Leaping Through February

Happy Leap Year Day! 
How are you going to spend your extra day? Mine will be pretty ordinary; taking my dog Sydney for a walk, and working at the baby boutique. I do hope to do something nice and unexpected for someone. I'll be looking out for an opportunity...

Here are six things I learned this month:
1. Compassion wins.  I wrote about my beloved cat Tigger passing away a few weeks ago. The last week of his life my husband (who always just put up with him,) allowed me to bring the litter box up from the garage and put it in our bathroom since he was hunkered in our closet...  On his last morning of life I gave my kitty milk. Wouldn't you?

2. The YMCA is for everybody. After years of saying I'd get in shape, I finally am making an effort. I've now been a semi-regular for a month. I've tried the treadmill, recumbent bike, Eliptical, weight machine circuit, Zumba class, and Mixed Fit. My muscles are in shock and I am sore. I see people of all ages and no one has laughed out loud at me. Women in my dance classes have been encouraging even though it's going to take a few more weeks before I can learn all the steps. (I used to be on a dance & drill team and a Jazzercise fanatic but that was a LONG time ago!) Here's my personal tip for the machine TV's: I watch either "HGTV" or the "Food Channel" so I have to exercise at least 30 minutes. Why?...because I have to see how the remodeled homes turn out or how to make an entire meal!.... 

“Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.” 

Psalm 51:8-10 The Message

Photo source:PFAStudent - I took this picture., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34215443

3. Once a teacher, always a teacher... I've missed the classroom. I was lucky to be asked to fill in at our church preschool as a substitute teacher this month. Years ago I was on the staff, and I've also taught Kindergarten and First Grade. It's been several years since I've been "Mrs. Carver" or "Teacher Jane."  I had so much fun! Kind of like riding a bike, it all came back quickly; I remembered most of the songs, the schedule seemed familiar, and the kids were adorable. God has been reigniting my desire to teach part-time, so hopefully they'll be a spot for me in the future.

4. Teaching Kindergarten can be good training for the Retail business. The whole multi-tasking thing, one teacher outnumbered by lots of little needy people, and unpredictable circumstances have been good training for me for busy days. If you've ever worked in retail, you know that some days can be slow and some can be high-sales and hectic. I was concentrating on several projects one day (pricing new inventory, reorganizing, making package bows) when suddenly everyone in our town came shopping! There was only "little old me" trying to assist and ring up and wrap... As the story goes, "Some days are like that," even in Australia Charlie Barnes.

5. Some names are popular for years! My Grandma was ahead of her time when she named my Mom Barbara back in 1926. Yep, my Mom is a feisty 89 year old and my dear Grandma Grace has been in Heaven since I was in college. I wonder why she chose Barbara? Did she know that the name Barbara would become one of the three most popular girl's names two years later (in 1928) and would continue to be in the top three until 1945?! (The other two were Mary and Betty.)  In 2016 the three most popular girl names are Emma, Olivia and Sophia. Apparently Jane was only rated #66 the year I was born...

6. Hail Happens when cars aren't parked in the garage. Suddenly it was hailing last night while we were watching the "Golden Globes. "The only movie I'd seen that was up for anything was "Star Wars." 

We were concerned about the Toyota Camry our oldest is buying from us that was parked by the side of our house. Hoping it wasn't damaged! We had memories of having to claim total damage to two cars back in the 1980's in Indiana after a HUGE hail storm. I haven't actually gone downstairs to inspect any damage, but all seems well looking out the window. 

That's about it for the month of February. I have a few more stories, but I'll have to share them on another day. I'm linking up with Emily P. Freeman of Chatting at the Sky. 

What things did you learn in the month of February? 

In His Grip, 

Jane

(The photo of the yummy cookies at the top was taken at Madeleine's Cafe in Spokane, WA.)

Windex is a Good Reminder

Saturday morning I spent some time doing housekeeping chores I’ve been putting off. Basically I’ve just “spot-cleaned” since the holidays. It looked “good enough” but I knew it was pretty dirty around here!

 We had company coming, the sun was shining and I’d had coffee! (I mention the coffee only due to the fact that I’d given it up for five mornings while I attempted to do a full-body cleanse. I did NOT make it the full 10 days but I did learn some self-control.) 

