Akin to a Cat

A number of years ago, we moved to a new community and were renting a small farmyard south of town. We had been there several months when winter slowly melted into spring and a bit of a rodent problem became apparent in the house. We decided we'd like to have a cat around the place, partly for the mice, but also because, really, how can you live in the country without having animals about the place?

Our neighbour down the road, a bachelor, decided he'd like to help us out. He selected his favorite barn cat and brought it over to our place in his old yellow pick-up truck one afternoon. We were humbled by his kindness; the cat, not so much. This soon-to-be-mother cat was not so impressed about having been taken from her nice, cozy barn and being plopped in a cold garage, pan of water and food notwithstanding. Needless to say, she was not planning on sticking around too long.

I was worried that she would try to make her way back to her home across the fields.  I was worried that our inability to retain the cat would look like ingratitude to our neighbour. I was worried that the cat would meet her death at the paws of a coyote or badger along the way.

Fortunately, I was able to locate her hiding in the shelter-belt behind our house.  I imagine the cat figured she had everything she needed right there – the rodents, of course, dry grass to lie in, water in the creek that ran between the shelter-belt and the field – and no strangers to contend with. I, on the other hand, knew I wanted a cat around not just to take care of the mice, but to pet and play with, something for my kids to love. I knew that the grass was dry now, but it would rain, and I could provide a nice warm box in which to have her kittens, out of the weather. I knew that the creek was seasonal and in a couple months it would dry up and water would be scarce for the cat, but I could provide it.

I was pretty motivated to make friends with the cat. I could get close to her but as soon as I would make movement towards her, she would dart away or scramble up a tree. I tried this approach for several days before I came across a bit of wisdom I hadn't heard before. To get a cat to warm up to you, you have to stand quietly and wait for the cat to come to you; even when the cat is curious enough to rub against your leg, you need to move extremely slowly so as not to startle it. This is may be common knowledge, but I had never had to entice a cat to be my friend before. All the cats I had know had been kittens that had grown into cats to produce more kittens – they were already tame and familiar.

So, armed with this new knowledge and a pan of food, I headed out to the shelter-belt to find my “friend”. I found the cat, crouched down, and waited. And amazingly, it worked. The cat noticed me, watched me suspiciously for awhile, and then cautiously came towards me, even rubbing my leg. I got excited and tried to pet her and off she went. So, I moved into her general area and started the process again, and again. Eventually, she did feel comfortable enough to come hang out in our garage and eat our food and drink our water. She remained rather skittish, but her kittens were lovely fluffy things that grew up used to our interactions.

I've thought a lot about this memory this week as I've been reading the book, Grace for the Good Girl, by Emily P. Freeman. She talks about masks, like self-sufficiency, that “good” people hide behind, and how striving to “be good” looks admirable, but is really a demonstration of fear and lack of faith in the grace of God. I know about this.

I wonder how often I don't act like that cat, struggling to rely on myself, thinking I have everything I need – until the creek dries up, distrusting the ease and freedom of being completely provided for.  And God knows my nature:  God doesn't chase me down with shouts and sticks or try to round me up with a lasso.  Instead, God comes along, moves into my general area, holds out the pan brimming over with blessings and waits for me to notice, waits for me to come, waits for me to enjoy the freedom and life God has to offer.  This is Immanuel, God with us, God moving toward us and patiently waiting for us to notice, to come, to belong.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

“A virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel” - which means “God with us.”

Matthew 1:22-23

Grace for the Good Girl:  I have found this book particularly insightful.  I am one of those people who does not have headline-making evil deeds to their name, but I do sometimes find my life being ruled by fear and lack of trust, which is equally sinful.  This book has opened my eyes in new ways to both my need for grace and the grace available to me through Christ.  I would highly recommend this book.

P.S.  The cats in the photos are not the actual cat/kittens referred to in the story.

Happy Meal

I took the kids Christmas shopping in Winnipeg on Saturday. I generally like to follow the maxim I learned long ago – to never shop on an empty stomach – so we had early lunch in a McDonald's restaurant. We had just sat down to eat when there was a bit of a ruckus in the next table over. It was a mom with her three young boys, probably between the ages of 4 and 9.

“If he asks you to stop touching him, you stop touching him!” she commanded with a slightly raised voice. My son and I exchanged knowing smiles; we've had that conversation in our family a time or two.

A little later, she snapped, “Get up off the floor!” to the youngest boy who had gone under the table to retrieve his happy meal toy. Also something I've said once or twice.

It was quiet over on that side for awhile, then the mom went on, “When we get home, we're going to vacuum and do the laundry.” What? I thought. All of them are going to vacuum at the same time? The 4-year-old does laundry? I bet they can hardly wait to get home! Except that I've done that too: start harping on the work that needs to be done before we've even finished the fun thing we're doing in the present. “And you boys had better clean up that entrance.... You better stop fooling around or we won't ever come here again.” Her voice kept getting incrementally louder as she carried on, which was ironic because I couldn't hear the boys at all.

