The Attack of the Squirrels

This morning, Lola (my toy poodle) and I were sitting on the deck enjoying the sunlight. 

I was drinking my coffee and reading, while she was exploring the perimeter of the deck as if she were an inspector.

When all of a sudden, we heard a rummage in the trees up above. 

We both look up and see about 5 squirrels chilling in the branches.

Not only did we see them, but they saw us...well, they saw Lola.

One squirrel in particular was extra curious about Lola and decided to jump to the tree closest to her and run down about 15 feet away from Lola. 

The squirrel stopped and stared.

All of the sudden, I have a flashback to the classic, old movie, "The Birds." Instead of "The Birds", our movie would be entitled, "The Squirrels." Doesn't sound so scary, but if you had 5 or 55 squirrels staring at you, maybe it would be. 

Anyway, at this point, Lola and Mr. Squirrel are having a standoff.

I'm not sure exactly what was running through the squirrel's mind, but I would imagine it would be thinking something to the effect of, "What is that fluffy, white thing down there?" 

He stands there for awhile just staring at Lola, while I'm ready to jump to the rescue in case he wanted to hop on the back of Lola for a poodle ride or worse...breakfast.  

She continues to look up at him.

Meanwhile, the other squirrels are running and jumping through the overhang of the trees.

I guess Mr. Squirrel got tired of staring at Lola or perhaps the other squirrels were coaxing him to come play. So Mr. Squirrel turned around and joined his friends.

Lola looks back at me with her head cocked as if to say, "Why won't they play with me?"

Again, she looks above and continues to watch the squirrels frolic in the trees.

If only we were in a Disney movie like Bambi, the squirrels would befriend Lola and they would play for the rest of their days.

Unfortunately, Lola doesn't live in a Disney movie so she was left alone on the deck without anyone to play with, but me.

This interaction made me think of life in general.

Why is it that we like to separate ourselves from people who are different than us?

Just because people are different than us, doesn't mean we can't get along.

Out of the squirrels, Mr. Squirrel was the most curious of Lola.

However, he wasn't curious enough to interact with her. He only stayed at a safe distance.

Poor Lola, that had to feel so isolating. 

We can either be like the other squirrels in the branches, who don't even want to try to interact with a fluffy poodle or we can be like Mr. Squirrel, who is curious enough to get a closer look.

Perhaps there is a better option than those two.

Perhaps we can go the extra step or as Jesus said, "extra mile" to interact with people who are different than us, no matter how uncomfortable we may feel. I bet the more interactions we would have, the less uncomfortable it would be.

This isn't a new issue either. We've been dealing with this problem since the beginning of time. The victims just seem to change. Why haven't we gotten this right after all these years? 

If Jesus were here, I would hope that our reality would turn into a Disney movie, because I know Jesus would expect us to love those who are different than us. 

He tells us to love God and love others, just like He did.

I don't think He was uncomfortable when He hung out with the poor and the sick, but I'm sure it didn't feel good when He was ridiculed because of His act of service to all. That didn't stop Him though.

The Kingdom of God, I think, looks a lot like a Disney movie without the bad guy, of course.

It looks like a poodle and some squirrels hanging out.

It looks like a lion and lamb lying together.

It looks like us interacting and loving ALL people despite our differences, because ALL people are made in the image of God. 

It's funny how some animals can reflect what we're dealing with today. 

Let's show people the Kingdom of God and if we struggle with that, we should pray asking for strength to love like He loves us. 

Hey, I see a...!

While I was riding in the car yesterday, I looked up at the sky and saw these beautiful, white fluffy clouds and it made me think of...

 

Charlie Brown - "I see a.."

Linus - "Gargoyle! Like they have at Notre Dame!"

Lucy - "The sack of Carthage!"

Snoopy - "And the Dodger's Yankee Game! Go team!"

Linus - "All twelve apostles,
Waving at me!"

All - "What do you see, Charlie Brown?"

 

That was a song from Snoopy the Musical. I was one of the chorus members when I was younger and I always loved this scene of the play

because I could really relate to it.

Just like Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and Snoopy, I too, remember laying on the grass field at recess finding different shapes in the clouds with my friends.

 

 

Unlike the characters of Snoopy, I remember it going more like this...

