From Rafiki

Is There a Return Policy for This?

Life is always an adventure when you have a dog by your side.  It seems for nearly every season of my life, there has always been a canine companion lounging in the shadows.  First, there was Maggie, a lovely Border Collie who had the most fantastic eyes, one sky blue and one brown.  I loved those eyes.  Then there was Bubbles, ironically enough a Rottweiler mix.  Best dog I have ever had.  My brother found her as a puppy, shivering in a ditch close to our house.  We still had Maggie at that point and we knew our parents were not going to be fans of their children, particularly their pint-size daughter, being owners of what would eventually become a 90-lb Rottweiler. 

So, we hid her in the barn for a few days.  We then conveniently told our parents, "Hey, by the way - we've been hiding a puppy in the barn for a few days.  Can we keep her?  I mean, you can't honestly expect us to get rid of her now!  She likes us."  My parents were kind enough to give in and let us keep her, despite the fact that they still were not thrilled with the idea of a stereotypically aggressive dog hanging around the place.  They made a good choice as she turned out to be one of my very best friends, especially in her older age as she mellowed out.  I thought I spoiled her, but when I left for college, my parents officially claimed her and loved her even more.  We still talk about that dog often.

And now there is Buster.

You should tell just by that transition alone that this is not going to end well.  He actually belongs to my brother, Josh.  As a puppy he was the cutest thing.  But aren't they all when they are puppies?  Then they gain 60-lbs and you question your sanity.  He's part Bulldog, part Boxer, all parts idiot. I swear this dog has no brakes.  He will beat you in a game of chicken every single time.  I can't tell you the number of times he will come flying around a corner, race into the barn, go sliding across the cement because his paws are slippery and because he's too fat to slow himself down, he'll crash into whatever is waiting for him at the end.  He's rammed a few saw horses on a couple of occasions.  Slid into the tractor a time or two.  Hit his nose on the car.

The best incident, however, was when I taught him how to climb up on the kids' swing set we have.  There is a set of faux stone steps on one side that go up into the wooden stand and then the slide goes down the other side.  Well, Buster morphed into a bionic agility dog when he discovered he could he hoist his fat behind up those steps.  I occasionally join him on his escapades up the steps and down the slide.  In hindsight, I realize that is not a brilliant move on my part.  I climbed up the stairs, he followed.  I tried to beat him down the slide.  Not smart.  As I was sitting down on the slide, he realized what I was doing and decided to follow suit.  So I now have a 70-lb dog pretty much perched on my shoulders as I'm heading down the slide.  I hit the bottom of the slide and the ground so hard because Buster slammed into the back of me.  I managed to bruise both knees pretty bad and I just about ate grass.  Of course, my parents are watching all of this unfold from the kitchen window.  Apparently I was the free entertainment for the evening.

Buster's latest endeavors, however, left me with dashed hopes.  He lives outside all of the time - no indoor pets for us - so we do our best to keep him cozy in the winter.   He fares well and we haven't had any problems, but this year I thought I'd see how well he handles wearing a blanket/coat/jacket, whatever you want to call a dog's attire.  He can be a spas-case about things so I wasn't entirely sure how this would go over.  I ventured over to Petsmart and found an X-Large blanket. (The dog's neck is 21-inches round and his gut measures in at 34-inches round.  He's a small tank.)  I bring it home, wrangle it on him and step back.  He makes an attempt or two to reach around to grab it, but quite frankly, the dog is too thick and has zero flexibility so it was to no avail for him to reach the blanket.

Awesome, I thought.  I leave it on him for a few hours, come back to check on him.  Yep, still on there.  So, I leave it on overnight.  Next morning, still there.  This is working out better than I thought.  And let's be honest - he looks good in it.  I think he knows it.

On Sunday, I went to turn him loose, but made the mistake of leaving the blanket on him.  Ten minutes later he comes flying around the corner per his usual hyperactive mode.  With no blanket on.  It's pitch black out so here I am wandering around our yard with a flashlight trying to find this blasted blanket.  No such luck.  I told him he deserved to shiver that night.

I go out the next day when it's light and what do I find?

   












I'm sorry, Petsmart, but do you have a return policy for when your dog is an idiot?