“Do you want me to go nuclear? Here? In front of all these people?” By this time she was practically yelling at her sons. “Because it won't be a pretty sight!” Oh, lady, I thought, it's already not a pretty sight. We had this running commentary from the mom throughout the entire meal, and still could not hear the boys, who looked sufficiently cowed by the end of the barrage. We cleaned up in that awkward silence that happens when an adult is making a ridiculous public spectacle of themselves, where to detract from the scene might somehow implicate you.

I walked away from that scene, relieved that my kids were so well behaved and that it wasn't me making a fool of myself – this time.

But it wasn't 24 hours later I found myself talking about someone I “don't like” but really have nothing to do with personally. The words were barely out of my mouth and I knew that, just like that mom in the restaurant, I was shaming myself with my words more than I was shaming the other person. Which is exactly how I felt – ashamed.

The whole scenario made thankful in a new way for Christmas, for the coming of Jesus as Savior. For a savior who can save me from embarrassing self-righteousness and prideful imaginings that I am somehow better than others. For a savior who from the very beginning demonstrated a more humble path to follow. For a savior whose love can cover a multitude of sins.

...For unto you is born this day

in the city of David,

a Savior,

which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you;

You will find the babe

wrapped in swaddling clothes

and lying in a manger.

Luke 2:11-12

All the Difference in the World

 “You know, when you think of it, everything is God's fault...,” said my oldest as he shrugged into his jacket to go outside to play. The comment seemingly came out of nowhere.

“Like even your friend who has cancer. And she never even smoked. That's kind of God's fault....”

“I mean, no offense, God, but...,” he let the comment dangle in mid-air.

Big thoughts for a 10-year-old. Difficult issues for adults. What does a person do with questions like these?

I told him I don't think God is offended when we grapple with difficult issues, ask the hard questions, try to make sense of the things that appear to make no sense, when the closeness of the trees confuses our perception of the panorama.

It is the season of Advent – the season of waiting, anticipating the coming of a Savior, of someone who will enlighten us, who will change us from people of darkness to people of light.

           The people walking in darkness

                 have seen a great light;

           on those living in the land of the shadow of death

                 a light has dawned.

                                  Isaiah 9:2

           When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,

                “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me

                 will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

                                  John 8:12

In a way, everything is God's “fault.” But because the Light of the world has come, we get to choose whether we will view everything in the light or in the dark. And light makes all the difference in the world.

Cleaning House

I recently started reading a book called Cleaning House: A Mom's 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement. The author, Kay Wills Wyma, a stay-at-home-mom, points out that moms often want to help/serve their kids by doing too many things for them. However, in denying them opportunities to work and do things for themselves, moms end up doing their kids a disservice in the long run and rob them of the benefits of work, like improved self-esteem and a profound sense of accomplishment. As the title suggests, she went about trying to change that in her own house, with her own kids, by introducing a new area of work for her kids each month.

The first month she reports on, Wyma begins expecting her five children to tidy their rooms every day and make their beds in the morning. They each started the month with a jar full of 30 dollars for each day of the month. Each day their rooms were clean, they got to keep the dollar; each day the chores were left undone, they lost a dollar. At the end of the month, the kids got to keep the money that was left in their jar.

Of course, I'm attracted to this kind of thing, always open to inspiration on ways to improve home life in my house. The kids already know their mother well enough that when they saw me bouncing down the stairs, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Saturday morning, brimming with “inspiration”, they started getting shifty-eyed and skittish, knowing that they would probably be implicated in some way in my new “plan” - which, of course, they were.  I laid out the new plan. They were all pretty eager about the additional money aspect, but skeptical about the everyday-ness of keeping their rooms clean. One concession was made for the middle boy:  he could keep his legos out, so long as they remained on the area rug in the middle of his room.

Saturday, the first day of the new program, went as per usual. This is their usual Saturday chore. My 6-year-old daughter had already cleaned her room before coming down for breakfast. My oldest son, who for the most part has outgrown “toys” really only had clothes and books and papers to clean up – which still takes a remarkably long time – but it did get done by lunch. And then, the middle boy. Cleaning up is the bane of his existence. He starts but gets distracted by the very toys he's supposed to be cleaning up. So by the end of the day, he had some pretty amazing lego creations and a very messy room.

Sunday dawned, bright and clear – the first day of morning checks. I reminded them all and pointed out some things that might need attention before I did the official check. Middle boy's room still as messy as it was the night before. Dad threw in the added incentive that he would re-hang his door if he got his room clean before breakfast. I could hardly believe my eyes, but that boy had his room cleaned in less than half-an-hour, with no complaining I might add. This is a job that usually takes him two or three hours! We'll see tomorrow whether it was the door or the dollar that was the main motivation, but I'll take this right now for all it's worth!

