Black cat tales...

It was at this time of year, back in 2008, that I was adopted by Tamba, that golden eyed, velvety soft, little cat that I encountered in the streets of Alhaurin. I never imagined that she would be with me for seven years and that she would introduce me to the adventure of raising a lively litter of little black kittens. She hovered around our doorstep for several months and it was only at the end of February that I finally took her into the house… and just in time, as she produced a litter of four kittens that very night.

Tamba's gone now, but two of the kittens, Teddi and Tobi are still with me. I can hardly believe that they're seven years old and are beginning to get some grey hairs - evidence of their growing into the season of being "senior" cats. Tamba must have been only around nine years old when she died, not a long life for a cat, but at least the last seven years of her life were good ones.

Until recently, it was looking as if Teddi would not outlive his mother's nine years, having been diagnosed this year with an over active thyroid gland and failing kidney function. But in an unexpected turn of events, he's made a sudden and seemingly miraculous improvement. (See post below this one.) Perhaps Tobi and Teddi will both live longer than Tamba after all.

The mystery of the miracle moggie

If you've read any of my previous posts about my trick-performing, furry friend, Teddi, you'll know that we've been on a bit of a medical roller coaster this year. In May, he was diagnosed with an over-active thyroid and the beginnings of kidney failure. In August, he lost his appetite, lost two kilos in weight, and had some liver troubles as a result. Then, amidst all the drama, he suddenly came back with a perfectly normal thyroid reading, albeit with a continuing slight deterioration in his kidney function.
See blog posts from 25th May, 29th June, and 22nd September for more about all that.

As a result of this apparently miraculous healing of his thyroid, we're now in our seventh week of not giving Teddi his daily pills, although I've continued to put his kidney supplement in his food every day. Despite being off his meds, Teddi has shown no thyroid symptoms at all, but appears to be as soft and fluffy as he was eighteen months ago, before the thyroid problems began. However, not wanting to be negligent and fail to give him medication if he really needs it (hyperthyroidism left untreated can eventually cause congestive heart failure and other major health problems), I followed the vet's advice and took him in last week to re-do the blood tests for his thyroid and also for his kidneys.

The results came back today and, sure enough, his thyroid reading is still completely normal: just 29, which is well within the normal T4 thyroid range of 19 - 50. It's really true that he no longer needs to take those little pink pills every day. This is not only good news for Teddi (cats with hyperthyroidism typically only survive the condition for a year or so) but also makes life considerably simpler for me. My own decisions about ministry travel are much less complicated if I don't need to worry about finding someone who's willing to give a cat medication during my absence.

We didn't only do Teddi's thyroid test last week, but decided to re-do his kidney function test as well. We had caught his kidney insufficiency before it was too advanced (he has no symptoms yet) and have been giving him a phosphate binder to protect his kidneys. The vet said that, if there's no sign of more rapid deterioration, it wouldn't really be a problem for Teddi to go without the kidney medicine if I was travelling for a week or so. This too would simplify life when I travel; it would mean that my neighbour just needed to pop in to check on the cats' dry food and water while I was gone, and not need to mess around with mixing kidney powder into a serving of wet food. Much easier!

Well, this is where things get really amazing for my miracle boy. His kidneys were only deteriorating very slowly over the past six months; each blood test was only slightly worse than the previous one, which was a hopeful sign that Teddi could possibly live another couple of years without any loss of quality of life. Today's results, like the thyroid test, showed something that the vet had never seen before: his kidney function seems to have improved just a little (his urea level is only slightly elevated and his creatinine level is back within the normal range.) I've to start giving him his kidney supplement only once a day now, instead of twice.

Although I'd read online that kidney failure caused by injury (poison, for example) is potentially reversible if caught and treated in time, statistics show, and the vet confirmed, that normal chronic kidney deterioration rarely improves with treatment in the way that liver function can improve and repair itself. So all three vets that have seen Teddi (it's a practice with three lady vets) are pretty amazed at these blood test results. None of them have ever known a cat to recover from hyperthyroidism or renal insufficiency; in fact, they've told me it's unheard of. 

So now my Teddi is not only famous for performing tricks on his YouTube channel, but also for making a miraculous recovery from two life-threatening health conditions. No one has an explanation for it - other than the fact that he was well prayed for over the past months, both by people who were with him in Spain, and people who were with me in Africa. So it's a medical mystery, but I'm enjoying having my boy back to (almost) normal, and very thankful to the Lord for this apparently miracle moggie.

