MY CAT & THE DEVIL

Any body who knows me, knows I'm a closet cat person. I have a cat and in my life time I have tolerated several cats.

I have this personal belief that a cat owner should never let his or her cat know that they love them. On rare occasions it might be alright to let them know you "like" them, but don't dwell on that thought for long.

Cats will take advantage of you if you're not careful.

I am constantly saying out loud, "I hate cats". Now I know better than to say it directly "to" my cat, but I make sure that she is within hearing distance when I spout my lack of affection for her. I'm sorry if that bothers you, but I'm just not willing to openly admit my fondness for felines.

My cat loves whatever I am drinking. I know that because the minute I leave the room, she tries to climb into the glass I'm drinking out of. She always spills it. It always runs over important papers and gets dangerously close to the computer.

This constant action of my cat reminds me of the devil himself.

As long as I'm paying attention to what I'm doing and keeping my focus on God, the devil is nowhere to be found. But just as soon as I drop my guard or turn around "BAM" he knocks something over that just spills out all over my life. It seems like I spend a lot of time cleaning up the messes that he causes.

It must have been Gods will that I have a cat. Cause that sneaky, know it all, fur ball is a constant reminder to pay attention to what I'm doing.

THE DAY AFTER "REPORT"

Okay, Okay, so I really wasn't "too stressed" about the big event! (don't tell my wife I said that). But even in the midst of all my worry, God was already planning one of the best events I have ever attended. We had a great crowd, wonderful food and lots of fun.

I most appreciated all the responses I received from my last posting on this blog site. You would have thought I was threatening to hurt myself, with the way people let me know how God works and that I wasn't a failure after all.

You know that is one of the reasons I write on the blog, to get people to talk about real issues that we all face. Issues that cause some of us a lot of problems. How we think about ourselves in relationship to God makes a really big difference in how we sleep at night and how we interact with those around us, especially those we love the most.

Do you understand what I'm saying? It's like whenever God and I are getting along, I seem to also be getting along with others. It took me a long time to understand that there is a connection between the two.

It relieves stress just knowing that I "can" go through life without being tied up in knots all the time. It helps even more to know that I don't have to be the one to untie them. God does that for me, If I'll only ask Him to.

Be Anxious for "NOTHING"?

It's four hours away from a big event down at the church. It's a great steak dinner with baked potato, salad, the whole works. Everything is in place. We have fantastic entertainment from Branson MO. Larry Delawder who has been in the Christian music business nearly all his life, he impersonates Barney Fife. Every thing is ready. But I'm a nervous wreck.



Now according to Philippians 4:6 I'm not supposed to be "anxious" for anything, but pray simply asking God to take care of things and thank Him for doing so.



I do that...I really do...but I still get this knot in the pit of my stomach, my mouth get so dry I feel like I've got a mouth full of cotton. I tross and turn and don't sleep well. All in all I'm a mess.

Now my problem is this...AM A FAILURE? I sure feel like it some times. I feel like I can't even trust God to take care of some old silly dinner. I trusted Him with my life, when I asked Him to come in and take control. I tursted Him when my kids went off on their own, I trusted Him when I made big financial decisions.

I guess I just need to keep on trusting right? I'll try.

AMAZING SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

AMAZING SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES
1. If you're choking on an ice cube, simply pour a cup of boiling hot water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove itself.
2. Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold the vegetables while you chop.
3. Avoid arguments with females about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.
4. If you have a bad cough, take A large dose of laxatives, then you'll be afraid to cough.
5. You only need two tools in life - WD 40 & Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD 40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the Duct Tape.
6. Remember everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
7. If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
Some people are like slinkies - not really good for anything but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

Alright maybe I shouldn't take credit something this bad, but sometimes these things just make sense.

I really like the Internet. I enjoy sending and receiving emails. Spam even interest me, but it's usually just junk and sometimes pure trash. But I can push the delete button as good as anybody.

I look at the Internet as a tool that God has given me to use. I can communicate with literally hundreds of people with the click of a button. I could never tell my story to that many people one on one.

I want to use it more effectively. I want to hear back regarding some of the comments I make. I want to challenge people to "think". I want to dare people to "tell me what they are thinking". The bottom line is I want to hear from you. I want to challenge you as a man to start talking to me on this blog. The only rules are to not be vulgar or intolerant of others. If you are easily offended then you might not want to be apart of this. It’s a gutsy kind of thing I’m asking you to do. Can you do it?

My Best Friend

I am an out going kind of guy and I have what I consider to be lots of friends. But not all of those people are what I would consider "faithful". I mean they are there for me "if" I call on them.
But I have one friend who is there even if I don't call. She stands beside me in all that I do when it's right and when it's wrong. We have been partners in ministry for 39 years but we have worked closer together as Police Chaplains that in any thing else we have ever done.

Last week she retired as an active chaplain with the Topeka Police Department and thy awarded her with a beautiful plaque.

God has blessed me in so many ways and second to blessing me with eternal life is the blessing of having ellen as my wife and best friend.

"I Sure Do Love her"

"FROGS"

I revisited the scripture today in Exodus 8:5-10 where God used Moses to zapp Pharaoh with tons of frogs. Not so bright Pharaoh then told his magic guys to do the same and they did. He repented of his ways and said he would let the people of Israel go. Moses said "find I'll give you the option of telling me when to send the frogs back into the water where they belong.
This Maroon Pharaoh said "tomorrow". Now how dumb is that. You got screaming women and kids up on the tables. You can't back your charriot out of the tent without running over frogs, they are in your bathtub, on top the T.V. The are driving the donkeys crazy and when you have the opportunity to get rid of them, you decide to wait until "tomorrow"?

What wrong with this guy?

Perhaps he just doesn't get it. Perhaps he just doesn't understand that God wanted to take all that was wrong with his life (frogs) and make it right. Sounds like a lot of folks I run into every day. It sounds a lot like me not too long ago.

I don't know about you but I want to get rid of the frogs in my life "today".

If you feel the same way, share it with me by clicking the "comments" section below and tell me about it. or you can email me at topekac1@cox.net

My Idea of Fun

I hope you don't think this too corny but my idea of fun is doing what I'm doing right now. I'm in the computer room (ex small bed room) pounding away on the computer and not using spellcheck. But what makes it so much fun is the fact that just three feet away right here in the same room is my lovely wife Ellen who is doing the same thing, except she is a much better speller.

Politically Correct

Do you ever get sick? I do. Do you ever get tired? I do. I even get sick "&" tired. After fifteen years of trying to be "politically correct" I have finally reached my wits end. Working with police departments policies and city government personality conflicts has made me a prospect for the funny farm. The only thing is, is that it's not really funny.



Political correctness must have been thought up by somebody who had nothing else to do but mess with people. Now I understand the intent of being politically correct and it's not a new idea. The problem in reality doesn't have anything to do with "politics." It has more to do with Godliness. It has to do with treating people honestly and not in a fashion that is rude.


I guess what bothers me most is that man has come up with the idea that treating one another is their idea. Then attach to that the idea that if we don't treat one another correctly somebody is going to be taken to court. The truth is simply this, if we don't treat one another with respect and honestly we'll have a court date with the highest court. God's court.

What does this have to do with police officers and fire fighters? Actually from my own personal stand point as a Chaplain it has to do with how and when I can talk to them about the most important way to manage stress. It has to do with their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

How about sharing you opinion of stress management and Jesus Christ? Let's use the blog to be honest and open with each other. The only thing I ask is that you not be rude and vulgar.