“I might as well face it I’m addicted to caffeine...”

I scrubbed the kitchen, mopped, organized, put away, hung some pictures, and made our place look company-ready. I noticed the front door looking a bit spotty so I proceeded to clean all the glass doors of our house. (Yes, one of them is the door I wrote about back in May. You can read about it shattering here.)

We are blessed with a wonderful “view.” Our home sits up on a hill and we get to look down on our Harbor Town and over at Puget Sound. It only took a few sprays of Windex and wiping to realize HOW DIRTY my glass was! I looked down at all the dirt on the paper towels and wondered why we could still see the view...we could see out, the light could come in, and yet they were not sparkling.

It suddenly made me think about what I look like to others. Do I sparkle? Am I "clean?" Friends might look at me and not SEE my sins.  I’ve always tried to be a “good girl.” Do I attempt to hide my sinful nature from those around me? God sees right through me~to what is really in my heart. (My family often sees that icky part of me too.)

"But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin." 

1 John 1:7

I love that God wipes away my filth, and just like Windex on my glass, it’s not a one-time-thing...

Over and over I need to be cleansed; I’m nudged and convicted and reminded. Because of Jesus I can be wiped clean!

"Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." Psalm 51:2

Our view is even better now. As I continue to spend time in God’s word, I hope that my behavior and thoughts and mind and heart are beginning to shine too...

Have you (and your windows) been wiped clean lately?

In His Grip, 

jane

Missing the Fat One...

“What greater love, than the love of a cat.” Charles Dickens

For 16 years, Tigger Duncan Carver was a part of our family. Last Friday he passed away. Here is his story: 

My Mom was allergic to pets, so I never had a dog or cat as a child; Tigger was my first (and maybe my last?) kitty. We had just adopted our yellow Lab dog Sadie from the Prison Pet Partnership, when I received a call from friends (thank you Amy and Danny!) saying a tiny red stray kitty needed a home. One look, and I was smitten... 

He started out tiny, but grew quickly! Tig acquired many nicknames; Fatty, General Fat one, Big Tig, Biggy, Mr. Bigs... to name a few. He answered to all of them. He arrived with the name Tigger; I added his middle name Duncan, after the character in one of my favorite preschool books, Duncan and Dolores.

He was “Grumpy Cat” before the female version who became famous. We often joked that he would give us the “paw” and then leave the room. 

Tigger had the most beautiful red coat. I thought about taking him with me to the hairdresser and asking her to make my hair the same color. He put up with four loud kids, a sister-dog Sadie, a pet bird for a few months, and a sister-cat named Zoe Mittens.

The kids left for college, one by one, and TIgger had to get used to the way they’d come and go. In 2010 we had to go to Chicago and our friends agreed to keep Zoe since we could only fly with two pets. Yes, Tig has always been my favorite. Tigger adjusted to Glen Ellyn and spent most of his time on a shelf in our basement. While we were there, our Lab passed away and we all had to adjust to life with just one aging, kitty cat.

We moved back to Washington in 2012, and rented a home on Fox Island. Tigger loved the two years we spent there, and had his own favorite spots in the yard.

Our resilient cat adjusted when we rescued/adopted our Kelpie dog Sydney. They sort of got along, but their relationship was usually a challenge. Sydney wanted to play, Tigger didn’t... 

When we moved to our current home, Tigger only went outside occasionally. He loved his cat-door to the garage, and stayed in the lower level most of the time. We were graced with his appearance once or twice a day when he’d come up to snuggle on or next to me. Last winter he was introduced to his little "cousin" Walter. Red cats are the best!

Katie & Walter, T.J. & Tigger

If you’ve ever had to make the HARD decision to "put down" a pet, you understand how painful it was. Our "fat cat" had slowly stopped eating and lost 6 pounds. The last two weeks of his life had been very difficult. Saying goodbye was really, really hard, but the humane thing to do for our beloved kitty. 

HE WAS THE BEST CAT EVER! Missing him...

In His Grip, Jane

 Sarah & Tigger

 Mitch & Tigger

Allie & TIgger