Game of Cat and Mouse

This is not a picture of Grace, but it looks a lot like her.
Sorry didn't have my camera ready when this all happened.

   

 Last night I was sitting on my bed (my only place to sit in my room where I stay) and watching a Christmas movie. When my cat Grace came in the room, and jumped up on my bed. This is normal so I didn't think much of it, till I looked at her, and she had a big fat mouse in her mouth. I screamed. Which scared her, and she dropped the mouse, which was still alive, and it ran off the bed, and somewhere in my room. I've had my cat Grace for over two years now, and I've never seen her catch anything before, except play with her toys. Thankfully I've never had a mouse in my motorhome, nor in my home in Kenmare. 

    I was pretty sure this was gonna be a sleepless night for me. Now I had a live mouse somewhere in my room. Ugh! I asked the lady I'm staying with if she had any traps. She found me two, and I set them in places where a mouse can get, but not my cat. I laid down for a hopeful night of sleep. 

   Again at 3 a.m. Grace brought me her wonderful prize onto my bed. I got to hand it to her, she doesn't have any front claws, but she's catching it anyway. This time, I sat up, and turned on the light, just in time to see the mouse run across my bed and jump onto the floor, and disappear again. Grace was right on it, and sat staring at my purse which was on the floor in the corner. I went over and picked up my purse and sure enough, Fat Mouse was under neath. Now exposed, it ran towards the door, and then under the door and out into the hallway and into the laundry room. That was my last sighting for the night (or morning).

   I got to thinking, I wonder if Grace just thinks this is just an automatic toy, and what a fun game of Catch and Release. She hasn't seemed to figure out that the goal is to kill it. And she's not hungry, as she's well fed. She's never been outside a day in her life, always been an indoor cat, and never been in a place that had a live mouse before. But for me, this is not a game. This is all out, Kill the Mouse! Mice are dirty, carry disease, chew up and make a mess of things, and are not welcome inside the house. I know they're a source of food for a large number of animals, but all those animals are outdoors, where the mouse belongs. This mouse somehow found it's way indoors, and thought it was safe. But now has fallen victim to a confused cat's game of catch and release. I'm hoping one of my traps work!

    Sometimes we 'play' with things that really should be killed in our life. We catch them and then let them go, just to see if we can catch it again. We're really playing with something we should be killing on first sight of it. Like bitterness, resentment, wrath, etc. Just don't catch it and let it go again, only to want to catch it again, while in the mean time that thing is wrecking havoc destroying things that are good in your life. 

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior." Eph 4:31 NLT 

Down in the Valley

 "Yea, though I walk through the valley" (Psalms 23:4) are comforting words. But remember to have a valley, there must be more than one mountain, or hill. Maybe you came off one mountain, to reach this valley, or maybe you're passing through the valley to avoid having to climb over the mountain. But the good news is always, there's another hill to climb, another mountain to conquer past the valley. We all love those 'mountain top' experiences, where the view before you is awesome, and you get that 'I'm on top of the world feeling.' Those times are great, but life and growth happen in the valley. Though the valley is full of shadows and can be very dark. It's there you gain the strength to climb the next hill or mountain. It's in the valley, you can eat, and drink, and grow stronger. And even though the valley is dark, and full of shadows, in order for there to be shadows and darkness that means there has to be some light somewhere. Shadows only happen when there's a light source, no matter how weak it is. 

   In the King James and New King James versions the verse starts with a 'Yea.' What a switch in our thinking to think, Yippee, yeah! I'm going through a Valley! Okay, I know that's not how that word is used in that verse, but maybe it should be a yippee, yahoo kind of Yeah! Its I'm gonna go through! Where the road isn't so rocky, and no steep paths to climb. It maybe a little dark, and the road and view not very exciting, but I'm going though, and there's another high point when I'm done! I'm either gonna climb another mountain, and see the beauty, or go through that pass, and get to where I'm going. So it's time to "Yeah!" your valley and keep walking through! 

   You don't need to run either, just walk, you'll make it through. The only thing that's gonna run is your cup running over. But don't forget, that cup is probably on the table in the presence of your enemies. But you'll have an abundance as your cup runs over! 

