B's cryptic remarks

"God is the umbrella protecting us from Satan's rain (reign?)".

And yesterday: "Praying for crabs makes me sweat".

in which we are crabby

While at the supermarket today, B and R decided we must rescue the crabs. Now I've always felt terrible for those poor creatures, because their claws are all bound up so tight against their bodies, and they're just dumped all over each other in some huge tub. Crabs are usually killed by being frozen, stabbed or steamed alive. Just thinking of that, and seeing them suffering in the stores, is enough to make me not want to eat them at all; I imagine more people would stop eating meat if they actually saw the cow or pig or lamb they were eating while it was still alive, and then being killed. I don't think many people stop to think of their steak once being a sentient, intelligent, even affectionate, cow whose life was a misery from tiny pen to slaughterhouse.

Unfortunately, I did not think I could afford the entire tub of crabs (well I'd never bought crabs before and only had some hazy notion that in the restaurants they're expensive). So we picked the two that had "spoken" to B (especially the one who could not right himself up). It was something of an exertion for me to pick the two crabs up, put them in the bags, pay for them with my other groceries, and get them home -- I was just so petrified of somehow hurting them.

And then, after I got them home, I realised I didn't know much about them at all. For example, I learnt that these particular crabs are cannibalistic in nature, and so hurried back down to separate them (I had cut off all their bindings). Seeing them stretch their legs after being freed made the girls and I very happy. We decided we'd wait till it was evening before releasing them in the river, having come to some vague conclusion that we'd have to do it surreptitiously because there are always crazed crab-hungry people hanging around.

And that's what we did. When it got dark, we brought them to the river -- in a pram no less -- and released them. B insisted we pray for them, which we did. Now of course there's every chance of them being caught again within ten minutes by those crazed people, but we like to think there's also as much chance of them having a real chance at a proper happy crab life. Well, I'm glad anyway to have perhaps given them at least a moment of joy, and also -- perhaps more importantly -- to have encouraged the mercy and compassion my kids have for their fellow creatures.

Along with hiccups, biting the inside of one's mouth, and sneezing more than twice in a row, stubbing one's little toe against furniture has got to be one of those little everyday physical thingies which are just plain irritating but which we need to learn to cheerfully laugh off.

what time I am afraid...

... I will have confidence in and put my trust and reliance in [God].

By [the help of] God I will praise His word; on God I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear. (Ps 56:3-4)

I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.

And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.

Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who makes the Lord his refuge and trust, and turns not to the proud or to followers of false gods. (Ps 40:1-4)

BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!

Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits--

Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;

Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]! (Ps 103:1-5)

PRAISE THE LORD! He has delivered me YET AGAIN! Yes yes yes -- what time I am afraid, I WILL remember His wondrous goodness and loving-kindness to me, and His faithfulness to deliver me!

B's latest composition

To be sung to a "soft, gentle melody":

Decorations, and celebrations
Represent every nation (2 times)

Festivities, and activities
Made for one and all

Decorations, and celebrations
Represent every nation (2 times)

Decorations for different celebrations
Made for one and all

one day at a time

One day at a time sweet Jesus
That's all I'm asking from you
Just give me the strength
To do everyday what I have to do
Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus
And tomorrow may never be mine
Lord help me today, show me the way
One day at a time.

(One day at a time, sweet Jesus; Marijohn Wilkins/Kris Kristofferson)

facing fear

The past week was so challenging for me to say the least. I prayed and prayed throughout each and every day for God to help me overcome the spirit of fear, and to remind me that He is faithful to deliver. Indeed, when I look over my life I do see how God is faithful and merciful to me without fail, and how abundantly blessed I am, but I guess it's a human weakness, or my weakness, to forget that and panic whenever life throws out something apparently negative. But everything in life is subject to change, everything except God.

As I grow older, I find I have to come to terms with my frail human frame and my mortality. We have a vague notion of it when we are young, we think we are not afraid, but in actuality we never truly accept that we are not invincible. Then one day we are middle-aged and we gradually realise that we are subject to decay, and that our joy has to come from God and from within, and not be reliant on the external world or circumstances. The importance of truly living in the now, living each day to its fullest, suddenly becomes clearer than it has ever been. Yet it's strange, or sad, how, as I come to grasp this truth, I also seem to have become more anxious, more worried, than I ever was in my "younger days".