Then after lunch, I decided that the kids would do the dishes. I had made a nice meal that everyone had enjoyed and sitting on the couch in the sunshine reading a magazine looked far more appealing than the stack of dirty dishes. I would give the kids another “opportunity” to experience the delights of work. I informed my oldest son that he and his siblings would be doing the dishes in 5 or 10 minutes. He sputtered, “But what about...” then remembered that I had already said his siblings would be in on this too.

“But what about Dad?” he lamely grasped for straws.

“Dad's worked hard all week to provide us with food to eat,” I pointed out. I explained that I had made the meal so they could clean up; we were all in this together. They all dutifully came and staked their claim on their desired roles in the process. There was a break-down when it became apparent that two kids both thought they were washing the cutlery and no one wanted to dry, but even that was overcome.

All in all, I was extremely impressed with the initial success of our little experiment. Now to see if I can keep up my end of the deal and actually provide the dollars and the daily room checks. This is usually where my inspirations fall apart. It's fun to start a new program, but I get weary of being the enforcer of new rules and systems I create, or I forget about them and can hardly blame the kids for not reminding me. As Kay Wills Wyma says, it is the parent who needs to teach the kids how to work and to persevere in work even when it is no longer fun. And this is my work as the mom – to be the person in charge who doesn't forget what the long-term goal is: to raise competent, hard-working, contributing members of society. So I better stay on task too. My kids have already proven that they can live up to higher expectations, if I can just hold them to it.

This evening, I started reading “The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver” to my daughter, and wouldn't you know it, even Paddy knows something about work. There's Paddy, busily working away to build his new dam. “And as he worked, Paddy was happy, for one can never be truly happy who does no work.”

Cafe! Oh, Late!

Our family went to Alberta this weekend to visit relatives. We left Thursday afternoon after a busy morning. I had been trying to pack clothes and food for the trip and get the kids off to school for the morning at the same time and I had been in charge of snack and leading at the ladies' Bible study I attend.

We were driving through the endless bald hills in the middle of Saskatchewan on our way back on Monday when out of the blue, I was struck with that icy sense of dread that accompanies the sudden realization that you have committed a grave error.

I had been thinking back over the last few days when I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to unplug the coffee-maker at Bible study. This is no ordinary coffee-maker; it is one of those restaurant quality coffee-makers that start heating as soon as it is plugged in. And just the week before, several ladies had been discussing how leaving it plugged in for too long could wreck the machine and how expensive it would be to replace.

So there I was with this clutch in my stomach. What was I going to do? It was by far too late to call anyone to check on it. It did no good to wish on Monday that I had done something the previous Thursday. I was doubtful as to the effectiveness of retroactive prayer, although you never know. I could even see rationally that worrying about it was even less effective in affecting the outcome of an event in the past. But what if my neglect caused the church to burn down? What if I would be facing a $1000 bill when I returned home?

The next morning when we were home, I checked Facebook first thing to see if there were any posts about the church burning down over the weekend or personal messages telling me I was responsible for the destruction of the coffee-maker – there were none. I phoned one of the Bible study ladies who assured me that the church was still standing when she was there on Sunday, but she couldn't say whether the machine was still in good working order.

So here I sit, a week after my grievous error, and I still don't know how the story will end. Did someone nobly remember to do the thing I forgot, or will I be buying the church a new coffee-maker? I was worried about that coffee even before I made it (I don't drink coffee and I have a real complex about making it) and now this coffee could really put me in a difficult spot. And there is nothing I can do about it except wait.

I will admit that I'm tempted to worry. Waiting, with all the details out of my control, tends to invite worry. And this is such a little thing in the grand scheme of things, but even from my vantage point, I can see that worrying is just as effective in accomplishing small things as grand things. So what to do instead until tomorrow? I guess I'll try to take Jesus' advice on the matter:

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

But seek first God's kingdom and God's righteousness, and

all these things will be given to you as well.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:27, 33-34

Perhaps the thing I will be given tomorrow will be a bill for replacing the coffee-maker, I don't know – but that is tomorrow's trouble. For right now, I can practice not worrying so that I will be more prepared for the bigger troubles that will come in my life. And perhaps, the next time I am asked to bring snack, I will just bring a big bag of Coffee Crisp chocolate bars and that will have to suffice for all the coffee drinkers in the group. 

Why This Pacifist Wears a Poppy

The other day, I heard my 6-year-old daughter singing a song and I joined in...

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.

With God, our Creator, children all are we.

Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me; let this be the moment now.