    Remember Jesus is the good shepherd, leading you through to green pastures, and beside still peaceful waters. He's with you every step of the way. So if your valley feels dark, keep walking. There's a table set before you and another mountain top to see. Keep walking.

Cat Scan

Grace looking a little bit grumpy, but trying to blend in with all my black and white.

 I've had a few CatScans in my life, but to tell the truth, they all happened when I was unconscious while at the Mayo.  I do remember briefly waking up, and asking what was going on, and some nurse told me they were taking me to have a CatScan before they started surgery.  I remember asking what that was, and then everything went out again for me, and I didn't wake up for another three days.  Not because of the CatScan, though.  I know I had multiple scans while I was there because I was charged for them, but I don't remember any of them.

  But there are a few CatScans I do remember. They were administered by my cat Grace. Several times in the last year, while laying in bed, she has jumped up on my bed and then gone to a specific place on my body and started her little 'massage.' You know how cats do that. What's been interesting is that every time she has done this, within a few minutes or hours, that area of my body has had challenging issues. Twice this has happened, I discovered later that I had a severe UTI. She also did this the morning, I ended up in an ambulance ride and spent several hours in the ER when my heart rate dropped below 40, and my Oxygen levels tanked. 

She's done it to my shoulder when a prior injury reoccurred, and later that day, the pain was almost unbearable. 

Last night, she did it again. At 4 AM, she started at my feet, walked up my body till she hit my stomach, and started her little paw massage. Sure enough, as I began to wake up, I realized my stomach was upset, and the acid was coming up my throat. Once I got up to handle the situation, she left my room for another spot to sleep.

How does this animal know when something is wrong? She truly is my 'CatScan.' God put something in animals that knows. I don't know how they know, but I'm thankful for my little alarm kitty that tries to warn me that something is wrong.

Broken Crayons Still Color

 

   I know this makes me sound like a little kid, but I still get a thrill out of a new box of crayons.  And it’s even cooler if you get a box with a built-in sharpener on the back.  Sixty-four perfectly formed little sticks of potential color explosions.  There’s so much so much available creativity waiting in that perfect little box.  Whether you’re six years old and learning to color within the lines, or you’re sixteen and doing a detailed pointillism picture, or sixty and carefully coloring a picture to pass the lonely hours, crayons are just fun.

   But then one breaks, and spoils the perfect symmetry of the box. And then there’s that color that you use more than all the rest, and it’s suddenly shorter, and you can barely see it anymore sticking out of the box.  Before long, you usually end up with a pile of broken crayons, bits and pieces showing wear and tear and sometimes abuse from overuse.  They no longer fit in the box with the sharpener on the back, so you get a small pencil box and throw the broken pieces in it.  They’re not pretty anymore and have lost the thrill of that new crayon appeal, sometimes the wrapper is missing, and it’s nothing but a bear-naked crayon.  But if the truth be told, every one of those small broken pieces still color just as beautifully as when they were whole.  Being broken doesn’t mean they lost their ability to produce color.  Even the tiniest piece still produces the vibrant color it did when it was whole, but it just doesn’t last as long.  

    We’re no different than those broken crayons.  We start out in life perfectly formed little sticks of potential creativity and color.  As life goes on, some parts get broken and some are overused or abused, sometimes we lose the wrapper that tells our specific color name. Soon this once-perfect box of crayons is thrown in an old pencil box and seems discarded and useless.  People tend to want perfectly formed crayons and find digging through a box of broken pieces nothing more than unnecessary work.  Why go for the broken when you can have the new?  But those broken pieces know that story of beauty and pain.  The beauty of creating a beautiful picture of life, while suffering the pain of being broken.  

  It takes the artist to still see potential in the broken pieces.  The artist knows that those small remaining pieces can still make a masterpiece when placed in the right hands.  So give your brokenness to God and watch him turn those broken parts into a beautiful masterpiece.  He can use every part of your life, even the broken parts, to make this masterpiece shine to its full potential.

    “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”  Eph 2:10 NLT

A crayon pointillism picture I did in High School.