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Moms Together
March 2001 Newsletter
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SQUIRRELS IN THE KITCHEN

It was a beautiful, sunny summer day. I was working around the kitchen with all the windows open, delighting in the birdsong and the smells of the morning air.

Then I heard it: Scritch, scritch, crackety crackety SQUEAK!

Looking around, I thought I saw a flash of gray. "Oh no," I thought, "A mouse. I thought they were all outside for the summer.

The sudden appearance of several of our ever-vigilant cats confirmed my suspicion. I reached for the mouse container in the cupboard. The "mouse container" is a plastic container with a lid which I use every time the cats unearth a mouse or a shrew from wherever they live and bring them in the house through the cat door. Some of their toys are alive and I try to rescue them before they end up as feline lunch meat. (I'm soft-hearted that way).
        Pretty soon the sound of scuffling ceased and I found all the cats gathered around a hutch. Peering behind it, in the gap between the hutch and the wall, I looked for the little mouse. Much to my surprise, a much larger face and a big bushy tail greeted me--it was a squirrel! "Oh no," I thought, "Squirrels are bigger, faster, and much more inclined to bite, NOW what?"
        Have you ever anticipated a small, mouse-sized problem and suddenly found yourself face-to-face with a squirrel instead? You hear your child crying and sigh, "What did Junior scrape his knee on this time?" Then you head outside to discover that he has broken an arm? Or you go to work anticipating a very full, busy day only to get a call from school that Jenny has been throwing up for the last half-hour. Or you spend your morning cleaning the downstairs and head upstairs to work on the bathroom when the kids come up and say, "Mommy, we made you something!" So you go downstairs anticipating glue on the kitchen table and discover glue, glitter, paper, and an upset glass of milk all over the floor!
        It's these unanticipated moderate crises that can make or break us as moms. Many of us do fine on the stuff we can anticipate, and when BIG crises come around we jump in for the fight with both feet. But when we're expecting one thing and something else happens, our attitude and our actions seem to fall apart. We get irritable and irritating. We let it ruin our outlook and attitude.
        Jesus dealt with this all the time. He would anticipate some quiet teaching time with his disciples, and end up with throngs of people surrounding him. He would ask the disciples to step out in faith, and then find that they were still missing the basics. He got tired and frustrated with these things just like we do. But his actions showed us some good principles to live by when these "incidents" come to bug us.

    *Deal with the situation. Jesus never protested and said, "But, but but...I had THIS planned!"
    *Meet people where they are at. When the disciples showed a lack of faith even near the end of his ministry, Jesus explained to them again what was needed. Can you patiently explain to Johnny that trying to walk on top of the monkey bars will most likely result in the broken arm he has now?
    *In unexpected problems, don't be afraid to look for unexpected blessings. Jesus was able to provide the blessing of food to 5,000 people in the wilderness even though they had interrupted his schedule and caused a fair amount of work and exhaustion for the tired, hungry Messiah and his disciples. Paul had the blessing of having his ministry confirmed even after being shipwrecked on an island with rough sailors and then being bitten by a poisonous snake! He shook the snake off and went right on working.

    The Lord showed me the blessing in the squirrel too.  After removing the cats from the premises and closing the cat door, I employed a yardstick and a bucket with lid and eventually coaxed the squirrel into leaving its rather precarious perch. About a half hour later, I finally removed him to a convenient tree and sat down for a minute. I expected to be exhausted and distracted by the interruption in my otherwise-wonderful day. But instead, I found I was alert and energized and ready to go! God surprised me with the blessing and provided the joy.

~Heather

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AND ON THE NET...

An elderly woman and her little grandson, whose face was sprinkled with bright freckles, spent the day at the zoo. Lots of children were waiting in line to get their cheeks painted by a local artist who was decorating them with tiger paws. “You’ve got so many freckles, there's no place to paint!" a girl in the line said to the little fella.
    Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head. His grandmother knelt down next to him. "I love your freckles. When I was a little girl I always wanted freckles," she said, while tracing her finger across the child's cheek. "Freckles are beautiful."
    The boy looked up, "Really?"
    "Of course," said his grandmother. "Why, just name me one thing prettier than freckles?" she said.
    The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his grandma's face, and softly whispered, "Wrinkles."

Less Than Brilliant
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for "minimal lettuce." He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg.

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RECIPES FOR MARCH

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INDEED?

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MARCH DEVOTION
Lessons from the Shrewd Manager
Luke 16:1-8

The parable of the shrewd manager has always been a rough one for Christians. Found only in Luke 16, Jesus uses this story to illustrate the proper distribution of worldly wealth. But it seems to be full of contrasts? If the manager is dishonest, how can he be commended? If we're supposed to use our worldly wealth to gain friends, doesn't that mean Jesus is advocating shallow relationships?
        The manager has a few big lessons to teach us. One could be termed: "Crisis Management 101." When his boss informs him that he's going to be fired, the manager doesn't waste time whining about how bad things are or what a jerk the man is. He knows he's dug himself into a hole, and now he's got to get out. So he looks at his options. He's a man who knows one thing-keeping the books. And now that he's been proven dishonest, no one would let him do that any more. Could he become a ditch digger? Maybe go into construction?
        Can you see him sigh and pat that bulge around his middle? Nope, digging wasn't an option. Farming is out. Of course in those days there were professional beggars. But they weren't looked upon very highly. No, that would take away too much pride.
        What do you do when a crisis hits? Do you sit back and wait for the other shoe to fall? Do you give it all to God and then give up? Do you give it all to God and then look around to see if there's anything he wants you to do with the resources you have?
        So then he looked at his resources. He still had all these debts under his control for another day or two! If he reduced some of those debts, maybe the people would feel charitable towards them when he was jobless! And reducing the debts would make his master popular with the people, increasing his reputation!
        This is obviously a self-serving sort of solution, for him. But it did good for everyone. It benefited the debtors and his master as well as himself. The manager was certainly out for himself, but he discovered that he could use the wealth to benefit everyone rather than just lining his pockets.
        Quickly, the manager sends for some of the highest debtors. The managers tells them to sit down and reduce their debts significantly. They are truly grateful! Later on comes the inevitable accounting, and the rich man finds out what his manager has done with these debts. The rich man commends his manager. Not for his dishonesty that is getting him fired, but for the honest dealings that benefited everyone.
        The world knows how to deal with its own, Jesus says. The world knows how to use wealth to get what it wants. Christians have a hard time with that. The people of the light aren't as wise in how they use the things God has given them. How do you use the resources God has given you?
        When we use our wealth of time, talent, and treasure in a good manner, in one that benefits those around us, we do "win friends." We make people want to know us, to see why we would do these things. Like the manager's new friends, they accept us into their homes, maybe curious to see why we are so generous. Then we show OUR motivations. It's not self-serving motives, but Christ-serving motives. When the wealth is gone and we are in Heaven with our savior, perhaps a great many friends will be there to greet us!

~Heather

Copyright Moms Together 2001. Please e-mail Heather@mercydrops.com for permission to reprint this.