odds and ends

i like the Christ in you

i awoke last night around 1:00 a.m. and didn't feel well. didn't feel well at all, actually, which is why i didn't even venture downstairs as i normally do when insomnia hits. just was sick to my stomach and afraid to move actually. for an hour and a half and then overslept the alarm when it was time to get up at 4:00 a.m. actually awoke 40 minutes later and bolted downstairs and practically out the door.

when i was trying not to move, i was talking to God asking for His help in not moving, but was meditating on what it means to say "i want to see Jesus in everyone i meet and if not, hope they see Jesus in me." i pray that simple statement daily, but when i was *not moving* was wondering what it is, exactly, i look for in a person when i look for Jesus.

what do you look for when you are looking for Him in others?

what did Blessed Mother Teresa see when she picked up a sick, maggot-infested person from the gutters of calcutta - she oft times was quoted as saying "i saw Jesus in everyone i met." i am not being sarcastic, but what about this maggot-infested person could possibly have reminded her of our Lord?

when you look for Jesus, what is it that you see when you know you've seen Him?

that was my 1:00-2:30 a.m. thought.

God moment

then when i was at work, still queasy, not easy to be around food, but did things to help me get past it, i was cleaning out our front burners. think about an old stove - gas is piped through the little holes which makes for even cooking, if said holes aren't clogged up. bruce used to help me clean the burners because it would eventually get to the point half the burner wasn't working so the flames would shoot up and over the saute pans and burn penni.

bruce is no longer with us so it's up to penni because jimbo has asbestos hands and feels nothing when it comes to heat.

this isn't the most fun job in the world. it's dirty, greasy and not a task that one tackles with great fervor, especially when nursing a stomach virus, but i felt compelled to continue. i was trying my best to unclog these little holes of their junk and gook when i thought, i wonder of God is watching what i am doing (of COURSE He is - what else could He be doing that early??) and if i felt in my heart He was thinking, "gee penni - what if we unclogged some of your junk - do you think the Holy Spirit would have an easier time flowing through you then?"

it's not cool when God comes up with good kitchen analogies at 5:30 a.m. and you are nauseous and have no comebacks. when it comes to being *cleaned out* or *pruned* or *take your pick of unpleasant chores o' God* - but how can the Holy Spirit pour through us if we have all this stuff in His way keeping Him back? is that what we want?

then i cleaned out the microwave and have no God analogies for that.

kitty report

daisy is feisty as all get-out and i have reason to believe she thinks (1) in back of the computer is her own private litter pan, (2) torturing the dog's tail could be fun, and (3) that she is bigger than rosie and needs not take an ounce of bull from her, especially if she was in the sunny window first, sorry if you think you own it rosie, but you so don't.

lily is quiet and submissive and easily beat up on by dazed, but rosie actually likes her because they sit and give each other the stare-down and no hissing is happening. much hissing when rosie and daisy get together, however.

and my plants on my new antique plant stand don't stand a chance. glad it's almost warm enough to get them outside.

and yes, i miss simon, but love my new babies.