The dancer, the hunter... and the power of perseverance

When I went downstairs this morning to make my cup of coffee, I found a dead grasshopper lying at the entrance to my kitchen. I have no idea how the insect got into my grass-free back yard, but I have a pretty good idea how it wound up dead at the kitchen door.

Tobi and Tamba are the hunters in our house, but Tobi is the most zealous and she has a particular talent for catching insects. Flies, mosquitoes, wasps or bees... she'll sit patiently for ages, watching them flaunt their presumed invincibility by flying around just out of reach. Then, at the opportune moment, she'll make her move and pounce on the unsuspecting insect, trapping it between her two front paws. If she misses it the first time, she'll simply persevere - watching and waiting until the next opportunity comes along and the fly or mosquito meets its doom! She might wait a long time, but she pretty much always gets her prey. Tobi is a sterling example of the power of patience and perseverance (and she's way better than those fly traps and anti-moquito devices that people use in the summer months!!)

I learned another lesson in perseverance this week - while working with Tobi's big brother. He's twice her size, but he's not so interested in hunting. His easy-going personality makes him an ideal cat for learning tricks and, since we started training at the end of February, Teddi has learned twenty different tricks. (Tobi learned one, but she obviously wasn't impressed by the experience and I realised she wouldn't show Teddi's cooperation and eagerness for further trick training.) 

Teddi learned some of his tricks in just a day or two, while others took several weeks to master. There was one trick, however, that I suspected he might never do on command: back in May, I began teaching him to "spin" - like the "dancing" dogs do in the canine freestyle competitions. For six months we've plugged away at the spin - and he learned a dozen new tricks in the meantime - but it seemed he would only spin if lured by a treat, and not in response to a verbal command or a hand signal. Then suddenly, out of the blue, a few days ago he began to spin very competently when given the command. I realised that six months of perseverance had paid off and that the trick was now well and truly in his memory and in his repertoire. (Don't worry; I'm not planning to teach him any more dance moves like the dogs do. You won't see us on Britain's Got Talent!!) But you can see the long-awaited spin in the 20 second video clip below.

Teddi's sudden breakthrough got me thinking about all the other areas in life where we might need to persevere over a long period of time. It might be persevering in prayer and not giving up when we don't see the answer right away. It might be persevering in learning a foreign language or a musical instrument, or some other skill that requires a lot of practice. It might mean trying again and again when we're trying to break a bad habit or mend a broken relationship. It might be something very practical like losing weight or getting fit. There are lots of things in life that can take months or even years before we suddenly notice a difference; how often do we miss out on that breakthrough because we got discouraged and stopped persevering?

I can't tell you how many times I thought perhaps it'd be best to abandon the "spin" practising and devote our efforts to something "easier" - something that would bear fruit more quickly. Giving up isn't such a big deal if all you were trying to do was teach a trick to a cat. But there are areas in life where giving up can make a big difference for now and for eternity. In what areas do you need to apply the power of perseverance in these last months of 2013?

Enjoy the dancer… :-)

This makes it official!

When I look out of my window, the weather is deceptively sunny. But when I go outdoors, I discover the reality of approaching winter: which means that some days it's really cold and windy, despite the sunshine… and on other, not so windy days, it's actually warmer outdoors that it is inside the house. Yes, winter's been on the way for a while, but I guess that yesterday made it official - in our house, at least. Yesterday I had to make the first wood fire of the season. My three house mates confirmed the winter verdict by choosing to spend the day snuggled on chairs by the fireplace instead of lounging outside on the window sill as they've been doing for the past six months!

Planting Together - the Movie!

It's still ten months away, but it takes a long time to plan a project like Planting Together. Tonight, the four of us on the core leadership team will be meeting over skype to begin praying and planning for taking outreach teams to East and West Africa in 2014. We'd value your prayers for all the preparations that will be happening over the coming months. And, in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this short video clip that gives you a glimpse of what was happening during the week that we were planting trees and doing clinic ministry in the Mbar Toubab region of Senegal last summer.

Christmas in November

We had our Christmas dinner today, and exchanged Christmas presents with each other. That may seem a strange thing to do in the first week of November… but this is the last week when all of our team members will be in Spain at the same time. Over the coming weeks, our group will be travelling to destinations as far apart as Ireland, Germany, Korea and Brazil. And so after a week of team meetings where we took time to express our thanks for 2013 and look ahead to what God has for us in 2014, we finished our week with a turkey dinner - complete with stuffing, cranberry sauce and all the trimmings. Merry Christmas!!!

Another stowaway

What is it about the African bag that I bought in Senegal that makes felines want to climb inside it and hide there?  Last month Tommy was the stowaway, and this month Tobi climbs into the bag whenever she finds it lying open on the bed or on a chair. Maybe it's a warm cosy hiding place now that the colder winter weather is on the way.

Preparing for 2014 at the Leadership Retreat Centre

We're almost at the end of this year's programme of seminars and retreats at the LRC in Alhaurín, and so we've already begun to look ahead and plan for the training weeks and retreats that we'll be offering during 2014. You can click on this picture to enlarge it and read a little more of what's being planned, or you can follow this link (click here) to download the poster for your information. Our Ahaurín team will be meeting for four days next week to pray about plans for next year. Thanks for remembering us in prayer.

In the right spirit...

I passed seven or eight demons when I was driving home from the supermarket last night. And as I arrived home, I noticed that there were three or four witches hanging out in the children's playground in front of my house. I even saw an eleven month old vampire!!

All of this is a sad sign that Halloween has had a huge rise in popularity here in Spain over the past few years. People used to refer to this holiday as "Todos los Santos" (All Saints.) Now it's quite common to hear people speaking about the "Halloween holiday." It's quite disconcerting to see so many Spanish children dressed up as the devil or as zombies…. and I couldn't help wondering what would prompt a mother to dress her baby as a vampire. But the truth is that people simply don't know any better. They see Halloween being celebrated on Disney channel or in other TV programmes from America, and they join in the "fun" - not realising that there truly is a spiritual dimension behind the "innocent" yet ugly exterior of Halloween.
It's yet another symptom of the fact that we live in a generation where many, especially here in Spain, have never been exposed to true and healthy spirituality, or to the spiritual truth that can be found in the Word of God. Many will never read the sort of stories that are found in this month's "Challenge 2013" Bible reading booklets - stories about children and teenagers in the Bible who experienced the true spiritual presence and power of the living God. The booklets can be downloaded from: www.biblechallenge2013.blogspot.com