Greetings and Salutations,

    Blue skies, wind a bit warmer day in our neck of the woods.

    Still, the compression of the newer snow on the top of the older snows and then driving on it has created a bit of slipperiness on our driveway.  It is leaving, but it takes a bit more time.

    Do you ever apologize to your animals?

    Occasionally I have to ‘correct’ Ozzy, our oldest cat.  She is at least 15 years old and a bit cranky at times.  I always feel bad when I tell her to stop (usually it is picking on one of her two daughters) feels like I am telling an older person that they need to shape up.

    But the other day I really felt bad about going after Phantom, another cat that adopted Carla a few years ago.

Phantom is a large neutered Tom.  He is passive aggressive in his confrontations with the other cats – who don’t like him even a little bit.  When they hiss and snarl at him, he just lays down and looks at them.

    He likes to be petted and ‘loved’ the only problem is he kneads ya and bites you – he isn’t being mean, it is just his way of showing he likes you – but it sure gets old, and we can’t get him to stop.

    He is by far the noisiest cat we have ever had, and we have had a number of them, he meows more in any given day than all the rest of the cats to in a year.

    One of them has made a bit of a truce with him, BaFuzzy and he like to lay on Carla’ lap and legs at night while she sits on the daveno.  It has come to the point when they do that they have to tolerate the other one either just inches away or actually touching them.

    The other night I heard some real commotion coming out of the bathroom, a lot of hissing and meowing.  I went in to find one of the cats being attacked by Phantom and they were trying to get away.

    I went in and the other cat ran towards the kitchen with Phantom hard on its heals.  I finally got between them, and thinking Phantom was the aggressor tried to corner him.  The other cat ran back into the bathroom.

    As I turned to follow it I looked into the living room and both Ozzy and Abby, were coming around my chair – the cat being chased was not either of them, although it had the same markings.

    I went into the bathroom and the poor cat was trying to climb the curtain that is above and around in the pet door.  I got a hold of it and showed it the door.  I was surprised it didn’t try and attack me, it was so scared, but it didn’t.

    I actually had to apologize to Phantom, who I really don’t get along with that much, for defending the household – including our other cats; you know, that ain’t fun.

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Mathew 24:25-30  KJV  “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

²⁶ And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

²⁷ But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

²⁸ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

²⁹ And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

³⁰ But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”

    As I read this this morning, I remembered some of the times that I had the blessings of God to do a task, but somewhere along the line I took my eyes off of Him, faltered and had to have Him reach down to save me.

    But the thing is, He did save Him.

    Very little can be done without the Holy Spirit.  We sometimes forget that in both our planning and our work.

    Now, we cannot do any planning and sometimes accomplish tasks for God without consulting Him, but we are not as effective as when we are in tune with Him.

    Some advocate that we shouldn’t plan anything when it comes to working for God.  If we let the Holy Spirit guide us we will accomplish what He wants.

    They base their beliefs on the verses that tell us not to worry about tomorrow, or go into the world with only the clothes on our back and He will provide for us.

    However, when we read His Word, we see that He had a definite and planned manner in which He created the heavens and the earth and all that abide in them.

    We see specific plans on how He wanted His tabernacle to be build and what and where the items were to be placed in it.  There are many other examples, but we don’t need to list them all to see nothing happens by chance with God.

    There are times that we don’t have time to plan, but still are able to successfully complete a task for Him.

    Usually though, that ability comes from spending time with Him and being in tune with the Holy Spirit who guides us.  That relationship is not hit or miss, but one that is developed over time on a daily basis.

    Once we are undertaking something for God, whether large or small, it is important that we don’t lose sight of Him along the way – and in doing so find ourselves drowning in the wash of the turbulence around us.

    AND there will be turbulence when we step on satan’s toes, there always is, he doesn’t like it.

    If we find ourselves having to call upon God to save us very often, we need to reevaluate how we are serving Him.

    That begins with spending quality time with His Word and with Him, not just praying to Him, but listening to Him.

Later, Art (-: