The Side of the Cereal Box

Ever since Steve Irwin’s death, Animal Planet has been showing as many Crocodile Hunter shows and specials as they can, and yesterday I found myself stopping on one for a while.

A team from the Australia Zoo along with some men from the Army were working on getting a croc moved to safety. She had been living in deplorable conditions: the pond she was living in was so filled with trash and carcasses and utter filth that she couldn’t even fully submerge under the water. She was teased and taunted by neighborhood kids for years. And she suffered not only the physical effects of this way of living, but the psychological effects, too.

And all these guys risked their lives to go in, grab her, haul her to the ocean where they could clean her up, get rid of the disease and filth, check her for injuries, and basically assess her needs, and then take her back to a new, clean enclosure at the zoo where she would be able to properly submerge and be taken care of.

And I found tears coming to my eyes as I thought, “Why don’t we do this for each other? For people?”

There are people out there living in deplorable conditions, in filth - both literal and figurative, who are suffering both physically and psychologically from surroundings they can’t escape from on their own. And going in after them might be dangerous, but they need help or else they’ll die that way. We should be the ones going in there, pulling them to safety, soothing their hurts, and offfering them hope for a better life. We should be the ones taking care of them, continuing to take care of them after their intitial rescue. That croc wouldn’t have survived if they had just pulled her out, cleaned her up, and then let her loose in the wild. She had scars that ran deeper than the surface, that needed prolonged care. And the folks at Australia Zoo will be taking care of her for the rest of her life. That’s how we should be.

And it especially hit me when Steve, the last one in the enclosure, encouraging the croc to go on into her new home, said (narrating), “I’ll protect her with my life, with my body, with everything I have. I love her.”

An example to live by.

I miss being involved in music. Actively. I mean, I lived on it like bread for four years in college, and being away from it now… It’s like uprooting a daisy from a field, taking it home, and putting it in the closet. Sometimes I feel withered.
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Okay, this whole experience with my job has been incredible from Day 1 to now, and I have to share it with you!

I’d been “looking” for a job since last November (and a little before). I sent out my resume countless times with no success (read: NO RESPONSE WHATSOEVER!!!). For a while, I was really discouraged (and did nothing at all - bless my parents for putting up with that!). I finally got up the nerve to ask Lorrie to help me with my resume - I figured a revamp couldn’t hurt. We worked on it after church on Sunday (February 19th), and the next day (Monday February 20th) I put the finishing touches on it and loaded it onto CareerBuilder.com. While I was there, I noticed an ad for a receptionist position with F.C. Tucker, so I quickly shot off an e-mail of my revamped resume with a sweet cover letter. The next day (Tuesday February 21st), I received a call from HR - a phone interview that turned into an appointment for a face-to-face interview. So on Wednesday (February 22nd), I went in for an interview (which I did well on, thankfully), and I eagerly awaited a response.

On Friday (February 24th) I got a call from one of the managers at the Keystone/Haverstick office: they’d gotten my name from HR and wanted to set up an interview with me. (WOW!) Now, at first I was confused: Did this mean I was no longer being considered for the position I applied for originally (which was at Corporate)? Well, it turns out I wasn’t still in consideration; this was a straight referral (which was awesome still!). And the following Monday (February 27th) I went in for an interview (which also went quite well). Learning to bide my time, I wasn’t as anxious about waiting this time, but I didn’t have to wait long anyway: the next day (Tuesday February 28th) I received a call from the managers again requesting another interview. (Double WOW!)

