Our New Family Member...

Some would say my family should be complete...I have the bookends happening...one child of each gender. Plus we have a beautiful little girl cat named Autumn who has been part of the family for almost a year now. But they'd be wrong...our family really isn't complete yet. So after a few weeks of searching and praying for the right one, we've added to our family again. This time in the form of a boy...yes, I have bookend cats!! hahaha!!!

Our newest addition is a very smart looking black & white boy weighing in at MAYBE 7 pounds. He's approximately 6 - 8 months old...he was abandoned by his owners and took himself off to the doorstep of a family in Chase, BC. They, having already had a couple cats and kids, decided they couldn't keep him and began the search for a good family for him. And that is where the kids & I come in. I answered the ad on Kijiji and the rest, as they say, is history! :) He arrived this morning at 9:30, his name is Rico and so far he's fit right in....

Autumn really wasn't prepared for the change her life was about to undergo when she woke up this morning!! We've introduced her to a boy who loves to play...and she has become quite the docile cat over the last few months! He's been busy chasing her around the apartment which she is NOT happy about! There has been a couple times when I thought for sure the fur was going to fly but it hasn't yet. Oh there has been some caterwauling and hissing and a few swats at each other but apart from that, they seem to be, at the very least, tolerating each other. I actually think that once they get used to each other (Translation: once Autumn gets used to Rico) they'll be great friends!

So yes, I have two pairs of bookends...but honestly, I'm not convinced that this family is complete yet. I really think we are missing a dog....but that addition will have to wait for quite a while...we need a house of our own first! I can't imagine many landlords being willing to rent their house to a family with 2 cats and a dog!! Plus, I want a BIG dog...and this place just isn't big enough for that!

Below are a few pictures of the new baby...Enjoy! :)

Autumn, checking out this new "person"...

Isaac hanging out with Rico.

Reflections on Being Stuck

STUCK - the inability to move in any direction. Often when we think of this we think of inanimate objects, such as this tractor, mired deep in something that prevents them from getting out without help. However, this word was used yesterday by a friend to describe their position in life. They are stuck. And I have to say, this worries me.
When we are stuck we lack the tools to help ourselves and it is only be reaching out and asking for help are we able to become unstuck, to move once more. The person that drove this tractor into this field had no idea what they were in for when they did so, it was unexpected and rather sudden, I am guessing. And that person was left with a choice: To get out and go for help, seeking out others with the tools, the strength, the capabilities to help them OR stay stuck. It's a fairly simple decision when you look at this picture...a piece of equipment worth thousands of dollars...you're going to go and get help. More than likely there will be some swallowing of pride required; let's face it, you aren't going to find anyone who will help with this situation with a fair amount of teasing and good-natured jokes aimed your way. But despite the possibility for embarrassment and the likelihood of being the butt of jokes for a long while, you wouldn't leave that machine out there.

So why is it, when we as human beings find ourselves stuck in the emotional quagmire that our lives can become so easily, do we so often fail to reach out for the help we need to get out? Why do we insist on spinning our wheels in one place, as this farmer most likely did at first, until we are so deeply mired in muck we can hardly breathe? It's simple really. It's fear. Fear of the pain that may come, will come, when the emotional wounds we have allowed to fester and remain unhealed, are cleaned out and given a chance to heal. Fear of failure...it's a slow process and one that involves making mistakes. Fear of what others may think of us - this one has me shaking my head the most because honestly, anyone who thinks LESS of us for admitting that we need help, has some serious issues of their own. And yet we allow the opinions of those people hold us back. Fear of the unknown.

One thing I have realized in the last few hours is that when a person is stuck, when they KNOW they are stuck, they have to want to become unstuck in order for any movement to happen. You can't push or pull them out of that spot. No amount of begging will work. A stuck person, for whatever reason, is going to stay stuck until they truly want to live a life of freedom again. And that is really sad. They would rather live their lives, mired in the muck of their issues, than seek out the help that is just a phone call away. The saddest part of all that is when they KNOW they are stuck, they have acknowledged they don't know how to get out by themselves, and yet they still do nothing. I honestly can't imagine living my life stuck in the muck.

