Joel Stiff's Adventure

If you have animals, they let you know when they are hungry.

Nicole has a cat named Charlie and Winston has a cat named Jack.

They ran out of food last night and haven’t shut up about it.

The plan was to let them suffer in depravity through the night and get them food first thing this morning.

They weren’t having any of it.

They walk up to you, look you in the face and meow. They stand on their hind legs and tap you with their paws and meow. They stand by their food dish and meow.

These aren’t starving neglected cats. Just spoiled ones.

Lots of spoiled people behave this way.

Spoiled people are not interested in what you are doing or have to do. They want you to drop everything you are doing to fix their problem immediately. They create drama and throw tantrums until they manipulate you into giving them what they want. They will not stop pestering you until you give in.

When this happens with the cats, i put them outside and shut the door.

It works with people too.

II Kings 5:13: And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

Naaman was a leper who was told by Elisha that he would be healed if he washed in the Jordan River seven times.

Naaman was upset that such a common and simple prescription was given.

He was also bothered because he wanted to be doted upon by the prophet.

Two things we can take from this:

1. Don’t expect anyone to do for you what you can do for yourself.

2. Don’t make it harder than it has to be.

Many people look for complicated solutions when a common sense answer will do.

I’m connected all right.

On my facebook feed:

i see pictures of people’s food

i see videos of people getting ice water dumped on their heads

i see countless political opinions about evil obamas and bigoted duck hunters

i see comics of a crotchety old woman

i see videos of cats

i am given opportunities to see what kind of bumblebee i am

What it rarely does is allow me to connect with people.

What are we doing with these tools besides marketing?

Psalm 126:5 – They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

It means sow while in tears.

Press on with sowing even when you’re broken.

The harvest for those who press through the pain and continue to sow will be joy.

Pain tempts us to give up and walk away. Continuing to sow while hurting results in great joy.

So, I’m just gonna name ten things I like.

Cool weather.

Wind.

Overcast days.

Thunderstorms.

Falling leaves.

Haunted houses.

Trick or treating.

Pizza.

Goosebumps.

Lists.

I feel sorry for you if you have grown up to the point where you can’t enjoy childhood pleasures anymore.

I saw a book with this title today.

It was 304 pages.

Must be a pretty complicated one thing.

Either that or the title is incorrect.

There is no magical “one thing”.

There are many things.

And they aren’t complicated.

Just hard.

Read a letter from a guy in prison last night.

That prompted a dream, an unsettlingly real dream that I was going to be locked up myself.

The feeling of losing all freedom is dreadful.

It made buying deodorant at Meijer’s this morning one of the best experiences of my life.

Praise God for the mundane.

Matthew 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

We have all been disappointed.

We looked up to someone and they mess up.

We follow someone’s example and they blow it.

We consider someone one of the best and they disappoint us.

The temptation then is to give up and walk away.

Maybe God was just removing them from your life so that you would focus instead on Him.