But as Jesus said, "... stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?" (Matt 6:25-27, Amplified Bible)

Like any frail human however, I am still miserably subject to my worries and fears, despite the fact that I know that God is my omniscient, omnipotent, all-powerful, Almighty father, that He is always with me, that He is my hope, my strength and my deliverer. I see that I need to more than just know this -- I need to know that I know that I know. It's like a muscle that I need to exercise regularly, a habit I have to build up, till one day I find that it is truly natural and instinctive in me to truly "cast my cares" on Him, and confidently trust to His mercy, goodness and love. I need to accept too, that no one is in control of their life, but that it is enough to know the One Who is. And in order to know God, we have to spend time with him, LOTS of time, and do our best to live our lives according to His commandments, for "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6).

And so, as happens when we are panicky and fearful, I prayed and prayed with all my might, with heart and soul as bared as they could be. I prayed for strength and for deliverance, and I also prayed for comfort -- and in the midst of my distress, I suddenly did hear that "still, small voice". It said, "Psalm 56". (Now I must admit I've never been much of a psalm reader, and beyond the obvious ones like the 23rd, I don't know them very much at all (there are 150??). So really, hearing "Psalm 56" was like something just sort of dropping out of the sky. I even paused and asked, "Did you say Psalm 56 or 53?". Which was when I actually saw, in a visual way, the words "Psalm 56". So of course I'm like, okaaay... I'll go read that. And I'm so so glad I did:

BE MERCIFUL and gracious to me, O God, for man would trample me or devour me; all the day long the adversary oppresses me.

²They that lie in wait for me would swallow me up or trample me all day long, for they are many who fight against me, O Most High!

³What time I am afraid, I will have confidence in and put my trust and reliance in You.

⁴By [the help of] God I will praise His word; on God I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear. What can man, who is flesh, do to me?

⁵All day long they twist my words and trouble my affairs; all their thoughts are against me for evil and my hurt.

⁶They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they watch my steps, even as they have [expectantly] waited for my life.

⁷They think to escape with iniquity, and shall they? In Your indignation bring down the peoples, O God.

⁸You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle -- are they not in Your book?

⁹Then shall my enemies turn back in the day that I cry out; this I know, for God is for me.

¹⁰In God, Whose word I praise, in the Lord, Whose word I praise,

¹¹In God have I put my trust and confident reliance; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

¹²Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render praise to You and give You thank offerings.

¹³For You have delivered my life from death, yes, and my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life and of the living.

I cannot begin to describe how much this uplifted me, reassured me, helped me to press on, to "do it afraid" -- reminded me that YES! God IS faithful to deliver. And it's true -- HE DID DELIVER ME YET AGAIN. O Lord, help me to remember this every time I must confront my fears, remembering as David did when he had to confront Goliath, how in the past the Lord had helped him slay a lion and bear.

And even now, as I still struggle with my fearful thoughts, I will declare, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).

B's poem

In the ocean blue,
Sea creatures we welcome you!
And as you grant our wishes,
We award you with treats delicious
So in the ocean blue,
Sea creatures we welcome you!

first haircut

After being told by several people, and then finally the vet, that Kip's hair was "kinda long", I started seriously looking around for a decent groomer. Which was when I learned that the reputable ones I might maybe perhaps trust were a) really really far from where I live and b) cost a mint.

So -- lightbulb moment -- I decided to trim her myself. The thing is, I never had a problem with Kip's scruffy look; I actually like her like that. And I've always been pretty conscientious about keeping her clean and brushed, so she doesn't have any mats or skin issues. But I had to agree with the vet that giving her a trim would cut down the increasing tangles, and help her keep cooler and drier.


Me? Too long?

No look, really?

Sigh, ok, if you say so.

And so me, who had only ever had to deal with Labrador/Alsatian/Beagle types in the past (read super easy grooming issues), got myself a dog trimmer.

This is what we ended up with:

While certainly not professional-groomy-perfect, I think it's okaaay, and I have to admit she looks neater and cooler (in the less warm sense). Well practise makes perfect they say (and saving 100 bucks each time certainly doesn't hurt)!

Tam and Nine

A postcard perhaps?

R and her Sailor Ghost..

.. waiting to go out.

R and Tamsin discuss what to play next.

a pure heart

"See now that ye love one another" (1 Peter 1:22). Obviously, this love is not a wild plant that will grow of itself. It is there in the heart by a divine planting, but it must be cultivated... The human heart must be cultivated; we must work on it. We must pray, search the Word, obey, believe and humble ourselves, opening our minds to the incoming Holy Ghost so that we might cultivate and see that we love one another.

