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.

Of pictures and prejudices...

In recent days, I've been reading in the book of Acts, picking up where I left off reading earlier in the year. The book is often known as the "Acts of the Apostles," but someone once said that it could be more accurately known as the "Acts of the Holy Spirit," as His presence and involvement are so obvious throughout the book. I've been reflecting on the way God invites us into partnership with Him, and how so much of the fruitful ministry of these early Christians was dependent on the combination of the Holy Spirit's power and human beings' obedience.

The whole topic of hearing God's voice is an interesting one, as we see different people throughout the book of Acts being led and guided by the Lord. Sometimes we're not told exactly how they heard His leading (was it a thought, a feeling, a strong impression?) while at other times we're specifically told that God spoke to them through a prayer picture, a dream or a vision. These early disciples had to learn how to discern the voice of God, and had to be careful that their own culture or religion didn't get in the way of what He was saying to them.

So, for example, in Acts chapter 10, just before lunch time, Peter is praying on the roof of the house when he sees a picture of all kinds of animals, clean and unclean, being lowered in a sheet. "Kill and eat," says a voice, and Peter is shocked that God seems to be prompting him to violate the Jewish food laws that he has observed for his whole life. It was God's way of preparing Peter to overcome his deep seated prejudices and to understand that non Jews were also able to accept the gospel and be saved by Jesus. The next day he went to share his faith at the home of a Gentile called Cornelius.

In a later episode, in Acts chapter 16, Paul also receives a picture from the Lord. For some time, the missionary team has been trying unsuccessfully to travel into the regions that make up modern day Turkey, but the Holy Spirit has "prevented" them every time. We're not told how they knew this - but the team seemed to agree on what God was saying to them. Then, one night, Paul sees a vision of a man from Macedonia, calling them to come over and help. The very next day, the missionaries set sail for Greece.

Eventually they arrive in a town called Philippi and, on the Sabbath day, they head down to the river bank, expecting that this might be a place where believers would gather for prayer. Sure enough, they do find a small group gathered there, but it is a group of women. If you've read the end of the story, you'll know that a woman called Lydia became the first recorded Christian in Europe; she and her household were baptised, and her home became a missions base for Paul, Silas and the rest of the team. It was the beginning of an exciting chapter in church and missions history, and yet it could so easily have turned out differently. What if Paul had held back from preaching to the women and had said, "No, in the vision I saw it was a man from Macedonia who was calling for help." ?  What if he had allowed prejudice to get in the way, believing that it would be important for the first Philippian believers to be a group of men?

Learning to hear God's voice is one of the most important things that any Christian can learn. But, if we are to avoid pride, legalism and prejudice, we need to grow not only in hearing His voice, but also in knowing His ways. Peter had to be willing to obey God, even when it appeared to go against all that he had previously believed. Paul had to be willing to share the gospel with these women, even if that seemed to be a little different from what his prayer picture had led him to expect. It's all about partnership - hearing God, trusting God, and moving step by step at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Feels like time travel...

I've been back in Europe for almost a month and the many events of summer in Africa are gradually receding into the past. As well as working on regular ministry tasks like coaching and curriculum writing, I've had time to do things like get my car fixed (the wing mirror was broken), get my cap fixed (the tooth had been problematic for weeks on end, and finally had to be broken off and replaced) and get my cat fixed.

The latter has been very encouraging. Since the surprise news of Teddi's completely normal thyroid reading, it really does seem that his coat is getting softer and fluffier again; it feels like going back in time, to how he was a year ago, before the hyperthyroidism started making him so greasy and unkempt. All three vets are stunned and, rather than risk being negligent and leaving his condition untreated, they've proposed I bring him back and re-do the test in five or six weeks time - just to check whether there's been any change.

In the meantime, both he and his sister (Tobi) seem glad to have me home, and take advantage of every opportunity to snuggle, or to spread themselves across any book or Bible that I try to read or write in.

Medical misadventures, medical mystery or medical miracle?

Since moving to Spain, I've never been away from home for such an extended period of time. The longest trip in the past was three or four weeks, and my house mates were always at home while I was gone. This year, I was in Africa for two full months, the longest time I've ever been away from the house and the cats. I was very thankful for the array of Scottish house sitters, who came to Spain for some holiday, and were able to look after the house and the animals while I was gone. Various people sent me photos of Teddi and Tobi sitting on their laps and being petted by the guests.

