Praying Mantis

There seems to be a recurrent theme that runs through my adult life. Stillness is a good thing, a necessary thing.

About 12 years ago, I lived in a 3rd floor apartment. For several weeks, I would leave and come home to find a rather large, intimidating praying mantis in the middle of my front door. I would take my broom and sweep it over the railing to the ground, three stories down, and come home later to find it on my door again.

I have a friend that told me about the Native American belief that God speaks to us through animals, and when you see a particular creature it is God trying to give you a message, and each animal has it's own message.  I Googled 'Praying Mantis Totem' and this is what is says:

"Usually the Praying Mantis makes an appearance when we’ve flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us. Taking a step back and some simple meditation would be in order here because the external din we’ve created needs to be quieted so that we can come back to our own truth. The Praying Mantis always comes to us when we need peace, quiet and calm in our lives."  http://www.spirit-animals.com/praying-mantis/

If you knew what my life was like at that time, you would be as amazed as I was how accurate this was. Sure we all get busy, but this particular time in my life was CRAZY! There was so much chaos, indecision, fear and worry that I even contemplated ending the relationship I was in.  I did think a lot about what I read, and prayed and committed to being 'STILL'.

Things did quiet down, peace became the norm, and I did not end the relationship with the man that is now my husband, and love of my life.  The photo above is a tattoo that I had done as a reminder when I get overwhelmed, trying to do it all myself, searching for answers, etc., to just 'BE STILL'.

There have been other times since then that I have been reminded to breath deep and wait, but not until this past month has it been so prevalent as 12 years ago.

I was on a mission trip a few weeks ago in Vero Beach, FL at Epic Missions . One of the founders, Jackie, was sharing her story with us and shared the scripture: Psalms 46:10 "He says, Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Her story was amazing and touching, but this verse has been needling my heart ever since she quoted it to us.

There are many plans, ideas, thoughts, fears, worries about the future, near and far that constantly flood my mind. Should I do this, should I go here, should I say this, should I not commit to that, should I not buy that.......  I now know the answer. BE STILL. 






 

Common Courtesy and Customer Service

"As we are, so we do; and as we do, so is it done to us; we are the builders of our fortunes.”  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are in the middle of renovating our master bathroom. It is laughable to call it a master bathroom because of the small size in comparison to so many I see on HGTV, but it is our master bathroom non the less.

If you have ever had the pleasure of home ownership, I feel certain you too have made a trip or two to one of the "Big Box" home improvement stores in your town. We are fortunate enough to have two of the largest such establishments very close to our house, and directly across the street from each other. Not only does this make price comparison easier, but normally if you can not find what you are looking for at the blue store, you can at the orange store.

Today one of our goals was to locate a pedestal sink we like, and that will fit in the limited space we have. We first ventured into the big orange store. As we made our way down the isle to the section with all the bright shiny lights, mirrors, bathroom fixtures and sinks we found the display of pedestal sinks we were looking for. We were very disappointed when all we could find were sinks that were too large for our project. So we decided to head across the street to the blue store. On our way, we remembered the air filters we have been forgetting to pick up for about three weeks, so we decided to get them while in the orange store so we did not forget them once again. 

As we are walking down the main back isle, I see a person headed my way in a bright orange apron, a sure sign of a knowledgeable, helpful employee. As I approach her, I say "Excuse me, could you please tell me where I could find the air conditioner filters?"  I was shocked by the expression she gave me first of all. Not only did I get an eye roll, but also a huge shoulder shrug. "I don't know" was the reply that I received, and then she walked off. Really? I think to myself. Is this the way you were trained to treat customers? As I turn around I see an elderly gentleman in the same sort of apron. "Excuse me sir, would you be able to tell me where the air conditioner filters may be?" "Right this way ma'am". He walked me to the isle and explained the difference between "good, better, best" color labels and I thanked him.  What a huge difference in attitude between these two employees.

I have been thinking about this as it relates to my job. I have many different responsibilities where I work, purchasing, accounts payable and customer service. I have to admit, there are days when I feel very much like the first employee in the orange apron. I get aggravated with customers that seem to ask me ridiculous questions, make unreasonable requests, and are flat out rude for no reason at all. However, I like to think most of the time I am friendly, patient and helpful.

Most of the time is not good enough. I need to be friendly, patient, and helpful at all times, and not just in my work environment. What about the times I am in the grocery store, and I get peeved about the cashier and their questions about my purchase. "Looks like you are baking something, what is it?", or "I have never tried that item before, is it any good?". Or when I am driving and someone follows too closely, or wants to cut in front of me, or is driving too slowly in front of me. Am I courteous to these people? Considerate of their feelings?

No, MOST OF THE TIME is not good enough, I need to friendly, patient and helpful at all times. That is what I am called to do, what all of us are called to do.

"Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing."                                                               - 1 Peter 3:8-9 MSG

Boo's Life Lessons

I have been thinking a lot about the word LOSS the last week. There are so many different levels and causes of loss; temporary loss of replaceable items caused by others, permanent loss caused by our own hand, devastating loss with no explainable cause, and any mixture thereof.

It is the loss of temporary items, caused by my puppy, Boo Boo, that began this whole LOSS thought process. Having a puppy in your home, is most assuredly a promise of eventual loss. They destroy everything in their path, with no regard for value sentimental or monetary! Boo has a penchant for anything paper or paper related.  She has eaten her share of paper towels, toilet paper, and cardboard boxes. I am amazed at how quickly she can totally decimate an item. She also loves bushes, sticks and has even had her bout with concrete and rocks, but that is for another time.

We have been allowing Boo a little more freedom lately, some time out of her crate when we are gone from the house, testing her maturity level. As it turns out, she is not ready for the freedom we have afforded her. We recently came home for lunch to find she had the time of her short life destroying two unread magazines, mangling at least 15 DVD boxes, shredding one roll of paper towel, and brining several branches through the doggy door into the living room. Loss. Loss of a few magazines, some paper towels, pretty boxes for DVD's, but more than that, loss of trust in Boo. This is something that will have to be earned, at a later date, when she is a little older and mature.

I took pictures of the scene, and posted them on Facebook. I got mixed reactions from people, "did you want to kill her?", "did you yell at/spank her?", "did you laugh?", and "did you give her a big kiss?" Honestly, I was stunned to see the mess, but never mad at her. I was disappointed that she had not been as well behaved as I had hoped she would be, sad that I would have to put her back in her crate for awhile longer, and relieved that she was not hurt by any of her mischief.

I have not been able to put this episode in the past and move on. I keep feeling like God was trying to teach me something through it. I can so easily see myself as Boo. So many times in my life I have had freedom to make decisions about the right thing to do, only to make a huge mess, and cause LOSS of one kind or another. The only difference is, most of my messes affected other people and were not so easily cleaned up. What was the same? No matter how much destruction I caused, how bad it looked, or could have been, God still loved me. I am sure he too was disappointed that I had not behaved as He had hoped. I believe as my loving heavenly father, it pained him to let me suffer the consequences of my actions. Maybe I didn't have to go to jail literally (like Boo's crate), but I still had to reap what I had sown. I also choose to believe, because of His love for me, that He was relieved that I had not hurt myself a time or two by my actions.

I am thankful for God's lessons in life, the ability to learn from them, and his patience and love for me while I continue to learn.

"But He, full of [merciful] compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not; yes, many a time He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath and indignation."  

-Psalm 78:38AMP