poking his head out of a freshly chewed hole at the base of the spa.   

THAT DOES IT!  No beady eyed, lice infested R.A.T. (not positive on the lice part – but it sounds good!) was going to set up housekeeping in MY spa in MY back yard!  No way! No how!  A trip to the hardware store and the rodent elimination isle quickly commenced.     

I was STUNNED at the variety of traps on the shelves. You’ve got the:

• “Catch and RELEASE” trap (what’s the point with THAT trap???)
• The  “Sticky Tape” trap (sounds awful!)
• $40.00-$99.00 for the “ELECTRIC Rat-Zapper”  (I am NOT paying that amount of money to electrocute a rodent!)
•  The  “Ultra Sonic Rodent Repeller”
• …and my personal favorite –  “Tomcat 33545 Spin Trap!”  I was tempted… really tempted… as I reflected on how effective the “TWIRL-A-SQUIRELL” gizmo was!

However, I snapped back to reality and purchased the  sleek, black  “Tomcat Snap Rat Trap.”  

S-w-e-e-t!

The trap was carefully set. The waiting began. Time. Patience. Persistence.  Good things come to those who wait – RIGHT? A couple of days passed. Nothing. Nadda. Zilch. But finally …shhhh….  here he comes… dancing and prancing around the trap like a ballerina.  Taunting. Tormenting and Teasing me. Ahh…. but not for long.  I won’t give you the final details… but let me just say – he’s resting comfortably. And all was right with the world once again.

Another morning.  Another “sighting” but I GASPED as I saw not one, but  TWO little baby  r.a.t.s.  SITTING ON THE SET-TRAP … merrily eating the peanut butter and bird-seed appetizer.  Their combined weight was not enough to set the trap into SNAPPING action.  Mercy me!  NOW WHAT?

A quick trip BACK to the Hardware store – returning with two black, sleek “Tomcat Snap Mouse Traps.” I felt like Clint Eastwood as I set those traps – saying …       

“Go ahead! Make My Day!”

Well, time has past – and 7, yes  SEVEN  R.A.T.S. of assorted ages have “successfully” encountered the “Tomcat.” And are “resting peacefully” thank you very much!  However, I’m keeping my traps set … and my eyes open!

All of this  “stalking” a  R.A.T. drama -  has caused me to think…

• Am I this vigilant and aware of what’s going on in my daily spiritual life?  

The devil is a sneaky foe.  He can be lurking about, unknown… undetected… but his presence can wreck havoc. He is, after all, on a search and destroy mission. And I’m  his target!

• Am I taking the immediate, important and necessary precautions to keep the enemy away? 

It’s not enough to “know” that there’s an enemy… I need to prepare FOR the enemy, “lest I fall…”  He is, after-all,” looking too and fro to see who he can devour.”

• Am I asking and allowing God to keep watch over me…  Keeping ME alert and on guard in my day to day living? 

God wants to help … Will I let Him?  Will you? 

 ^“Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.”   I Peter 5:8-11 (Message)

   

It’s Becoming On an Orangutan…

Perhaps it was because I had just spent time around the grands who were full of energy, agility and did I mention energy?… 

Maybe it was because I hadn’t been sleeping very well and I was sporting a very tired face …

Or possibly it’s the reality of another birthday pushing me ever closer into another decade of life…

Whatever it was … the THING that pushed me over the “edge” was the comment made by the darling (?) “twenty-something" year-old while purchasing carpet shampoo as she sweetly said  “You’re going to shampoo your own carpets? Wow! I’m impressed!  That takes a lot of energy. That’s awesome!”  -   Awesome?  What?  Did she think I was too old and feeble to push a carpet shampooer and then dump the dirty water in the toilet?

That did it!  I drove to the drug store. Carefully, I examined the boxes of hair color lining the shelves, determined to rinse way the gray and add some oomph to my dull unmanageable curls. Nothing drastic. Nothing permanent. Just a nice semi-permanent light golden brown. That should do the trick! 

I went home with a new spring in my step and smile on my face. I carefully read and followed the directions to the letter. Set the timer and waited for the magic to happen.  BOY! Did IT ever!!!  As looked into the mirror… after rinsing thoroughly … I was met by the most amazing sight!  ORANGUATAN ORANGE!!!   OH. M.Y.  G.O.O.D.N.E.S.S.!!!  Had I picked up the  wrong box?  Did I read it incorrectly?  I grabbed the box of hair color from my bathroom counter. There it was – in big letters - “Light Golden Brown.”  THIS color was NOT golden!  THIS color was NOT brown!  This hot mess was ORANGUATAN ORANGE!!!  My heart plummeted.  My angst skyrocketed!  What on earth was I going to do?

I got on-line like any intelligent human being would do and searched for an easy and quick solution to this temporary (I HOPED) problem. I found dozens of remedies and I tried several.  –From washing my hair with dish soap. Washing with dish soap AND baking soda. –Crushing vitamin C tablets into powder, making a paste then applying it to the hair capping it off in plastic wrap. *A guaranteed SURE CURE.  Ahhh…. NOT!   –Rinsing in DIET cola to strip hair of color (if it strips color out of one’s hair, I could only imagine what it does to the stomach???)  

