Animal House!

My cat (Leo) and dog (Ellie).

As many of you know, I am the 23 year old adoptive mother of two: a cat and a dog. I'll never forget the day that my parents surprised me with Ellie. They called me from the road to tell me they had a "surprise" for me and that they'd be over to my place within an hour. I sat for a while and pondered the things it could possibly be -- it didn't take me long to figure out that they were bringing me a puppy. They had been talking about getting me one over the summer and, after all, I had always wanted a a cute, cuddly little puppy of my very own. However...

The realization hit me with an unexpected shock! When what they were doing became apparent to me, I began to panic as if I were a young teenage girl who had just found out she were pregnant! Thoughts like, "I'm too young to be a [puppy] parent," and "I'm not going to have a life anymore," and "Who will babysit for me when I go out of town?" began exploding throughout my mind. When my parents arrived at my place and rang the doorbell, it felt as if the trip to answer the door took a whopping 10 minutes (no, I don't live in a luxurious 40,000 sq. ft. mansion where that might really be possible)! When the door opened, there -- staring right back into my eyes -- was the cutest, most precious little puppy I had ever seen (well... not really... I think all puppies are the cutest!) My fears were gone (after a few hours). I named her Ellie (after a character on the popular Canadian tv show "Degrassi: The Next Generation") and we became instant buds.

I can't begin to explain how much I absolutely LOVE this dog. When I come in from class (I feel so bad for having to leave her here in the afternoons) she runs and jumps around and wags her tail as if I had been gone an entire month! Who wouldn't want a friend like that to come home to? Dogs really can be some of [wo]man's best friends! I remember my mom telling me, on the day they brought her to me, that this dog would probably be with me for 15-20 years. I remember selfishly thinking to myself "Dang -- 20 years of babysitting." Now, however, it makes me sad to think that she most likely won't live any longer than 15 or 20 years. She's like my kid. I love that dog!

To end this... there is also the cat. I am slowly working on being a cat person. My Dad was going to get rid of my brother's cat (they were keeping it for him until he got out of jail) because it kept bringing mice and birds in through the doggie door at their home. Myself, being an animal lover, stepped up and offered to take him. Oddly, I don't really like having a cat around. I don't like litter boxes. He jumps on everything. He's not declawed -- and my parents advised me not to get him declawed -- and he scratches stuff. He's friendly yet boring (Man... I'm glad God didn't give cats the ability to read). So, I'm working on it. I suppose I need to grow a little in that area. Whatever the case, it's fun living in an "animal house!"

Books: Past, Present, & Future Readings

(F = Fiction ; NF= Non-Fiction ; NS = Not Sure)

Books I am currently reading:

"Blessings" by. Anna Quindlen (F)
"The Testament" by. John Grisham -- I've read most of it before but am re-reading it again (F)
"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by. Mitch Albom -- started it but don't like it so far so I probably won't finish it. (F)

Books I REALLY REALLY want to read:

"The Illuminati Manifesto" by. Solomon Tulbure (NF)
"The Bible Code I" by. Michael Drosnin (NF)
"The Bible Code II" by. Michael Drosnin (NF)
"Gandhi an Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth" by. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, et al. (NF)
"Will They Ever Trust Us Again?" by. Michael Moore (NF)
"The Golden Ratio: The Story of PHI, the World's Most Astonishing Number" by. Mario Livio (NF)

Books I would like to read:

"Ice Bound" by. Dr. Jerry Neilson (NF)
"Digital Fortress" by. Dan Brown (F)

Books (excluding textbooks & The Bible) I've read within the last 2 or 3 years:

"Developing the Leader Within You" by. John Maxwell (NF)
"The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork" by. John Maxwell (NF)
"Man's Search for Meaning" by. Dr. Viktor Frankl (NF)
"The Color of Water" by. James McBride (NF)
"The Einstein Factor" by. Win Wenger, Richard Poe (NF)
"A Child Called 'It'" by. Dave Pelzer (NF)
"Changing for Good" by. James Prochaska, et al. (NF)
"The Challenge of a Disciplined Life" by. Richard Foster (NF)
"The Da Vinci Code" by. Dan Brown (F)
"Angels & Demons" by. Dan Brown (F)
"Tuesday's with Morrie" by. Mitch Albom (NS)
"Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture" by. William Romanowski (NF)
"Habits of a Loving Heart" by. Willard Tate (NF)
"Learning to Love" by. Willard Tate (NF)
"How to Get What You Want and Want What You Get: 12 Steps to Christian Living at it's Best" by. Willard Tate (NF)

Books I've been told I should read:

"Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love" by. Dava Sobel (NS)
"Gifted Hands" by. Dr. Ben Carson (NF)
"The Gift" by. Danielle Steel (F)
"The Life of Pi" by. Yan Martel (NS)
All the Harry Potter books (F)
(Note: Sorry if you told me one and I forgot it... hee hee)

Because They Are...

"Because she’s a Christian, she the one that’s right," "Because he’s a Christian, he’ll be the best leader" "Because they’re Christians, they are doing the right thing," and "Because they’re a Christian, they’re a good person." I don’t know how many people, Christian and/or other religious groups, think this way – but I know, from my own observations, that such thinking does occur – and I don’t always "buy" such thinking (in terms of a person’s religion).

I know people who seem to believe that anyone who claims to be a Christian is always better for a job/position than a non-Christian – which might be true if the Christian were seeking a preaching job. I, however, am a Christian but I have to say – not all Christians are perfect – no man is. Some of us seem to forget that. We are all sinners and can only do our best to learn from and repent for our mistakes. Just because someone proclaims to be a "Christian" doesn’t mean they’re always "the one that’s right," "the best leader," "doing the right thing," "a good person," and/or even "a Christian." I know that first hand: When I was a young girl, I loved going to church – not just because my grandma would take us kids to 7-11 for snacks afterwards – but because we had a good, fun preacher leading the congregation. Everyone loved him. Thus it came as a shock to us all when he was rung up on sexual assault charges – accused of molesting several of the girls within our congregation. He did some hard prison time. To this day, I still can’t believe such a thing like that happened. I always thought he was such a good, "perfect" Christian. He was a Christian, but far from perfect. One might say, "we’ll that was just him – he was just a bad seed" – maybe. But aren’t we all "bad seeds" in one way or another? Have you ever felt "hate" in your heart? Have you ever judged someone when it really wasn’t your place to be judging? We all have a little bit of that "bad seed" within us from time to time. It’s human nature.

When the 2004 Presidential elections rolled around, I wasn’t sure who – if anybody – I was going to vote for. However, I knew that I was not going to base my decision solely on whether the candidate was a Christian or not (the majority of the candidates where Christians). I got some slack from a hometown friend about my decision to vote for Kerry – despite the fact that Kerry is a practicing Roman Catholic, he evidently wasn’t "Christian" enough for a "Christian" to be voting for. To me, that is sad. No human nor Christian alike is perfect (we are all sinners). Jesus himself knew this when he ate dinner with the despised "tax collectors." I also have a theory that all humans are hypocrites in some way or another – but I’ll save that for another blog. Anyway, I would have voted for a non-Christian candidate if he would have made the best leader and had the best qualities/ideas (However, I honestly don't see a non-Christian ever leading a country that is over 70% Christian). I believe non-Christians are just as capable of being decent presidents. Call me a liberal – I don’t care. I am still a God-fearing Christian. I believe God comes to different people at different times in their lives. Life’s not linear.

In conclusion, does anyone remember when Jesus warned His people about false prophets? He said, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (Matthew 7:15). And – when Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about the masquerade of false prophets, "And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:12-14). It is important that we Christians keep these in mind before presuming that "all Christians are good people and all Christians are right people." Beware or be decieved.