Who Knew...

It's always good to do things a little differently every once in awhile, even the simple things.  Our office normally does a canned food drive every Christmas for the local food pantry.  The results are moderate.  This year, however, we decided to plunge in and spice things up by adding a new dimension to the food drive: a canned food sculpture competition. (Go ahead, make fun all you want. You're just jealous your office didn't think of it first.) 

Yes, you read that correctly - a canned food sculpture competition.  Each department was responsible for designing a holiday-themed sculpture, constructing it within a week.  Staff members would then vote on the best one.  Our small but mighty Administrative Team engineered a snowman out of mixed vegetables, corn, green beans, and peas.  We had to give ourselves a little pat on the back because I think we surprised even ourselves at how much fun we had.  I'm a little biased, but I think our little snowman turned out pretty great (even though we only got one vote).  

The Communications Department engineered what I thought was a sweet fireplace, made primarily out of Ramen Noodles and boxes of cereal.  (They might have influenced quite a few votes by having Tim Horton's donut holes - just sayin'.)  The voting was incredibly close - one vote separated first from second.  The winner ended up being the Member Services Department and their gingerbread house also made out of a lot of Ramen Noodles and cotton balls.

Who knew the usual canned food drive could be oh so much more fun.

 

It Was Not A Silent Night...

It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love

-"Labor of Love," Andrew Peterson, performed by Jill Phillips

Walking Through the Doors

Sometimes I think more than I should.  It's a dangerous habit.  Then I think about what I think about, which is really dangerous.  I get to overanalyzing and second-guessing, questioning and wondering.  And by the time I'm done with the conversation I'm having with myself, I'm inevitably back to where I began. 

I have found that to be most true as I have reflected on the possibilities of my future, particularly in regards to Africa.  I feel this compelling need to figure it all out now - to determine now whether I'm going to spend the rest of my life there or at least a good portion of it.  This compelling need to determine now which organization to go with and why.  This compelling need to determine now exactly in what capacity I could serve. 

But you know the one thing God keeps telling me?  Walk through the doors as they open.  I don't need to figure it all out now.  I just need to walk through the doors that open.  I need to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. 

I remember Beth Moore saying one time, speaking about God's will - it is a progressive will, one that is revealed over time.  God slowly sheds light on what his plans are for our lives, day by day he pulls back the curtain and says, 'This is your next step.  This the next right thing to do.  Go, do that. Quit overanalyzing, quit worrying about planning every nanosecond of your life from now until you die."  I've needed that reminded here lately, when I get so caught up in worrying about what God's plans are for my life, both in the short- and long-term. 

Right now, those next steps are to go back to Kenya next summer.  That is what's next.  That's what I know right now.  That's the light he's given me. 

Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

I need to trust that word and keep walking down the path, walking through the doors that he opens.

Through This, I've Been Reminded

Relationships are funny things.  I suppose if you stopped and thought about it long enough, the fact that any two human beings can ever make any friendship or relationship work really does seem a bit absurd.  I mean, sometimes I think it's downright crazy.  Putting two sinful people together and saying, "Go, be a reflection of Christ."  Hm.  Easier said than done.

What I've really been reminded of lately, though, is ultimately how I see Christ through my relationship with Nick.  On numerous occasions the Lord has brought to mind things where he just gently says, "Okay - see this?  That's a reflection of me, that's meant to be a reminder of me, a reminder of what I feel for you."  I finally just had to make a list because I had way too many thoughts floating around in my head and I didn't want them to escape.  My relationship with Nick has been so sweet and I'm ever so grateful for him, for a variety of reasons, but God continually pulls back the curtain, reminding me of what it could like if we stop pursuing Him, if we get caught up in our own wants and needs.

I've been reminded that the other person will never full satisfy me and meet all of my expectations.  And when he doesn't, Christ will.

I've been reminded that if our hope is in the other person a vast majority of the time and he doesn't fulfill that hope, Christ will.

I've been reminded that when we make an idol out of the other person or worship how he makes us feel, we'll wake up one day and realize he can never save me.  Christ does.

I've been reminded that if we do not first have a life story, one that is intertwined with Christ, then when our love story happens, we will have no identity apart from that person.  Christ must be our identity.