After each magic “remedy”  I looked in the mirror and was met with the same brilliant reflection . No magic happened! No easy solution occurred! Only raw ORANGUATAN ORANGE remained.  My only thought (other then what have I DONE?) was… What’s Michael going to say after he returns home from Hawaii in a couple of days???  

I went to bed feeling sick to my stomach. Upset with myself for letting “things” and comments make me feel old and frumpy.  Discouraged that I hadn’t heeded the H.A.L.T. principle I knew so well and often shared with others.

“Never let yourself become

too Hungry, too Angry, too Lonely or too Tired.”

 

Now, here I was … the neon orange by-product of  NOT following my own advice.  It was time to go to bed – and hopefully in the daylight “IT’ wouldn’t look as bad as it did in the dark. But morning arrived just as colorfully as it had ended. Wishful thinking is one thing, but reality is another. And the color orange is still orange no matter how you slice it!  A trip to Sally’s Beauty Supply along with Walgreens and CVS was in order … acquiring various sundry items to try to tone down my hair. 

Well… no need to drag this out.  Suffice it to say - I’m not as ORANGUATAN ORANGE anymore – or perhaps I’ve gotten use to it over the past couple of days -  but at least now I can go outside without my baseball cap.  And hopefully I’ve learned a few things these past couple of days…

FIRST - Remember to Remember: H.A.L.T. 

SECOND - “Be content in ALL things…”   (Philippians 4:11)

THIRD - Stay away from the hair coloring isle at the drug store.

            and….

FOURTH – Go shoe shopping instead.

Wish me LUCK!  I’m on my way to the airport to pick up Michael…. 

The Four Walls of Fear

Icy cold fear flowed through me the other day. I read a couple of text messages from people I  love and in an instant the beauty surrounding me suddenly went gray. Silent. Dark. My heart flooded with the familiar feelings of fear,  fast forwarding to unwanted possibilities. I tried like crazy to grasp onto the comfort of scriptures I've memorized and tucked into my heart over the years - but my mind seemed to go blank.  I tried talking to God but the only words I seemed to utter were ~ "O, please God, No!"  (In hindsight I realize those words were a deep, heartfelt prayer. Just the kind God's longs to hear.) 

As I fast-forwarded into my fear... I also began to feel incredibly discouraged. Disappointed with myself for climbing down the ladder into my self-created pit. What was the matter with me? Haven't I learned anything over the years? Didn't I know how to "turn my worries into prayers?"  Why, O why, was I spinning my worry wheel while at the same time it seemed I was unable to pray?    

Maybe you've wondered,  like I have, if you're the only one who struggles with fear and worry.  It's not something we talk about openly, especially as Christians.  After all, aren't we suppose to be: "Anchored on the Rock" - "Giving Thanks in ALL things"?  And sometimes it seems that the moment we express our fears,  some dear soul feels it is their duty to give us a faith-pep-talk, rather than just listening to our hearts, letting us simply know they care. 

God must have known that fear would be a constant struggle for each of us.  Recently I learned there are 365 "Fear not's" in the Bible... one for every day of the year. On this day I needed one of those "Fear not's."

I picked up my devotional book and encountered one such story that was shared in John 20:19-20.  The story of Jesus' strong, fishermen friends experiencing yet another not so strong faith-moment.  These trembling guys helped me realize I was not alone.  John writes: 
 
 "... Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, FEARFUL of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. (Considering the circumstances I'm pretty certain that I would have not only locked myself inside the house, I would have stacked the heaviest furniture I could find in front of the doors - and secured all the shutters.)   Jesus entered,  (Isn't that just like Jesus!  Even though the door was locked and the do not disturb sign was hanging on the door knob, Jesus knew that one knock on the bolted door would only intensify their fear, spinning them into utter panic!) ...Jesus stood among them, and Jesus said, “Peace to you." ...  Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you...” (emphasis mine)

As I looked closer at these verses I noticed a few things: 

• Jesus didn't pound at their door of fear insisting they let Him in.
• Jesus didn't demand they open the door of their trembling hearts. 
• He didn't drag them from the "protection" of their four walls.
• Jesus didn't scold, berate or make fun of them for being fearful.
• He didn't say: "Boys, Boys, Boys!  Haven't you learned anything?" 
• In fact, unlike other "door" scriptures ...  this time Jesus didn't knock at all. 

               He knew His friends.
                      He knew their whys.
                           He knew their fears.
                               HE KNEW THEIR NEED.    
   
HE CAME TO THEM...
HE ENTERED INTO THEIR  FOUR WALLS OF FEAR...  
He KNEW HIS FRIENDS SIMPLY NEEDED HIS PRESENCE. 

And He said ~ PEACE TO YOU.  Not once ~ but twice!   

Jesus brought them peace.  He gave them courage. 
  
I came to realize that if He would do that for His friends 2000 years ago He could do it for me, too ... and He did.  He entered into my four walls of fear and in a way that only Jesus can, He gave me the presence (and the present) of His peace.  

Do you need to hear a "Fear not" today?  Listen carefully...  to you He is  saying:  

“Peace...  PEACE to you...” (emphasis mine)