And so I wasn't at all prepared to see Teddi looking so poorly when I got back. He's always been a big boy, and so I got a shock to see him looking so thin, and with such a scruffy coat, even though people had been looking after him and giving him his medication for his thyroid and kidneys. When I weighed him, I discovered that he had lost two kilos; that's a huge amount for a cat. (See top photo.) And I began to notice that he wasn't really eating, but was simply walking away and leaving his food in the bowl.

After a few days of this, I knew I had to take him to the vet. I seemed to have a cat who was starving himself to death and it was horrible to see him so poorly (see previous post, on 6th July, about diagnosis grief.) I prepared myself for blood test results that would show that either his thyroid or his kidneys had deteriorated… but no, what did show up on the blood tests was a new problem - a problem with his liver - and that's when we worked out what had probably happened.

One of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, because it affects the hormones, is that the animal will become more "emotionally attached" and affectionate towards its significant others. After losing a lifelong feline companion (his mother, Tamba) before the summer, and then inexplicably losing his lifelong human companion (me) over the summer, it seems that Teddi finally got depressed and stopped eating normally. The house sitters, although they took good care of the cats, had no way of recognising that his behaviour was abnormal or that he was losing so much weight (a quarter of his body weight!) The sustained anorexia started to affect his liver, which tries to store fat when the body is losing weight (hepatic lipidosis) and, by the time I got him to the vet two weeks ago, she couldn't get him to swallow any food, even when forcing it into his mouth with a syringe. 

I was told to give him daily fluids, antibiotics and phosphorous, and to force feed him to eat tiny spoonfuls of a special tinned food for urgent care. Time would tell if he'd recover well or if the starving was too prolonged and has irrevocably damaged his liver. Needless to say, I was feeling horribly guilty at having to give "critical care" to a cat who was diagnosed with possibly depression-induced liver disease. 

This reminded me so much of how the enemy will always try to steal from us. I went to Africa because I believed it to be God's will for me this summer, and we all saw God do such amazing things though our ministry this year. It was horrible to come home and see Teddi looking so ill, but I knew I had to trust God with this situation, just the same as I had had to trust him with my own health challenges when travelling in Africa.

Little by little, I began coaxing Teddi to eat again, just a tiny mouthful at a time. I also had to give him antibiotics and minerals to help his liver. After a few days, he began to look less subdued, and gradually began to eat a little more again.  Soon he was behaving more like his old self but, because he'd lost so much weight, and some mysterious bald patches were appearing on his head, the vet thought it might be best to do the hyperthyroid blood test again.

And this is where things get a little weird. When the results came back, Teddi's thyroid reading was far below what would be normal. A normal T4 reading is between 19 and 50. When Teddi was diagnosed in May, his thyroid reading was a horrendous 320… and this stabilised to a more normal 34 once he was on daily medication. Last week, the reading was only 6 - strangely and inexplicably low. The vet told me to stop his medication immediately and bring him back again this week for yet another blood test.

Despite the strange little bald patches on his head, and the fact that he's a lot thinner than usual, it really seemed to me that he was looking better from day to day, and that his coat was becoming fluffy and silky - more like it used to be be before the hyperthyroidism starting making it greasy this year. We did the blood test on Tuesday this week and the results came back today….

This time the reading was 30, which is well within the normal range for feline thyroid… and that's without giving him his daily medication. The vet is completely baffled; it's unheard of for hyperthyroidism to go into remission, and yet this cat appears to be suddenly and inexplicably "healed" of his thyroid condition. I did confess that I'd regularly laid hands on his little body and prayed for it to be strengthened and healed; other than that, there's no medical explanation for the sudden change in the blood test.

All the vet could say is that he seems to be fine (as far as the thyroid is concerned) and doesn't need to take any medication for now (except for his kidney supplement) …. but we should perhaps test him again in a month or six weeks, in case this is only a temporary remission. She says it's truly unprecedented for a cat's thyroid reading to normalise like that.

So we'll see. For now my boy gets a reprieve from his daily pills… and none of us have any explanation for what has happened. Perhaps we've experienced a feline medical miracle!