{"id":72,"date":"2011-06-16T01:09:32","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T01:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heartformarriage.com\/blogs\/peggy-s-thoughts\/grace\/"},"modified":"2011-06-16T01:09:32","modified_gmt":"2011-06-16T01:09:32","slug":"grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/16\/grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been realizing a lot during this past month. \u00a0The first and most amazing thing is that I am able to read, think about, and apply scripture on my own without relying on someone else telling me what to do. \u00a0That was a pretty awesome discovery; however, I\u2019ve been picking up on some pretty strong ideas these past couple of weeks. \u00a0Jesus explained things in stories, and I\u2019m going to try my hand at that, so just bear with me\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When we found our kitten, Grace, she was far too young (about 4 weeks according to the vet) to be able to survive on her own. \u00a0The best we can figure is that she was washed away from the safety of her family by flash floods that had been in the area. \u00a0By the time we found her, part of her tail was missing; she was half-starved, filthy, and incredibly stinky! \u00a0We really had no intentions of getting a cat (much to my dislike, as I love animals), but here this small, helpless creature was lunging at us, screaming for help.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, we tried to do the \u201cresponsible\u201d thing and find her rightful family to take her back to, thereby ridding us of the responsibility of this small, fragile life. \u00a0As you can imagine, no one in the area wanted to claim this kitten that you could smell at 20 paces; if she was going to live, we were going to have to do something to help her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I said before, I love animals and have nursed more than my fair share back to health, but have never been faced with quite so young and quite so helpless of a cat. \u00a0So here we are, back in the car, cat on my lap (windows cracked for breathing purposes), on our way to Walmart for the necessary items. \u00a0Now I was faced with a real dilemma; I knew that I had a pretty good chance of helping her to live, but in order to do that I would have to invest my heart. \u00a0No one, cats included, can heal without love. \u00a0The problem being that if I failed, I would be the one left crying. \u00a0The other problem is that I\u2019m a teacher, not a vet, and am in no means \u201cqualified\u201d to do this; however, if I didn\u2019t, there was no one else around who would.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I had thought about getting a pet, I had always assumed that I would get a cat from a pet shop or animal shelter. \u00a0I was thinking perhaps another Persian or maybe a Maine Coone or a Munchkin breed. \u00a0Even if I couldn\u2019t get a pedigree cat, either place would offer an animal that was (at least relatively) bug-free and healthy. \u00a0God had other plans. \u00a0Most people would have walked away from one tiny, loud, half-tailed, flea-infested, dirt-encrusted, stinky cat. \u00a0People go to pet stores and animal shelters to find their next pet, not randomly finding them at a park.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I\u2019ve experienced over the past couple weeks is a deep understanding that I need to look for and help the \u201cstinky cats\u201d of the world. \u00a0The ones who are cleaned up and in places that others go looking will be okay \u2013 believers who are looking for \u201cpresentable\u201d people to help will find them. \u00a0There is a whole group of people in this world that no one wants to touch because they are so far off the \u201cnormal\u201d mark and seem so un-loveable. \u00a0Those are the people in need of someone willing to reach out. \u00a0The pet-store people will be okay, lots of individuals are willing to go there \u2013 the others can\u2019t get forgotten.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Grace, almost every person starts off life being loved and cared for. \u00a0(There are the random cases where children are so devalued that they aren\u2019t, but that is the exception rather than the rule.) \u00a0The problem is that the storms of life come along and separate us from the people we love who take care of us. \u00a0Our safety disappears and life gets scary. \u00a0We get damaged (like Grace\u2019s tail), and often that damage lasts a lifetime. \u00a0We find ourselves starving in the ways that matter. \u00a0We have picked up bad habits and are encrusted with the results of our sinful choices. \u00a0We call out for someone to help us, but so many times people don\u2019t or won\u2019t hear and respond. \u00a0Or if they do, it is without emotional investment and so no healing can happen. \u00a0Or it is assumed that someone else will do something about the \u201cproblem.\u201d \u00a0It isn\u2019t enough to meet the surface needs of people; Christians need to be willing to meet the emotional needs of the hurting around us. \u00a0People who are in that place know if your care is surface or genuine, even though most would like to think hurting people are too dumb or too far gone to realize when something is just a platitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not an expert, or in any way qualified by means of degree, but I know that God promises to give us what we need when we ask in faith according to His will and plan. \u00a0I believe His promises and I believe that He will provide what I need, when I need it, to do what He wants me to do. \u00a0(Even if it is more than a little bit scary and overwhelming and leaving me feeling completely out of my element.) \u00a0He said, \u201cMake disciples of all nations.\u201d \u00a0He said, \u201cLove others as I have loved you.\u201d \u00a0Seems pretty straight forward to me \u2013 it\u2019s just that simple, and it\u2019s just that hard.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been realizing a lot during this past month. \u00a0The first and most amazing thing is that I am able to read, think about, and apply scripture on my own … Continue reading “Grace”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peggy-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.heartformarriage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}