Teddi's only main challenge in life now, is that his little sister, Tobi, keeps hissing at him and pouncing on him every now and then. She's only half his size, so it's a bit weird to see him being bullied by her. The vet says it's just the changing dynamic since Tamba's death earlier in the year (Tamba and Tobi used to lie together half the day) and that Tobi will eventually adjust and grow out of it. Teddi, in the meantime, seems to be set for a season of better health, and I'm daring to hope that I'm going to have him for longer than we recently thought.

On being an olive tree...

I've been reading some of the Bible psalms this past week in my morning times with the Lord. At the weekend, I got as far as Psalm 52. Much of the psalm is a reproach to a lying enemy, but right at the end, vs 8 - 9, there are two verses about the psalmist himself, and he begins by describing himself like an olive tree. There are various points in the psalms where the writer compares the righteous to trees - perhaps because of the stability and longevity that trees represent. Palm trees, cedars of Lebanon, trees planted by streams of water… and in this case, an olive tree.

Now that I live in a region where olive trees are plentiful, it's interesting to reflect on the qualities of that particular kind of tree. It's a strong tree, not fragile or easily destroyed. It survives for a long time; some olive trees are known to be hundreds or even thousands of years old. Even when an olive tree is chopped down, it's not quickly destroyed. One of my neighbours, just last week, was telling me that the reason olive is so popular as firewood is because it's slow burning. In comparing himself to a thriving olive tree, the psalmist was no doubt thinking of that kind of strength and stability - survival potential amidst life's trials.

Olive wood is not only strong, it's also beautiful - sometimes chosen for wooden utensils because of the gnarled patterns it makes. God longs to produce beauty in our lives, even if we, like the olive tree, are not particularly big or impressive.
And then there's the fruit it produces: hundreds and thousands of little green olives - such abundance of fruitfulness!

Spain is the number one olive producer in the world, so it's not surprising I see so many olive trees when I'm out walking the dog or driving in the car. As in other olive-growing countries, about 90% of the olive crop goes into the production of olive oil, that staple of Mediterranean cuisine, and the most expensive of the oils you can buy in the supermarket. About 10% of the crop will become "table olives," so often given as a snack or an appetiser before meals in this part of the world.

It's interesting that table olives can be so expensive in some countries, while here they're so plentiful. In fact, sometimes it seems almost wasteful: when I'm out walking the dog on the mountain behind my house, we pass so many wild olive trees, laden with fruit that no one will ever eat. Often there are ripe olives scattered all over the ground, apparently wasted, and we trample them underfoot. (No one picks them the way people help themselves to the wild figs, because figs can be eaten and enjoyed right away, but olives need a long process of curing and fermentation, sometimes requiring months of soaking in brine. )

Buba poses in front of a small olive tree

For us as Christians, it can sometimes seem at times that the fruit of our lives is being wasted: no one saw or appreciated that choice we made to be patient, or to forgive instead of being resentful; no one benefits from the accumulated wisdom of our many hours of reading God's Word; no one is aware of our courage and perseverance when we face challenging circumstances in our personal or family life. It seems like wasted fruit, scattered on the ground and trampled underfoot. But the truth is that nothing is wasted in God's sight. He saw that choice to give a gentle reply instead of an angry retort. He was watching when we chose to believe the best, rather than judging someone. He wept with us when we kept trusting Him despite great personal pain that other people were oblivious to. Even when the fruit of our lives feels like those "wasted" wild olives, God is aware of every tiny detail of our godly choices, and the beauty coming from our lives brings great joy to His heart.

Yes, there are some Christians whose lives become available for "public consumption," but like those table olives or cold-pressed olive oil, it's usually after they've been through a long and gruelling time of preparation: their child was abducted, they came through a life-threatening illness, or they were put in prison for their faith. Unlike the "wasted fruit" on the mountain, those oil olives or table olives have been pressed and crushed, waiting through long seasons where they felt forgotten or were drowning as they struggled to keep their heads above water. It's understandable that many of us would be secretly relieved to be a "wild and wasted" olive tree instead of suffering through that long preparation process.

In fact, though, we're all  "in preparation" - whether our fruit is very public or whether it appears to be largely unseen. All of us make choices every day that determine what sort of person we will be and what sort of fruit we will bear for the kingdom of God. Whether we're positioned in a public place or on a relatively isolated mountain path, all of us are masters of our own outcome in this aspect: whether we will be a barren tree or a fruitful tree in the house of God.

So, in vs 8 - 9 of Psalm 52, amidst his own difficult circumstances, the writer, David, mentions some of the things that help him thrive/flourish like an olive tree:

• I will always trust in God's unfailing love
• I will praise you forever, God, for what you have done
• I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people

All of us can do these things: 

• trusting in God's love and character (His good name)
• being thankful for what he's already done
• and hanging out with the right kind of people, who will have a positive influence on us

Whether our lives are public or relatively hidden, these things are keys to being like a fruitful olive tree in God's sight.