Well, it wasn’t really another interview: it was a “When can you start?” sort of interview. (AAAAH!) And start I did. …The next day. (Wednesday March 1st)

I trained for about a half a day on Wednesday and Thursday, and on Thursday afternoon, I went to take my typing test (outscoring 90% of the on-line testing company’s client base - how did THAT happen?). A full day’s work on Friday, an uneventful (yet satisfying) weekend, then on to Monday (March 6th) where I spent two hours up front before being called back to the manager’s office (*panicked* WHAT’D I DO?!). They were sending me back to train with the Listing Secretary (who would be leaving at the end of that week - with no replacement in sight. Hmmm…). After a few days of, “We’re not sure yet what we’re going to do, but we’ve been interviewing receptionists…” I was called into the manager’s office once again (Thursday March 9th): “We’re gonna keep you back here, give you Kellie’s job.” (SWEET! A PROMOTION!) “Okay.” “Here’s the good news: you’ll get a raise.” (A PROMOTION AND A RAISE WITHIN A WEEK! WOW!) “Good.” I was ecstatic! I really like the Listing Secretary job (I liked the receptionist job too, but still!). They hired a new receptionist on Thursday (she started that Friday the 10th).

So we’ve been chugging along, rolling over numerous bumps along the way - including health issues. Which brings me to my next “God moment”: because of the days where I had to do both jobs at once (a nearly impossible task) and because the agents have been filling the managers’ ears with glowing compliments of me, my managers came up today with good news: “You’re getting a bonus.” (HOLY CRAP! I’VE BEEN WORKING HERE FOR A LITTLE OVER A MONTH AND THEY GAVE ME A BONUS!) “Sweet! Thank you!” The HR folks even came to deliver it personally! (Which was, admittedly, a little weird. I felt like some foreign dignitary, being treated with some sort of reverent awe. …I mean, why? I’m just doing my job. …And hers, occasionally.)

But this was just really cool! This whole thing! God has not ceased to blow my socks off for this entire month! He’s moving in that obvious way that is awesome to behold (and you need every once in a while). Kinda like the difference between seeing the effects of a tornado and actually seeing it. Just thought I’d let you know what the weather’s like in my corner of the world. I hope you’re having as much fun as I am tracking that same pillar of cloud and fire.

I have nothing original to say, but oh how I love to quote those that amaze me with their thinking.

“God is the truth, but nowhere in the Bible does it say we’re entitled and guaranteed to perfectly perceive and understand the whole truth all the time. Quite a lot of stuff isn’t clear to us now, and quite a lot will never be, perhaps not even when we meet God in person. Theology is the study of God, and that means that it’s a study of an omnipotent, omnicient, and omnibenevolent being by beings who are none of these. We have no direct frame of reference for much of what God is like, simply because we know of nothing like him. All the people we know do fail, do betray, do make hurtful mistakes. God does none of these, and we struggle to wrap our brain around someone so unlike eveyrthing we’ve always known. Some inaccuracy or imprecision is inevitable.” ~Mateo Palos (excerpt from a comment on Cris’ blog: “Tough Question of the Day”)

I had a somewhat disturbing and largly exasperating experience at the Family Bookstore last Saturday evening. I had gone to purchase the new Superchic[k] CD, as well as the new VeggieTales. As I turned to head back up front to the registers, I was casually glancing at the bookshelves, thinking, “I could use a new ‘God book’ to read.” I was really thinking I’d have to head for the “Charistmatic Interest” section, as it seems more and more of the authors I read are tucked away in that scandalous section. But blocking my line of sight to that section was a row of three bookcases - two with the heading, “Family Life”, and right next to that, “Single Interest”.

I shook my head and laughed. We have two bookcases lined with covers displaying happy, smiling families that the (usually disgruntled) singles can’t help but see as they seek out their “interest” section, while the “Single Interest” bookcase is lined with book covers sorely lacking in any people presence, other than the occasional photo of a doctor (the book author) who’s developed a new “guaranteed” method of match-making. Apparently, there are no happy single people.

Because apparently “single” is a temporary, transitional state, and you’re only single because you’re still looking for someone to marry. We come into this world with a deficiency that must be cured before we can get on with our lives, finding fulfillment and all that. This is the conclusion I came to, since (out of an entire bookshelf worth of books) I only found one book that wasn’t about preparing for marriage, planning your wedding, couples devotions, finding “the one”, etc.