What worries me most about this is that we cannot begin to help others through the muck of their lives until we get through our own. Until we can ask for the help we need, and until we move beyond where we are, we cannot begin to help others move beyond where they are. And when others watch us, day after day, living our lives stuck like that, letting opportunities and happiness pass us by, we teach them that this is all there is. It really is the blind leading the blind, around and around and around in the same old mess as always.

I spent many years stuck. Stuck in an emotional place that had me thinking I wasn't worth very much. Stuck in an abusive relationship because I was too afraid to step out from my comfort zone and into a world of the unknown. And so I stayed mired, unable to fly, unable to grow, unable to experience joy. But one day I looked up and, like a bird, I saw others flying, soaring, and I knew I couldn't stay stuck any longer. I couldn't help my children become unstuck until I got myself out of the mud. But I couldn't do it alone. In order to break the cycle of wheel spinning that was going on, of being stuck, I had to reach out and ask for help. It was when I did that, a very simple act, that I felt my feet loosen and the mud begin to fall away.

Getting stuck was fairly easy. It started slowly...a tiny little slip in the mud...but before I knew it I was unable to move. Getting out wasn't quite so easy...it took determination, hard work, tears. I had moments when I could see and feel progress being made only to slip back again. Time and again this happened but with each attempt I made it out further as the hold the past had on me loosened. I have learned that three steps forward and two steps back, while extremely frustrating at times, is still progress. And better slow progress than no progress at all.

Isaiah 40:28 - 31 -
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and no grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Asking for help is scary. Letting go of those things that are familiar, even if harmful, is not easy. Acknowledging that we cannot control or make sense of everything ourselves and accepting that requires faith. Stepping out when we have no idea where the path may lead is downright madness. But it is only in doing these things that we are able to truly live.

TODAY I CHOOSE LIFE. I choose to continually go through the process of become unstuck in order to live my life free from the muck and mire. What do you choose? And choose you must.

In Better Hands Now...

As you may, or may not!, know, Music is a HUGE part of who I am. No matter what I am going through or where I am at, it speaks to my soul. At times it does a better job of expressing my heart than I can do. Lately a female Christian singer has caught my ear...and my heart. Natalie Grant seems to "get" me...or maybe I am "getting" her. In either case, there are numerous songs of hers that I love.

Today this one has really spoken to me...and I wanted to share it with you (click on the song title to go to the video of it) ...

IN BETTER HANDS

It's hard to stand
On shifting sand
It's hard to shine
In the shadows of the night
You can't be free
If you don't reach for help
And you can't love
If you don't love yourself

But there is hope when my faith runs out
'Cause I'm in better hands now

It's like the sun is shining
When the rain is pourin' down
It's like my soul is flying
Though my feet are on the ground
So take this heart of mine
There's no doubt
I'm in better hands now....

I am strong
All because of You
I stand in awe of
Every mountain that You move
I am changed
Yesterday is gone
I am safe
From this moment on

And there's no fear when the night comes 'round
I'm in better hands now...

It's like the sun is shining
When the rain is pourin' down
It's like my soul is flying
Though my feet are on the ground
It's like the world is silent
Though I know it isn't true
It's like the breath of Jesus
Is right here in this room
So take this heart of mine
There's no doubt
I'm in better hands now

You may ask why this song seems to speak to me....and that's a good question. For many years I struggled with establishing a firm foundation for myself...I was basing my hope and faith in things and people who failed me over and over. And given where I was I wasn't shining...at all. In fact, my light had gone out almost completely. But things have changed for me...

I am in better hands now. I've put my life in God's hands and as a result, I have hope. I am safe and no matter what I encounter, I have strength to get through it all because of Jesus. And so tonight I go to bed...knowing that I am being held in the best hands possible. And no matter what tonight brings (last night was filled with horrible nightmares), there is no doubt in my mind...I AM in better hands now.