Jessica - "I see a unicorn!"

Bobby - "No, that's not a unicorn, that's a race car!"

Me - "I don't see either of those, I see a puppy in a dog house! How do you see a race car or a unicorn?"

 

Sometimes instead of actually seeing what the other person saw, we would just focus on what we saw individually. Other times, we would take the time to really see what the other person was seeing. Sometimes that meant getting up and switching places with a friend. Other times, it meant simply looking at it longer to see the puppy's ears point up like a unicorn and a dog house somehow morph into a race car.

 

Living in relationship with others is a lot like finding similar shapes in the clouds on a bright, sunny day. There are times when we may not see eye to eye and that's okay, but there are other times when it takes work to reach common ground. It may be more work like actually getting up off the ground and moving to another place. Sometimes it might not be convenient, but at the same time it's necessary in order to understand what the other person is feeling.

 

That thing called empathy...putting ourselves in someone else's shoes is a huge and important aspect of life. It may be uncomfortable to turn your head the other way to see the unicorn in the cloud, but many times when you are willing to see from another perspective, beauty is born. However, there are other times when you may try your hardest to understand where the other person is coming from, but you still just don't get it and that's okay too. It's bound to happen, yet that isn't an excuse not to try.

 

Just like my previous post about different routes, we should understand that everyone has different ways of thinking, but we can really make a difference when we take the next step of understanding each other, rather than only respecting. When we don't take the time to listen, understand and support, we run the risk of hurting a friendship, ignoring a teachable moment and being closed off to a whole world of opportunities and beauty. Being respectful and willing goes along way.

 

Instead of insisting that the cloud is in the shape of a puppy, looking from another perspective can give you a puppy AND  a unicorn...what's better than that?! :)

There is beauty in differences and there is more beauty in seeing differences from another person's eyes. 

 

 

 Bible Reading Plan-
By the end of this week, we should have read through Jeremiah chapters 14-34.

 

 

 

 

 

journey

I had an epiphany last week...

Dave and I were driving back to my house and I turned down a certain street.

Dave said, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going the shortcut", I said.

"This is a shortcut?" he said, "you have to go through all these stop signs."

I then declared, "Well, what about all those street lights and traffic on your 'shortcut'? This is the fastest way!"

 

A few days later we were riding with my parents on the way back home and my dad turned down a different street.

Mom said, "I just don't understand why you go this way...the speed limit is lower and there are all these speed bumps!"

Dad replied, "Well, I don't understand why you go the other way, this is definitely faster...there's no traffic."

"I go through the lights on the main road and I think it's the fastest," Dave said.

I joined in and said, "Yeah, our (mom & I) way is definitely the fastest, but go the way you wanna go...we'll just be home faster!" ;)

 

It reminds me of picking a route on a gps.

 

Because of these discussions about who's way is better, I realized that it can be likened to our faith journeys, as well as life in general. We can't expect for everyone to go the same way as we do. Some people may need to sit at a stop light for a little while, while a slower speed may be better for others. It's okay for that one person to wrestle with the many questions about God and it's okay that another person may put their faith in Christ quickly. It's okay that one person may have read the whole Bible in one year and it's okay that another person may need ten years to read the Bible. It's okay that one person may have experienced their first mission trip at the age of 15 and it's okay that another person went on their first mission trip at the age of 70.

 

Everyone is different. We all have different ways to learn, different experiences, and different personalities. So of course, our walk with Christ may be different than others. We can't expect for everyone to follow in your footsteps of 24 years of Sunday School, 5 mission trips, and 3 times of reading the whole Bible all the way through. If we all had the same faith journey, I think that would be boring. We should focus on our similarities, learn from our differences and respect our unique experiences.

 

We should never look at another person's journey and feel inferior or superior. Reminding ourselves that our journey is just as good as everyone else's. Just like my route works for me, but my dad's route works for him.

Maybe I should have ended the conversation with my family by saying...

"It's okay that we all go different routes, at least we all end up at the same place."

That's all that matters, right? 

 

 

Bible Reading Plan

Today: Isaiah 59-63

Tuesday: Isaiah 64-66

Wednesday: Jeremiah 1-3

Thursday: Jeremiah 4-6

Friday: Jeremiah 7-9

Saturday: Jeremiah 10-13