The Parable of the Mouse and the Frog

For his eighth birthday, Jared received a Pacman frog from his Florida cousins. Isn’t he cute and little? He was just about the same size as his water dish. He was cute and slimy and ate crickets quickly and unexpectedly. He would occasionally hop around his 5-gallon cage. WHen fishing season was over, the gas station (not The Little Cricket) did not carry crickets and suggested worms.

Pacman continued to grow. He is about the easiest pet possible. His bark stays cleaned - he’s water-bowl trained. However, he outgrew crickets and worms and moved on to live mice. We buy them at the pet store once a week and throw them in the cage and (usually) they’re digesting within thirty seconds.

Last week, the pet store was out of “hoppers” so I bought “fuzzies”. The fuzzies are tiny baby mice that have just a little bit of hair on them. They don’t move very much & Pacman was not very interested. They were starting to look sickly so I returned them back to the pet store and bought a hopper. He was the cutest and friendliest little mouse that we have ever brought home. He stood on Pacman’s back when we first put him in the cage. He even stood on two legs as if he was going to escape.

And so they co-existed for days and days. We put a spoon with peanut butter in the cage so that the mouse wouldn’t starve to death and gave him water so he would not die of thirst (ironic). I knew that inevitably he would be gone and I was kinda okay in the whole circle of life kinda way. Last night, I found the mouse sitting well within striking distance of a lazy frog. (He just wanted to be friends!) Pacman just sat still and watched and waited. After I took the boys to school this morning, the mouse was gone. Pacman is sitting fat and happy in his cage.

This picture is not today's mouse.

It was while the mouse was sitting inches away from his eventual demise that the analogy of avoiding temptation came to me. Standing back, we all knew that the mouse would be eaten if he stayed inside the cage. Just as I know from past experience that the mouse was going to be eaten, I know that there is grave danger in drugs and alcohol, pornography, and adultery. This analogy could extend to dishonesty, reckless driving, and other dangerous behaviors. I know that this analogy could be further developed but I think you get the picture. :)

When I am trying to lose weight, I do not buy French fries and cheesecake to keep in the fridge just in case. If you are not going to drink alcohol or do drugs, you are not going to spend the majority of your time with people who are involved with drugs and alcohol. If you do not want to commit adultery, you will not spend time alone or share confidences with a member of the opposite sex. If you do not want to get caught in the trap of p*rnography, you are not going to try just once.

We put the mouse into the bad situation. He did not have a choice in the matter. We always have a choice. I have always loved the talk “Spiritual Crocodiles” by Boyd K. Packer. He says what I am trying to say very eloquently. You can read the address here. Let me know what you think.

Three Things Thursday

Before

After

Shiny gold flecks

After towards refrigerator

Even some blues and olives

Not necessarily in the order of importance or impact for our lives…

After ONE YEAR (twelve months) of searching & hunting & thinking & pondering, we picked out granite. And today it was installed. After giving so much thought to a decision, it didn't even cross my mind that I would not LOVE IT at first. When I walked in from running car-related errands & saw the new stone, I was just a wee bit disappointed. Disappointed isn't really the right word - I guess I don't deal with change very well. Our old kitchen had darker avocado-green laminate counters. It was nice but dark. Now, our kitchen is light & bright & feels much bigger. The next steps are painting, backsplash, & selling the white appliances.






Cross country practice & meets continue to dominate this season of our lives. Ryan runs on Wednesday & Saturdays, Chris runs on Tuesdays. Their times have stayed pretty consistent between 20:00 & 21:00. Saturday's meet is supposed to be flat & fast so hopefully we'll see some PR's. (PR: personal record) I do not have pictures of Chris on Tuesday's meet because I left my camera battery at home on the charger. (It never runs out so I forget, but I was certain it was getting low. Both meets were insanely hot & both meets had people pass out from the heat.

Jared tried to. He started to complain about his stomach hurting & then he said he couldn't see & then he was okay again.

Oh yeah, and did we mention that Scott's car was in a minor fender bender last week?? Chris was driving & rear-ended our friend's pickup truck. Luckily, everyone was okay except the friend's bumper & Scott's car. He has LOVED this car so much - it has been reliable, fast, with leather seats & a good stereo. There was so much damage that the insurance company declared it a total loss. Although we truly wanted to salvage the car, it would not have made sense financially with all of the damages that needed to be repaired. :( A sad day!

In related news, I have been running around A LOT!! I put gas in the van & it is already gone. I have been driving hours & hours & hours getting kids where they need to be. Luckily people from church & cross country have been helping me a lot! Our plan is to get a cheap learner car plus a nice car for Scott. (But please don't contact me if you're a car dealer.)

Abbeville XC Meet

Yesterday, Chris had a meet in Abbeville. His school is in a league with schools that are literally an hour in every direction. It is rough to make it there. In fact, yesterday we got VERY lost as we followed an address and directions to the middle of nowhere. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth and finally we found the only 10-story building in the county. We were late - usually not a problem - but the boys ran first!!

We saw Chris running around the fence line on the first lap.



He held a good pace & finished at 21:23. He was a little disappointed with his time, but his hip has been bothering him.

Oh Shoot - Shutter Speed

The kids are back in school & have lots of activities going on. I am super dooper busy & with plenty to do. However, every single picture I've taken at the cross country meets have been blurry, overexposed, etc. & I signed up for an online photography class at jessicasprague.com.

One of the first lessons I learned in the class was about shutter speed. The shutter speed controls how fast the picture is taken. I want to take pictures of the kids jumping on the trampoline (didn't buy one yet) or into the pool (it's too cold!) or just in the air (they're at school). Here are some pictures from the archives & their shutter speeds. I have MILLIONS more that are blurry because everything was wrong.

I heard the hum of the ceiling fan & decided to take a picture & see what happened. Kinda cool.