My baby girl kitty cat is missing. I don’t know where she is or if she’s even alive. Some of you may not understand the love and bond you can feel with an animal, but if you do, you know that our little furry companions are part of our families. And when they are lost, it’s a BIG deal.
My little Karma got out of the house last weekend and instead of jumping over to my neighbor’s deck for an hour to sunbathe and stare at their dog through the safety of the glass window, she got lost and has not returned. I don’t know if Greg the owl got her, or if she got hurt in a fight and crawled somewhere to die, or if some kind-hearted person took her in and is feeding her. What I do know is that even with my other pets around, my house feels empty and I miss her very, very much.
For 15 years Karma has made me mad with her scratching up my paperwork, messed up my computer by sitting on it, stuck her paw in my water glass, meowed in my ear when I was sleeping, punched out the dog she resents, and thrown up in my bed. But, over the course of the last horrible year as I cried and cried over the loss of my family, she comforted me. Is she gone for good? I don’t know. It’s like Schrödinger’s cat. (Look it up if you’re not a Big Bang Theory fan or a physicist.)
What I really was moved to write about today is the profound support and help I’ve been getting from my friends and neighbors. My HOA board sent out a blast email for me to alert neighbors about Karma. Other neighbors have physically gone out looking for her and talked to their neighbors to see if they’ve seen anything. I’ve gotten half a dozen phones calls and lots of prayers and support from work colleagues and other friends.
Ten years ago when I moved into this house I thought I’d be here maybe five years then would go on to bigger and nicer digs. Well, obviously life and the economy got in the way of that. And I’m glad. I’ve refinanced twice and am finally fixing up the place because (and I’m just saying God—don’t make this a test or anything) I’m staying. I’ve never lived around such nice, friendly, caring people before. As I get to know more and more of my neighbors (the place is a townhome community with about 500 units), the more I am amazed at what a great place this is and it’s all because of the people here. I don’t know what the magic formula is. We are a mixed bag of races, religions, and ages. There are singles, families, blue and white collar workers, and long-and short-term transplants and locals. Of course there are occasionally the disagreements and issues here and there but I have to give a shout out to my peeps in Amberleigh—there’s lots of “good Karma” in the hood.
So, Karma is still missing and in between my bouts of tears I am getting by because of the amazing and wonderful caring support of my neighborhood family. How blessed am I? Well, God is putting me through some trials this year but he’s also giving me a great support system to survive the storm.
Oh, and if you see my baby, please give me a shout.
Karma, tuxedo cat missing since March 16.
Karma, sweet kitty hanging on the neighbors deck.
Karma boxing with the Grendel dog.
Karma on her throne. Have cushion, will sleep. Anywhere.
Really? Slavery in 2013? Yes. The International Justice Mission (IJM) estimates that 27 million people are enslaved around the world today—some of them are in your own backyard—just miles from where YOU LIVE.
Have you ever thought about what you would do or how you would act if you were an American living in the early 1800s? Would you join the Underground Railroad—a group of citizens who were risking prison to help escaped slaves? Would you speak out? Today, there are still people barely surviving and living in bondage, from old men and woman to little boys and girls. It’s unspeakable the evil that exists in our broken world.
You can help with very little time or energy spent. Please take a few SECONDS to fill out a petition to the President asking him to follow through on his promise to make freedom a reality in our world. Below is information from the Make Freedom Real Campaign from IMJ. And here is a link to the petition you can sign.
Last September, President Obama made a speech renouncing human trafficking and vowing that the U.S. would take serious steps to end what he called “modern-day slavery.” He said that “[slavery] evokes obviously one of the most painful chapters in our nation’s history. But around the world, there’s no denying the awful reality. When a man, desperate for work, finds himself in a factory or on a fishing boat or in a field, working, toiling, for little or no pay, and beaten if he tries to escape—that is slavery. When a woman is locked in a sweatshop, or trapped in a home as a domestic servant, alone and abused and incapable of leaving—that’s slavery.”To access the entire speech, please click here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-clinton-global-initiative
Take Action!
At IJM, we hope to see the president follow through on these promises to make freedom real by collecting 150,000 signatures on a letter to the President. You can access the letter here: http://bit.ly/MakeFreedom.
Watch this video for more information and please share this with all of your friends. Think about your family, your children, and praise God they are blessed with a safe, comfortable home and surrounded by loving friends and family.
I’ve been hearing conversations lately about the importance of context. Often conflict arises because of false assumptions, many of which are made because of a lack of knowledge about the context that surrounded a conversation. My pastor just came back from Isreal talking about how being immersed in the culture of the holy land changed his perspective of scripture in a huge way.
So then I was asked (for a contest) to name my favorite hymn/christian song. I was trying to remember the name of it so I went online to Google it and found some interesting songs on YouTube. Man, they put everything up there nowadays. When I was a kid, it was “Jesus Loves Me.” I found a video of some kid in a rainbow wig singing that. What kind of context would that be for people looking at that video 200 years from now?
Then I found the pot of gold. (A little Irish humor for you today.) Seriously, this video made my jaw drop. I knew I wasn’t supposed to laugh because it’s a praise song afterall, but again, context is everything. Maybe back in the 70’s this would seem cool. Some of the lyrics include, “He’ll zap you any way can (Zap),” and “I can praise God and still play rock and roll.” Oh My Girlish Figure.
Okay. Moving on. The third video is from my favorite comedian, Tim Hawkins, who discusses Christmas songs. Take a minute and a half and just enjoy it and laugh.
And the last video is in fact one of my favorite hymns. There are so many to choose from. The context? A hard world can be changed with the love of our Father. Be content, be generous, be loving, be gracious, and take the gift you’ve been given. No strings attached.
Jesus Loves Me
Jammin for Jesus
Tim Hawkins, Give the kid a blanket
Take My Life
And then there’s probably a video here that was placed here by WordPress for advertising. 🙂
From the Observation Deck 