How? "With a pure heart." No other kind of heart can love purely; because for the heart to love purely it must love unselfishly. Unselfish love does not exploit its object and it does not ask anything in return. That is so lofty that the modern world knows little or nothing about it.

This true love is to be demonstrated "fervently." God hates everything that is halfway. He hates half-minded people... "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (Jas 1:8)...

Then Peter talks about being lukewarm. Is a bottle half full of something or half empty? Is lukewarm water half warm or half cold? Is a half Christian a half sinner and half Christian? I do not know, but I do know this: God will sweep the whole business out together. He will have nothing to do with half stuff. Did He say we are to be full unto the half fullness of God? Never. For God to say a thing like that, He would not be God. Filled unto the fullness of God, He said, not unto the half fullness. God has nothing to do with half-full things. He gives us a whole day, not a half day; He gives us a whole personality, not a half personality; a whole mind, not a half mind; a whole salvation, not a half salvation. And He expects our love to be a whole love, fervent and not half cold. "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:16).

Think it over. See that you have purified your soul by believing the truth through the Spirit unto one thing, love of the brethren. See to it that love goes to work and you really do love each other fervently out of a pure heart.

(A.W. Tozer, Living As A Christian -- Teachings from First Peter)

R does not think Meg should go to a new home.

Meg

Custom order. Intriguing green fabric with rain cloud.

R and her new Roro

portrait

Father in Heaven who lovest all,
Oh, help Thy children when they call;
That they may build from age to age
An undefiled heritage.

Teach us to bear the yoke in youth,
With steadfastness and careful truth;
That, in our time, Thy Grace may give
The Truth whereby the Nations live.

Teach us to rule ourselves alway,
Controlled and cleanly night and day;
That we may bring, if need arise,
No maimed or worthless sacrifice.

Teach us to look in all our ends
On Thee for judge, and not our friends;
That we, with Thee, may walk uncowed
By fear or favour of the crowd.

Teach us the Strength that cannot seek,
By deed or thought, to hurt the weak;
That, under Thee, we may possess
Man's strength to comfort man's distress.

Teach us Delight in simple things,
And Mirth that has no bitter springs;
Forgiveness free of evil done,
And Love to all men 'neath the sun!

(From Rudyard Kipling's The Children's Song)

The only kid in ballet class with a winged heart on her head.

So B finally cut her hair. About 5 or 6 inches' worth. But no one noticed.

sailors

R and her Sailor Ghost.

(You can have your own Sailor Ghost here)

cryptic, profound truth

Today while waiting outside the supermarket with B, we see a little girl about 4 years old playing with the ATM there. I say to B, "Look, that little girl is doing what you and R like to do -- pressing buttons like crazy".

And B replies, "That's the point of kids".

And now R wants to keep Tig. (I said no). (For now).
(The adorable top is from a lovely lady at Ginger Ale Shop)

Tig goes for a walk

He's always up for adventure :)
(Available here)

do a dance of joy

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 18:1-3).

not bad for a 2-year-old

Masterly painting technique and choice of colours :)

Tiggy

There was this tiger who woke up one morning and just felt great. He just felt so good, he went out and cornered a small monkey and roared at him: "WHO IS THE MIGHTIEST OF ALL THE JUNGLE ANIMALS?"

The poor quaking little monkey replied: "You are of course -- no one is mightier than you."

A little while later this tiger confronts a deer, and just bellows out: "WHO IS THE GREATEST AND STRONGEST OF ALL THE JUNGLE ANIMALS?"

The deer is shaking so hard it can barely speak, but manages to stammer: "O great tiger, you are by far the mightiest animal in the jungle."

The tiger, being on a roll, swaggered on up to an elephant who was quietly munching on some weeds, and roared at the top of his voice: "WHO IS THE MIGHTIEST OF ALL THE ANIMALS IN THE JUNGLE?"

Well, this elephant grabs the tiger with his trunk, picks him up, slams him down; picks him up again, and shakes him until the tiger is just a blur of orange and black, and finally throws him violently into a nearby tree.

The tiger staggers to his feet and looks at the elephant and says: "Man, just because you don't know the answer, you don't have to get so mad".

This fellow makes me really happy -- he has such a good attitude, he's so cheerful. He's all the childish joyousness of parties, carnivals and fun fairs :)
(Tiggy is available here)

Getting some fresh air. In the shop now.

B has decided she doesn't want to cut her hair. For now.