With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow:

To take each moment and live each moment with peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

“How do you know that song, Mommy?” she asked when we got to the end of the song and she had instructed me on the modern updates (God, our Father changed to God, our Creator, and brothers all are we to children all are we).

“Well,” I said, “I learned that many years ago to sing at the Remembrance Day service when I was in school. How do you know that song?”

“Oh, we're learning that in music class so we can sing it at the Remembrance Day service, too.”

And so, there we were, the two of us, a few days later, singing that song together with the rest of the school and various members of the community. That same song that has likely been sung for decades at our local Remembrance Day services. That song of peace in the midst of remembering war. That call to peace and harmony while honoring those who responded to the call to arms. How do we reconcile these two things?

Last year, I was waiting for this same service to begin and was sitting next to another mom whom I knew slightly. She is the friendly sort and struck up a conversation with me. She told me of her uncles and grandfathers who had been in various wars over the years and then she said, “How about you? Do you have any veterans in your family?”

“Actually,” I said, somewhat awkwardly, “I come from a long line of pacifists.”

Whoa! Now there's a way to hijack a pleasant conversation! She looked slightly aghast then quickly recovered and asked if I was a pacifist too and if so, why I was here at the Remembrance Day service. I could have taken the easy way out and said I was there to watch my kids recite the perennial poem, “In Flander's Fields”, which in fact, did cross my mind to say. However, that wouldn't have been true nor would it have been fair to respond to her serious question in a flippant way.

And so I had to go about trying, fumbling, nervously, to articulate why it is that I, who belong to a people who take literally God's command not the kill and Jesus' instruction to love one's enemies and pray for those who persecute, would want to be at a service commemorating soldiers who were committed to defending their country.

And I mumbled and tripped over my words and maybe didn't make very much sense in the end to her, but for me it was galvanizing event. And as I thought about it more over the next few days, and year, what I think it comes down to for me is Jesus' command: “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt. 19:19).

It is so easy to isolate oneself from one's neighbours with whom one doesn't agree. But when one doesn't know one's neighbours, it's hard to love them. When one does know them, and engages in conversation with them, and has a vested interest in the relationship, it is both easier to love them and harder to see divisive issues, like war, as clearly black or white. There can be no reconciliation between opposing neighbours without conversation; conversation is unlikely without actually having a relationship with one's neighbours, personally or globally.

“Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.” When people sing in harmony, they rarely sing the same note. Walking in harmony, people will rarely agree on everything, but at least if we're walking together in the direction of peace, there is hope. “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” That peace needs to begin with the individual, with me, personally, with active steps towards relationship-making, in hope that the peace will spread to my family, my neighbours, to my community, to my society, to the world. It is a small act, maybe an inconsequential act, perhaps even a misguided act, but I wear a poppy – and attend Remembrance Day services - for peace, to be involved in a conversation with my neighbours with whom I may agree or disagree, but whom I am seeking to love.

Birthday Blessings II

It was early May when I graduated from university with a degree in Education with two months left in the school year. This was conveniently the time when the Hutterian teachers at a nearby colony stopped teaching and went to university for the summer to work towards their degrees. And so, since I had a connection through my mom, I had been invited to fill in for the Grade 1-2 classroom for the remainder of the school year. But first, the leaders wanted to meet me and have a bit of an interview to ensure I was an appropriate candidate. My mom, being a known commodity, was also invited to this event.

So the evening came and mom and I went to the house of the Hutterian leader in charge of education at the colony. We had barely sat down on the couch offered to us when he exclaimed to me in English laced with their unique Tyrolean German accent, “You look like you're dead!” I was rather taken-aback and unsure of what to make of that comment. I mean, yes, I was a little nervous about this interview, but I didn't think I looked that bad. Should I be insulted? It didn't take long for me to realize, as he kept talking, that what he had really said was that I look like my Dad!

This is a comment I have received often throughout my life. Which I take as a compliment. But while I'm pleased to look like my dad in some ways, what would be more satisfying is if I could be like my dad in other ways: he is a man of deep faith and humility, a man of prayer, of firm conviction and kind understanding, a man confident in his God and in who he was created to be. I admire those things in him and would seek to develop those characteristics in myself. I feel this passage describes the way my Dad lives his life, which I pray will be long and fruitful. I am honored and blessed to have him as my Dad. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Delight yourself in the Lord

and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in Him and He will do this:

He will make your righteousness

shine like the dawn,

the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for Him.

If the Lord delights in a man's ways,

He makes his steps firm;

though he stumble, he will not fall,

for the Lord upholds him with His hand.

Turn from evil and do good;

then you will dwell in the land forever.

For the Lord loves the just

and will not forsake his faithful ones.

The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;

He is their stronghold in time of trouble.

Psalm 37:3-7a, 23, 27-29, 39