I've been reminded that while our longings and desires can be true and pure, if they are not kept in check, we'll be left with nothing but lust and lies, deceived by our own wants.  Those longings can neither be revered nor condemned, but must be thought about rightly in reference to Christ.  He is to be our ultimate longing.

I've been reminded that if our relationship does not ultimately reflect Christ and his church, then it's time to reevaluate and set aright that which is wrong.  The world is watching and waiting for us to make a wrong move - let's not give them a reason to find fault.  Christ is the mirror we must reflect.

I've been reminded that if a man - a mere human - can feel this way about me, then doesn't Christ feel that way even more so?  And if somebody longs to lavish their love on me, then doesn't Christ wish to do even more?

I've been reminded that if a man declares to me that I am beautiful or wanted, should I not take him at his word?  And if God declares the same, should I not believe him even more so? We insult both and foster unbelief when we are quick to brush off that which is spoken.  If he says it's true, what further proof or evidence do I need?

I've been reminded that God calls us to be like him, in whatever medium we find ourselves.  It is not wrong to want or need another human being, to enjoy him, to love him, to be grateful.  God gives us those desires and they are good.  But they are not the bottom line.  Christ is.     

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

The Things I Used to Think

You know how sometimes the sun's rays will shine through a bank of clouds, leaving part of the land covered in light and the rest covered in shadows? 

I used to think wherever those rays landed, those were the only people God spoke to. 

And you know how some vehicles have an emergency brake handle in the center console?

I used to think if you pulled the handle the seats would eject.

And radios - you know how the song changes every few minutes?

I used to think a new band would literally set up of their instruments in a room at the radio station.  I could never figure out how they could change things so quickly in between songs.

The things I used to think.

Don't ask me how my childish mind came up with those things.  Somehow or another, we come up with outlandish notions as children because in our little minds, they make sense to us.

But now I know.

Where the sun's rays fall can't limit to whom God speaks.

Because now I know He's bigger than that.

And I'm not going to die when I pull the emergency brake and get catapulted out of my car.

Because  now I know emergency brakes are more about my safety.

And the wonders of technology means Brad Paisley isn't scrambling to get his band out of the way in order for Rascal Flatts to play their next song.

Because now I know. 

I love how the pastor Isaac Anderson said it in a sermon once about becoming disillusioned with God.  He said, "Maybe we need to set aside whatever notions we might have of who we think God is in order to go in search of a God worth finding.  A God that is big enough, and mysterious enough, a God who isn't so much worthy of our disinterest, but worthy of our devotion."

There are a lot of things I used to think were right and true, some silly, some not so silly.  I'm a little older and a little wiser.  I'm grateful that God is the kind of God that doesn't leave us alone at the crossroads of things we used to think and things we now know.  We're always learning, always growing - sometimes it's not easy and sometimes I think it would be easier to go back to thinking the things I used to think.

But now I know.

The Practice of Getting Lost

Sometimes we need to get a little lost.  It does our senses some good when we're not sure where we are.  Barbara Brown Taylor said in her book An Altar in the World, "You have to start somewhere.  If you do not start choosing to get lost in some fairly low-risk ways, then how will you ever manage when one of life's big winds knocks you clean off your course?  I am not speaking literally here, although literal lostness is a good place to begin since the skills are the same: managing your panic, marshalling your resources, taking a good look around to see where you are and what this unexpected development might have to offer you."

Some people don't manage their panic or marshal their resources very well, however.  You may have heard about the couple and their children who got lost in a corn maze in Danvers, Massachusetts.  After spending who-knows-how-long in the maze and not making it out, the decide to call 911.  That would have been my natural thought.  Yes, let's call 911 to get us out of a corn maze.  Hmm. Either way, the police come, only for the couple to discover that they were about 25 feet away from the exit.  To each his own.

But then I spent some time in our own local corn maze and discovered that I was quite annoyed at getting lost.  And quite annoyed at going around in circles, wondering how the heck to get over there, wherever there is, when I am so sick of seeing and being here, wherever here is.  I didn't feel the need to call 911, but I will admit that I did text the above sign at one point because clearly my sense of direction was not getting me anywhere.  The text wasn't much help.  It basically said look at the sun and go left.  Awesome.  That's just where I came from.  So, I'm still here.  

