Ginger is Alive!

     One of the perks of being home-schooled is having the luxury of time. Having said this, time being on our side allows my brother and I to spend time on things that captures our minds. It also allows us to help out our mom do house hold chores and errands, one of which is doing groceries. 

     Speaking of groceries, I do remember one puzzling story that happened to me and my brother which gave us a few realizations about God and us. Going to the market we usually pass by a neighborhood block where Ginger live.Who then is Ginger? Ginger is a common figure to many people passing by in that neighborhood.  She is an orange fat looking cat who hangs around that area. Actually, it was her  territory. Most often different passersby would either be taking some pictures of her and spend time just looking at her or feeding her. Another group of passersby would sometimes pat her for them to feel relaxed or just pat her because they are happy. But there's another group of passersby that surprised me.

      I remember, it was Monday, our usual grocery day with our mom. We were passing by the curve near Ginger's neighborhood block. We saw Ginger, comfortably lying on the sidewalk enjoying the heat of the sun. Enamored with her cuteness and calmness, we decided to take some pictures with Ginger. We even patted her! As we were busy admiring Ginger's funny and relaxing, we overheard a commotion near the sidewalk where Ginger was resting. The commotion came from a group of boys who busy using their phones but suddenly halted upon seeing Ginger and us on their way. Upon seeing the cat, some of the boys panicked and ran away. Leaving a boy behind. The boy started asking my mom about what he seeing. He asked if Ginger was dead. Having heard his question, we replied to him that Ginger is alive! He is just resting. 

    This story made me realized something when I compared it to my relationship with God. My mom helped me to realize that we are all like passersby in this world and that God is  like Ginger the cat who owns the territory and just hangs around, waiting for us. There are various types of passersby I mentioned earlier. The first type of passersby is the one who stops by to see the cat, pat him for a while because they want to relieve their stress or they're just happy. These are passersby who will go to God if they are happy with what's going on in their lives or it can be those passersby who are stressed and needs help from God, but later on carry on with their lives again once they got what they want.The second type of passerby are like the boys who are consumed with their phone, that when they notice something, which is my brother and I, was on their path they started to panic and ask questions.  These passersby  are those who has created his/her own world. This self made world can be our work, family, school, or gadgets. When something breaks, disturbs or something unbalances their self made world,  he or she would either run away, turn away, or start raising questions to God. The last type of passersby would be those who spent time patting Ginger the cat, taking some pictures of her, feeding her and even seek and know her intentionally. These are the passersby who seek God, spend time to know Him personally and enjoy His presence. These are the persons that when questions are being hurled at them or challenges come their way they can confidently answer and handle it because they took time to personally know Him.

     This realization of mine made me understand the value of putting priority on my relationship with God. Prayer time, devotional time, Church time and listening to elders whom God gave wisdom to explain the answers to questions that I sometimes asked, are just few of the ways I can do to nurture my relationship with God. I must always seek God and spend as much time with Him as possible, to know Him just like the third type of passersby. How about you, do you know what type of passersby are you?

      

Prayer

Lord

     Help me make my personal relationship grow like an oak tree. Remind me to spend more time with you and let me always seek you. Give me strength,courage and wisdom when people question my faith in you Lord. Thank you Lord for always listening and being there for me, in Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

             

Surely the righteous will never be shaken they will be remembered for ever.

 They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

Psalm 112:6-8

-By Jerry