It’s no wonder there are so many bitter, despondent singles out there, even within the Church! We’re giving the impression that, even though we say things like, “Getting married doesn’t make you whole; you’re a whole person now,” what we really mean is, “You’re whole now, but you’ll be so much more when you’re married.” As if there is still something missing, and that’s a bad thing. We tend to discount Paul’s assertion that it’s better to be single - in order to better serve the Lord - because, hey, if no one got married, the human race would cease to exist. (And afterall, he did give us an “out”.)

But it is good to be single!

It’s also hard. We fight with our longings, pray through tears sometimes, get moody and bitter and jealous - and that’s without any help from anyone else! It’s worse when we have (well-meaning) relatives and friends pressing the issue - with teases (however gentle) about a “friend”, or asking what kind of person we’re looking for, or trying to set us up. It makes it hard to be/stay content. And we know, you just want us to be happy. Please, understand that it is possible to be happy and single at the same time - even happy about being single! I am happy and single, and I’m happy about being single. I may not be single forever - in fact, I probably won’t be. But I’m not going to waste my time being miserable, looking for a “cure” for singleness. I’m going to enjoy being single and spending my days in a sacred romance with my God, my Lord, my Savior. That’s all the romance I’m looking for right now.

You know, at first I was thinking I’d place an ad on my blog saying I was available to babysit on Valentine’s Day, but now I’m not so sure… I usually go to the IHOP (International House of Prayer) on Monday nights, and at one point I’d thought, “Well, are they even having their usual service?” And then I thought, “…Why wouldn’t they?”

I mean, what better way can you think of to spend Valentine’s Day than with the One you love? (And let me tell you, these people are HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE!)

…So I think I might have a date for V-Day after all.

Genesis 15:6 ?Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.?

What an interesting aside in the story of Abram. Was this abnormal? For someone to believe the LORD? I have to say that it made me stop and think about how disappointed I am ? and even how amazed ? sometimes when I think about how little belief there is among Christians today. Jesus saw it too, in his time ? that ?unbelieving generation?. Nowadays we struggle to believe in God at all, let alone anything He says. It is sad to see Christians living a defeated lifestyle simply because they don?t take God at His word.

Now, C. Peter Wagner?s list of spiritual gifts includes ?Faith?. Some could argue that faith is something all Christians need to have, so to limit it (so to speak) to those with that ?gifting? is handicapping the rest of the Church. But Wagner modifies the definition a bit to identify the gifting as an extreme faith ? faith beyond what a ?normal? Christian might have. But in a world where Christians have so little faith to begin with, what defines ?extreme?? Does it fluctuate with the norm (like a variable credit card rate)? I think it ought not. And to be honest, I don?t even know that I agree with faith (even extreme) as a gifting.

Some may associate great faith with experience, for example: answers to prayer (consistently). They then feel that because they have had few ?real? experiences like that, they are excused from having faith (that Thomas ?prove-it-to-me? attitude). This is not so. Faith is like a muscle: you can?t build it unless you exercise it. If you are praying, ?Lord, give me more faith,? He will respond by giving you opportunities to exercise it. You may not notice them at first (they will usually be little ones ? baby steps), but once you decide to trust Him, to believe, to have faith in a situation, He will answer you with awesome deeds of righteousness. It?s that mysterious step between head belief and heart belief. You may know that you can trust God (in your head), but until you really do and see that He is oh so trustworthy it may never take root in your heart. That?s how faith builds: a little at a time.

But here?s something else. Think about the Israelites. Their faith was shaky at best. God did great wonders in their sight (hello! Red Sea!), yet they forgot time and again. Whenever a leader (such as Moses) would address the nation, he always started with a historical run-down of all the things God had done for them ? to remind them of His love and faithfulness. It says in Psalm 103:7 that, ?He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people Israel.? This is where we find the profound difference between Moses and the rest of the Israelites! While the people only saw what God did, Moses saw why He did it. Moses knew God?s heart. He had faith because He knew God ? His character, not just His history. You want a formula for a successful, victorious Christian life? There it is! Know God. Get to know God; learn all you can about Him. Don?t spend your life waiting for Him to prove Himself to you. ?He already has.