I suppose getting lost in that corn maze was a good reminder, though, for me.  I need those kind of reminders every so often, even if they do come in the form of muddy paths, ridiculous winds, screaming lost children, and stalks of corn slapping me in the face as I walk by.  I need to get lost a little more often.  And be okay with it.  

Taylor went on to write in her book

When the safety net has split, when the resources are gone, when the way ahead is not clear, the sudden exposure can be both frightening and revealing.  We spend so much of our time protecting ourselves from this exposure that a weird kind of relief can result when we fail.  To lie flat on the ground with the breath knocked out of you is to find a solid resting place.  This is as low as you can go.  You told yourself you would die if it ever came to this, but here you are. You cannot help yourself and yet you live."

She goes on to say 

You will think of other ways to get lost, or to accept that you really have gotten lost through no choice of your own.  It can happen anywhere, in all kinds of ways.  You can get lost on your way home.  You can get lost looking for love.  You can get lost between jobs.  You can get lost looking for God.  However it happens, take heart.  Others before you have found a way in the wilderness, where there are as many angels as there are wild beasts, and plenty of other lost people, too.  All it takes is one of them to find you.  All it takes is you to find one of them.  However it happens, you could do worse than to kneel down and ask a blessing, remembering how many knees have kissed this altar before you.

I only hope I can practice the art of getting lost a little more often, both in the literal and figurative sense.  I'll just know not to text Pig17 next time around.

Look Closely

It's been awhile since I carved a few pumpkins.  My right arm certainly knew that it had been awhile considering it felt like it was going numb after just ten minutes of trying to carve out part of Mickey Mouse's ear.  Now, I'm not a big fan of Halloween in general.  I think the holiday could go away all together and we'd be better off without it.  However, I do love fall and all things that go along with fall - cider, sweaters, scarves, football, changing leaves, pumpkins, etc.  Thus, the pumpkin carving party I had with my niece and Nick's little sister. 

I really didn't want to have a pumpkin that had a particular Halloween theme - no spooky ghosts, or "trick or treat," or anything like that.  So we went with Mickey.  My mom loves Disney and I wasn't feeling partial to any particular concept myself, so I figured why not.  We made a pit stop at a local pumpkin farm, where we carefully (and quickly - since it was pretty chilly that day) selected our pumpkins, grabbed our carving kits, printed out our patterns, and dove in.  

Grace had opted for a Perry the Platypus pattern.  If you are a Phineas and Ferb fan (unlike myself), then you'll know that Perry is one of the characters from the show.  This is not a show that I happen to be well-acquainted with so I wasn't entirely sure what Perry the Platypus would look like, I was just informed that he was blue. 

This is what Perry the Platypus should look like:

And this is what Perry the Platypus looks like on a pumpkin, Grace's version:

Later on, Grace came up to me and insisted I come look at her pumpkin.  Now that she had put a votive candle in it, it really looked like Perry.

Bless you, child, for being so confident.   

Precious Faces

I just love receiving updates from the village in Kenya.  The village director recently sent me some photos and an update on the latest happenings in the village.  The biggest news being that they recently received a container of supplies and goods from the Home Office.  Yeen-Lan wrote:

"On 19 July, a gigantic crane offloaded a 26,000-pound container onto the Village grounds. The children had never seen the mechanical bird in their lives. They held their breath, not sure if the chains would snap and the container would go into free fall. Several of them clasped their hands in silent prayer. We took the opportunity to have a Science lesson on mechanics.

The children's rumour mill had been churning. "Mrs. Jensen is sending some American kids to be our friends." When the container sat nicely on the ground, they raced towards it, hoping to see new friends walk out from the container!

No, Mrs. Jensen did not send any American kids in the container. It was filled with wonderful supplies of books, Bibles, hymnals, a keyboard, soccer balls, science lab equipment, stock pot cooker, dishwasher, clothing, soft toys, toothbrushes, tooth paste, art and craft materials..."

In the photo below, the little boy on the right with a goofy expression is probably a familiar face to some.  You may remember Johnson and my life-saving intervention.  He is clearly doing well since that escapade.