"it was just a cat"

My daughter Aliyah, eight years old last friday, snuck into the house through the patio door in my bedroom. She then snuck into the bathroom and didn’t turn on the light. When there’s this much sneaking going on, as a parent, you know to be very suspicious.

Aliyah on her 8th Birthday

I found her washing a thick coating of mud off her hands, mud caked to her clothes. I told her to get straight into the shower and turned on the water. She groaned, I don’t understand her aversion to showers. In mild frustration I reminded her that she chose to get all muddy. 

She protested, “I didn’t CHOOSE to get dirty! Anna said she saw a baby tiger, so I HAD to go see it - turns out it was just a cat - then I slipped in the mud and Got all dirty.”
“You still need a shower,” I said. 
Remember, kids, if your sister sees a baby tiger you should definitely go check it out, but it will likely just be a cat. 

It fell out of a Taco

You need background information. First, my friend Rob Radosti doesn’t like cilantro at all. He seems about as averse to it as I am to cow’s milk. Next, a salad recipe that I really like a lot: 

Mix

        1 bag mixed salad

Trader Joe’s Creamy Cilantro Salad dressing

Shredded Mexican cheese blend (to taste, I like to taste it, so I add a lot)

Freshest Salsa you can find

Tortilla chips added on the table (I like to toast them in the oven to ensure crispiness)

Tonight’s conversation with my wife Carol:

“I hope we have enough salad dressing for the cilantro salad” I said.

Carol responds, “I don’t really like the cilantro salad.”

“What?” I said, honestly surprised, I thought she liked it as much as I do! “I guess you and Rob could start a group of cilantro haters.”

“Well, it isn’t really the cilantro, it’s alright. I actually don’t like the salsa in it.” she said. I guess I looked at her funny because she explained herself. “It tastes like it fell out of a taco. It makes me want my taco back!” I burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

Now I wrote it all out here, line by line and you know what? It was funnier at the time. I wish you’d been there, you would have laughed too. 

By way of a brief amendment; we didn't eat Cilantro salad tonight.

It’s Good to be in the Dark:

God spoke to me today about my situation.

Isaiah 50.10-11 says “Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with firebrands, Walk in the light of your fire And among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand; And you will lie down in torment.”

I desire certainty and long term goals. I want a farther along in life so that when I’m introduced to someone my friend can say “Mr. X this is my friend Cris, he’s a _____” and they will look me in the eye with respect. I struggled for years with indecision because I wanted to do things that I thought I couldn’t, or thought I couldn’t do things because I thought I shouldn’t and now that I’m coming to a point in life of going forward with my plans anyway it seems like I should have been where I am today about, I don’t know, ten or twelve years ago.

Isaiah 46.3-4 says “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth, And have been carried from the womb; 4 Even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your graying years I shall bear you! I have done it, and I shall carry you; And I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you.” 

Right now I’m in the dark, I don’t know where the future is leading, or how to get there, I can’t even see the pitfalls on either side of my path. That’s where I’m at right now. I’m in the dark and have to trust Father God to carry me, but I thank God that He reassures us that its actually a good place to be. It’s better for me to be in the dark being carried helpless by Father God than to be stoking a fire on the forest floor and huddling in close for light and heat.

There’s still a lot of doing that happens in this kind of darkness. In Hebrews 11 the author talks about all the guys in the old testament who did amazing things. Abraham was the Father of Faith because God made a promise to him in the dark and Abraham couldn’t see how it would happen. He believed God. Over and over and over again the author says that by faith they did this stuff, and it shows me that many great things are done by God’s people when they are just in faith obeying what they have, even not seeing the fulfillment of what they are doing. 

I’m committed to doing whatever I think God wants me to do today, I’m resting in His arms as he carries me throughout my life. I’m not worried about tomorrow because there is a God up there who will carry those who put their trust in Him. In the end all I really know is that I want to do whatever God made me for, and if I get it done when I’m 33 like Jesus did or when I’m 100 like Abraham did, that’s just fine.

Check out "out of control" by John Reuben