What's with cats?

Monday, December 15, 2008

I'm not much of a cat person, although they seem to love me!

I must admit they're great when you're curled up on the couch watching a movie, but apart from that I really don't have much time for them.

Here's some reasons why...








Cats are incredibly selfish
They bring you unwanted gifts (Ie, decapitated rabbits, mice, rats, cute little birds, endangered moreporks; the list goes on...)
I'm sure it's impossible to train them
They jump onto tables and steal food
They won't go for walks with you
They demand attention and retaliate if they don't get it immediately

Dogs on the other hand are the complete opposite.

They are loyal
You can play rugby & soccer with them (if they're real dogs that is - not chihuahuas, poodles, etc)
They're good for exercise and taking on walks
You can train them to do tricks and stuff
They can find and save people in dangerous situations
They help police find drugs and catch criminals

In fact, they're so cool they have even have a dog art museum in St. Louis, Missouri (USA) where they keep all the famous paintings that have been made by various artists throughout the years. And just in case you want to have your pooch's portrait painted, they maintain a registry of dog artists.

Reminds me of our Christian walk. There are days when it's easy to be loyal & obedient to God. When we want to walk closely beside Him. When we can't wait to help people, tell them about Jesus and so effectively save them from dangerous situations. But then human nature kicks in and our selfishness shows through. We get tired, demanding and claw at people. We don't want to obey but go off and do our own thing. We bring what we think is a great offering before the Lord, but in His eyes it looks like a decapitated rabbit! Maybe this Christmas, we'll remember the real reason for season and show a little of his love and compassion to others. Thanks for the reminder God!

The Jon Dylan Guide to Life & Living

Thursday, August 28, 2008

I wrote this post two days ago and I thought it was pretty cool. Until I went to publish it and the internet (which had been playing up all day) decided it would go offline and it was only then that I realised the auto-save function hadn't been working. So I lost most of it and had to pretty much start from scratch and write it again. Then I got home and found it had saved most of it, just hadn't showed up yet! All that, after I'd already re-written it. I've always said God is into irony (no, not ironing) and now I know it for sure! The post was all about trying to find humour in a bad situation. So if anyone can see the funny side of that then I'd love to hear it! Anyway so this is my attempt at re-writing the post. Here goes...

I found this meaning of the word humour: An alternative (or surprising) shift in perception or answer is given that still shows relevance and can explain a situation; When a sudden relief occurs from a tense situation.
They say that humour is a great way to live longer, be healthier, and helps to get you through life's struggles and trials. They, whoever they are, would be right I believe. I have found throughout the years that whenever I'm going through a rough time, if I try and see the humour in a situation rather than point out all the negatives, the valley becomes less intense. It is still hard, but somehow easier to bear.


The trick is, as well as seeing the funny side of things, is remembering to look back. To look at the past that God has brought you out of; to look at the dry times that God has brought you through; to look at the good times that God has provided for you. If you look back and see where you've trekked already, it becomes easier to look forward because you don't have to worry about the future. You know God's going to come through because He's already proved it. It becomes so much easier to trust Him that He will work the situation out for good. The hard part is letting go of what YOU think is best. When things don't go quite the way you planned them to, it's so easy just to curl up in a ball and think woe is me. But God wants you to stand firm. Stand on His word that never lies, and on His truths that never fail.

The world could fall to pieces and still there God is, unchanging.

Wow.

Powerful stuff if only we could remember it in the midst of our struggles!


So back to the part with the humour in it...
Sometimes it helps to laugh at yourself. About a week ago, I had a really bad day: Woke up at least 3 times in the night, had heaps of stressful customers at work, machines jamming all day long, jobs not coming out right the first time, people asking me stuff I didn't know how to answer, and I was still pretty sick so not feeling the greatest. I got home, lay on the couch and wanted to cry and scream at God in anger and frustration. But knowing full well that wouldn't get me anywhere, I turned on my stereo, cranked up my favourite song & began to jump up and down. After a little while (seeing there was no one around) I started to sing at the top of my lungs. And seeing there was no one around - the one good thing about not having any flatmates - the jumping turned into spinning and crazy dancing (Kate, you know what I mean) and I started to smile. Just a small one, but it was enough to be infectious and then the laughing started. Suddenly, things didn't look so bad. In fact, they were starting to look pretty darn good. It reminded me of the times when I was a kid and my dad used to tell me a dumb joke whenever I got grumpy. I would roll my eyes at him, but eventually a smile would appear and all would be right in the world again. Trust dads to know the right things to do.

Yup that's all I've got.
Till next time...

My God is into irony...

Thursday, July 3, 2008

I discovered the other day that not only does God have a sense of humour, but he's also into irony. I work in an industry where I get to meet all sorts of people from a variety of backgrounds, religions, upbringings, etc. There's a couple of regular customers who I must confess, everytime I see them walk in the door, I want to run the other way! This is a little story of how we need to be so careful as Christians in our attitudes towards other people.

So, this one particular customer of mine walks in the door. My first reaction is, mutter, mutter, under my breath. Every time they come in, it's for a fiddly job that takes about 15-20minutes and generally never pays more than a couple of dollars at a time. So, I do the job; with a frown on my face the whole time; thinking to myself, I wish I was somewhere else; and talking as abrubtly as possible, as if to say, I hope you get the message - I don't like you! After I finish and they have paid their meazly $3 for a 15minute job, they say this to me:

"Can I just ask you something? Are you a Christian?"

"Yes", I reply, thinking to myself, oh man I'm in trouble now!

Then the reply: "Yeah, well I sure can tell. This place has such a nice atmosphere about it and I always enjoy coming here!"

Well, I tell you, did I get the shock of my life! I was fully expecting a blasting about Christians and what's wrong with them, but was fully blown away by the reply. I felt so convicted for the next two days, that every time a customer who I didn't like dealing with came in, I purposely tried to be nice to them. Isn't it so ironic how we can completely think that we have stuffed a situation up and then God comes around and turns it into good. But He does it in such a way that we don't feel condemned, just convicted to try harder at being more like Him.

We are called to LOVE one another. That doesn't just apply to our best mates who we get along well with. That applies to our family members, the people who irritate us, the customers who drive us up the wall, the workmates who don't see things "my" way, and even, dare I say it, the people who we secretely would love to see put on a ship to the other side of the world so we never have to associate with them again!

So that's my bit of honesty for the week. Remember, we're Jesus' hands and his feet on this earth during our short lifetime so make the most of it! Love you all :)