In Spite of Yourself

'...The Good Shepherd...lays down His...life for the sheep.' John 10:11 AMP

There are two ways in which we are like sheep: (1) Without a shepherd to guide us, we get into stuff that hurts us. God has no 'super-sheep'. The Bible says: 'All of us, like sheep, have strayed...We have left God's paths to follow our own...' (Isaiah 53:6 NLT). Like sheep, sometimes we are clueless and headstrong, choosing things that turn out badly unless God intervenes.

(2) Sheep aren't smart enough to hide their shortcomings. Indeed, their willingness to be what they are is one of their strengths. FB Meyer said, 'I used to think God's gifts were on shelves, one above the other, and the taller we grew the more easily we could reach them. I now find they're on shelves, one beneath the other, and it's not a question of growing taller but stooping lower.' Solomon said, '...with humility comes wisdom' (Proverbs 11:2 NLT). Since God already knows everything about you, why bother pretending? Plus, the things you refuse to acknowledge and deal with just stunt your growth and limit your usefulness to God. That's too high a price to pay! God values truth and He expects you to be truthful with Him, other people and yourself. Paul writes: '...express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]...' (Ephesians 4:15 AMP). And James adds: 'Confess your [faults] one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed...' (James 5:16 NKJV).

We all have our pluses and minuses. But when you give God all that you are (and aren't!), He will bless and use you in spite of yourself.

We had an awesome time at quiz night last night. The T and i don't go out and do anything very often - for the obvious reason  that we just cannot afford to. On the rare occasions that the T and i have argued i have pointed out the fact that we haven't even been on a "date" in 6 months - and how much that sucks. So just heading out to the pub for quiz night last night was exciting, and a special night for us. It was an added bonus that we ended up winning the competition and now have a $100 bar tab to spend next week! That is going to be a lot of Coke and Pizza. Think i will starve myself next Tuesday so that i can eat a whole pizza on my own!

I absolutely deny the rumour that us winning had anything to do with my knowledge of 90s boy bands.

Today - again - feels like the end of an awesome holiday. The girls are back at school tomorrow, so today is going to be spent just getting ready for that. I am back at community service tomorrow. The T's kids started school yesterday, but they were with their mum. He gets them back today - so he will be collecting them from school.

This has brought back the issue of the latest pop up woman. He met her through his kids. Her daughters are the same age as the T's daughters and were in the same classes at school. If this woman has returned from Australia - to live - there is every chance that her children could be back at the same school - meaning T will have to see her every day.

We are hoping that is not the case. It seems to me though, that if she was just back for a holiday, she would have popped up over Christmas. The fact that she turned up at his house a week before school starts would suggest that maybe her husband did give her the boot and she is back here without him - for good.

That will be a challenge - for me.

T doesn't seem worried. He just says that he doesn't like her, doesn't want her in his life, and will tell her that if he sees her. The end - in his mind anyway. I am sure he would feel differently if it was Dan the Policeman (T hates Dan) that was turning up on my doorstep - or i was going to have to see every day! T made sure that would never happen months ago though. He sent a text to Dan suggesting all sorts of stuff  could go wrong for him - if i ever heard from him again. I laughed when i read the text that he had sent - in a fit of jealous rage - and said "well that's that - i will never hear from him again now." And i haven't - which is fine. I always said Dan and i were just friends but some friendships run their course - and that one probably had.

T seems to think that because in his mind this woman is nothing to him - that should make her popping back up be nothing to me as well. "A minor irritation that will disappear from the landscape" - is his description of this issue.

MEN!

Anyway - enough babble for one morning.

I have two houses to flea bomb today. T popped in to his place yesterday and there is an infestation. I guess with it being closed up and no one there for a week the fleas got super duper hungry. T's feet and ankles were covered in bites after ten minutes in his home yesterday. Now i am paranoid about my place as well. The last thing we need here is a flea ridden Nixon. His smelly anal glands are bad enough to cope with at the moment!

Pets - who would have them?

On a brighter note - it has been ages since i saw a mouse thanks to Indie - the kitten!