A bit of an autumn break

Some of you know that I often refer to September and October as my 3C season. It's a time of year where I spend a fair bit of time behind the computer - coaching, writing Bible curriculum or working on email communication for KKI gatherings and upcoming training courses. Last week, however, although I kept up with communication that needed to be done, I laid the other two Cs aside for a few days, so that I could have a mini-break with my friend, Sue, who was visiting from England. I've known Sue since the 1980s and she's visited me in different parts of the world, to see the work I'm doing, as well as to renew our friendship and take time to pray for each other. I'd worked hard to complete various coaching and curriculum commitments by the beginning of last week, so that we could have a more relaxed schedule and the freedom to "play tourist" in the mild Spanish autumn weather.

As it turned out, rain was forecast for the weekend, so we made the most of the first two dry days for getting out and about. One day we drove into the mountains to visit the stunning El Torcal national park, where we did a two hour hike among the beautiful scenery and amazing limestone rock formations. Sue's a bit of an ornithologist, so she had her binoculars around her neck for spotting unusual birds; we saw some eagles at one point. A highlight, though, was seeing some ibex (mountain goats) very close up, including the young one in the photo, who peered around a rock, bleating for its mother.

On another day, we drove inland to the beautiful turquoise lakes near El Chorro. (If you ever fly into Malaga, these are the lakes you can see from the plane, shortly before landing.) It's my favourite place to go swimming in summer, but I hadn't been there this year because of spending most of the summer in Africa. So I got a shock to see how low the water level is at the moment. Instead of the clear water coming right up to the tree line, it was low enough to reveal many metres of steep, pebbly "beach"- like shores. We scrambled down to dip our toes in the water - long enough to ascertain that the swimming season is certainly over for this year. The scenery was beautiful, though, and we enjoyed climbing up to a lookout spot where we could see the greenish blue lakes in every direction. Each of these day trips also allowed us to visit an old Spanish town; this part of the country is scattered with medieval castles and Moorish fortresses from the centuries when Spain was occupied by the North Africans. So on the first day we stopped to see the fortress in Antequera and on the second day we drove up narrow winding streets to see the medieval castle in in Álora.

On a previous visit, when we were picking figs, Sue had uttered the now memorable words, "Oh, I do love picking free food!" This year we again did just that: the oranges aren't quite ripe yet, but one day we picked figs, and tangerines, and another day we stopped at the side of the road to pick pomegranates that were growing wild. We also bought some fresh fruit at the open air market in Alhaurin, but it wasn't quite as fresh or quite as satisfying as the fruits we had picked ourselves.
Closer to home, we took the dog for several walks on the mountainside behind my house, we celebrated Sue's birthday by eating out in a Brazilian carvery restaurant, and we walked on the beach, stopping to take photos of green Amazon parrots that were occupying the palm trees there. All in all, it felt like a semi-holiday amidst the 3 Cs of my autumn ministry season.

A subtle danger...

I've been working this autumn on rewriting and updating some Bible reading curriculum for young people. Thirty three booklets are already completed (that's eleven titles in three different languages) and I'm working now on the booklets that include readings from several New Testament letters.  So this week I'm reading the Bible books of Galatians and Philippians.

Reading this morning in Galatians chapter three, it struck me that the whole letter to the Galatians basically addresses one major issue: the danger of believing that we can meet God's requirements by following the Law or by "being a good person." It's an issue that still plagues the churches of the 21st century.

The Galatians had got off to a right start - coming into God's kingdom through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus -  but then they had subtly shifted and begun believing and living as if they could maintain a righteous life by their own human effort. Likewise today, it's easy for an alcoholic or a drug addict to come to Jesus with their messed up life, totally aware they can't make it on their own… and then later, once they've "cleaned up their life," to fall into the subtle trap of believing that they can do it on their own now.

In fact, that's why it's sometimes easier for a criminal to come to Jesus than for a respectable, church-going person to be saved. The criminal can really see how much he needs Jesus, while the church goer doesn't particularly feel like a "sinner" and can tend to depend on the fact that they've "always tried to live a good life."

A good test to see which category you fall into (a sinner saved by grace or a religious person following the Law) is to ask yourself this question: when was the last time you asked God to forgive you for something, and what was it for? If you can't remember, it might be an indicator that you've fallen into the same trap as the Galatians: the subtle danger of living your life as if you don't really need Jesus. Such people often feel as if God is far away, because they've got so used to living their lives as if they can manage without Him. If we realise we're there, how can we get back to where we're supposed to be? How can we get back to the place where we depend on God and He feels real to us again?

One way is to come humbly before God every day and ask the Holy Spirit to show us the things we need to ask forgiveness for. He's more sensitive than we are to the little attitudes of impatience, irritation, judging others and self righteousness, and will soon show us what we need to repent of. Sometimes we need to re-learn that lifestyle of Holy Spirit sensitivity,  just as my Bible Challenge booklets seek to help young people develop that daily habit.

Another way, also in the Challenge booklets, is to develop a lifestyle of thankfulness that will draw us closer to God and give us a deeper appreciation for His grace and forgiveness. Asking forgiveness and being thankful; these two lifestyle habits can protect us from the subtle danger and trap that the Galatians fell into.

Continue reading below in the previous post (13th  October - a matter of choice) for interesting evidence about the power of thankfulness.

A matter of choice...

Reading this morning in the fourth chapter of Philippians, I noticed that verses 4 - 9 contain a list of instructions about things to do and things not to do in order to live life God's way. Some are easy to understand: be considerate, pray about everything, tell God what you need, put into practice what you've learned. Others are more surprising: be joyful, be thankful, don't worry. Surprising perhaps because these are things that people think they have no choice about. Can you really choose to be joyful? Or can a person make a choice not to worry? Is thankfulness an emotion or a decision?

Well, it's clear that God would never ask us, command us, to do something that's impossible for us to do, so it's no surprise that the medical and scientific community have decided that thankfulness is a choice. Various research studies have been carried out, documenting the power of thankfulness in helping people overcome depression, or even cancer. But is it also possible to "choose" to be joyful or "choose" not to worry?

The real key seems to lie in where we place our focus. You see, our emotions may initially be involuntary, but our thoughts are under our control… and our thoughts have a huge influence on our emotions. So, in vs 8, Paul gives the Philippians a checklist of things they should focus their thoughts on: things are are true, honourable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. He calls it "one last thing" in this section about living a godly life, but in fact this one thing is the key to all the other things. If we focus on these positive things, rather than dwelling on things that are negative, depressing, untrue or dishonourable, we will find that we do become people who are joyful, thankful and peaceful.

In fact, vs 6 - 7 give a sort of recipe, or a 4-step plan for experiencing God's peace:
1. don't worry
2. pray
3. tell God your needs
4. thank Him for what He's done.
"Then," says this passage, you will experience God's peace, far beyond what you can even understand, It will guard your mind (thoughts) and your heart (emotions) in the peace that Jesus gives.

Seasons

The weather has been pleasantly warm during this early part of October. Yes, the swimming pool is no longer bearable … and the mornings and evenings have been cool enough that I need to wear a jumper while walking the dog … but the afternoons have been pleasantly sunny in general, and I'm still sleeping under a sheet; I haven't had to dig my duvet out of storage yet.

Heavy rains were forecast for today, though - a sure sign that autumn and winter are on the way. The rain hadn't started yet when I woke up this morning, although sunrise ended with a rather interesting cloudscape with a rainbow right across it. (The photo above, taken across the rooftops from my upstairs terrace, was taken around 8.15 this morning.) Too foolish to heed the warning, I headed out with Buba, my neighbour's dog, for our morning walk.

We hadn't walked very far when the first drops of rain began to fall. Fortunately it wasn't too heavy and we were able to rush back home again before getting completely soaked. The smaller photo above (inset), from the same spot on my upstairs terrace, was taken at 9 am, when the grey clouds were mounting up and the first raindrops were beginning to fall. Now, a couple of hours later, the skies are completely grey, the sunshine is gone and the rain has been falling relentlessly all morning.

It's one of the signs of the season. In preparation for it, I've been taking a big bag with me on my walks, so that I can pick up sticks and pine cones and start building up a stock of kindling for when the time comes to start making a fire in the fireplace (usually in November.) The physical seasons are easy to recognise; whether we live in a part of the world that has only two of them (the wet season and the dry season) or whether we live in a part of the world with four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter), we all know how to read the signs. Spiritually speaking, however, we're often not so good at recognising the different seasons in our lives.

When I was in Africa this summer, during the Fortify leadership workshop, that was one of the topics I taught about: how do we understand the season of life we are in, so that we can navigate life's transitions successfully? Each season has its own characteristics, its own temptations, its own tests. When we're in a waiting season, we face the test of patience and the danger of loss of vision. In a transition season, we face the test of dependency on God and the dangers of losing morale and missing His timing. If we're in a challenging or wilderness season, our faith and calling are often tested, and we face the dangers of doubting God and giving up. What sort of season have you been in, and how have you experienced the tests of that season? Every season has its own tests and trials, but also its own opportunities for victory and personal growth. With God's help, we can learn to grow strong in the seasons of life.