I love rigging.

The Cherax destructor: a wonderful pet.

This is a Yabbie:

Kim asked me what a blue claw yabbie was and I must admit that I was a little casual with the title. I should have called our yabbie the Cherax destructor; for this is it's real name.

The yabbie is a crayfish. The Cherax destructor is native to Australia and can grow to 20cms. They are quite amazing creatures. They look and act like little knights in armour; they are a fantastic blue colour; they shed their shell and then eat it; they catch live fish and eat them; they swim and crawl backwards if startled; they can escape from seemingly secure tanks; they dig and build little houses and hollows; they are really quite intriuging to watch.

This is what I found under my bed at 2 in the morning - a delightful little Cherax destructor. Aren't they gorgeous!

The pet meme , for Kim

If I remember correctly I was supposed to post 5 weird things my pets do. I have thought and thought and thought about this and really my pets are quite normal, it's the people who live in my house who are weird. So, I thought I'd tell you about our weird pet behaviour, or our weird behaviour towards our pets, or actually a bit of both.

One:
I have immense trouble naming pets. I bought a beautiful part persian kitten one day when I was a young girl - I was forbidden to buy a kitten as my family had been devestated by the death of our last cat and my parents had banned pets because the pain of losing them was too great: a rule I was destined to defy! - and this gorgeous cat had just the airs and graces of a supermodel. She was beautiful in every way. My little kitten even had a beauty spot just where Cindy Crawford has her beauty spot. So, because Cindy sounded too Brady Bunch-ish and Crawford sounded so elegant and sophisticated, I decided to call my beautiful kitten Crawford.

I took Crawford home and my family fell in love with her and I was allowed to keep her despite my blatant disobedience and we all admired her beauty spot. Until the next day. Strangely, the next day, the beauty spot had disappeared. It turned out that that which I had deemed so beautiful was really just a piece of dirt and had been removed from my little kitten's face. The cat I thought was such a refined creature was nothing more than a grot. However, the name - unlike the dirt - stuck.

I think it is kind of weird to name a pet after their distinguishing features and then have these very distinctive features change. It is even weirder when this happens twice! Which leads me to weird pet scenario two:

Our next cat - we still have Crawford but I tested the bounds and bought another cat - is also a part persian. She has beautiful black fur which has a tinge of red to it. Thus, she was named Ruby and this suited her well until one day I noticed that Ruby didn't look quite so Ruby anymore. What was once black with a ruby tinge became a lighter brownish with a white underbelly! Our little Ruby cat's fur changed colour. It was the weirdest thing, yet her name - unlike her fur - didn't change.

Weird pet scenario three:
One night at about two in the morning I awoke to the sound of scratching on the floor under my bed. Thinking the worst - I thought my room had been invaded by a massive cockroach or a (cringe) mouse - I took a bleary-eyed look under my bed to discover our blue claw yabbie. The little yabbie, whom we affectionately call Killer - yes, he does kill; unfortunately, he didn't trick us by changing to a placid temperament after we named him - had escaped from his tank and had travelled all the way down the other end of the house and had crawled under my door, into my room and under my bed. That is a pet sight you don't want to see at 2 in the morning. At least Killer wasn't in my bed.

Weird pet scenario four:
My littlest child thinks our cat can read. He can't read but he thinks our cat can. So, a while ago he asked me to write a note to our cat. It read:

Dear Ruby,
Please remember that God loves you.
Never forget to love Him too.
xxoo

This note was stuck to the end of a string which was then dragged in front of the cat so she could play and remember to never forget God.

Weird pet scenario five:
Ruby is such a lady that she will not leave the house if you rush and chase her out. Instead she waits for the door to be opened in a civilised manner and then she leaves the house calmly on request. All the shooing in the world cannot achieve what a polite gesture does.

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13

When you are confronted with evil and corruption, what do you do?

How do you deal with it?

How do you treat the people who are acting in a corrupt manner and hurting others?

How do you feel towards them?

I once talked about this with a friend of mine and he was of the opinion that HATING was ok. In fact, he went as far to say that hating was godly. He backed it up with Biblical evidence based on how God responds to those who are evil and corrupt.

At the time I thought it abhorrent to hate people so much for the evil acts they commit. I thought, there is no way I could do that, after all if I hated someone for doing wrong I would be bringing judgement upon myself; for, I have done things wrong and tried to live a life independant of God myself.

Recently, I have had reason to contemplate these issues again. This time I have found myself verging - o.k. verging is an euphamisim - plunging headlong into pure hatred for people who commit terrible acts which hurt others. I hate them. Intensely. And I despise myself for doing it. Still I am physically sickened by the acts of some people and the way they abuse others and I find it really hard to contain my hatred. What do you do when you feel like this?

I am saddened to the very core of my being. Please pray. I need to be wise and act for justice and the protection of others. Please pray.

I hate that kids at school have to deal with really heavy issues and that I have to breach their confidence in order to help them out.
I love that they tell me so I can help them out!

I hate that married men think it is ok to hit on me. I hate that with a passion!
I love that there are some marriages that really work! I love fidelity.

I hate that I am labeled a MIWF!
There is nothing to love about that!

I hate that the world is so cut throat and people lie just to get ahead.
I love that some people risk their career and their happiness to maintain their integrity and tell the truth, no matter what the cost.

I hate that I can't trust some people, even though I really like them.
I love that I like people, even when I can't trust them.

I hate that I don't spend enough time in God's word to give sound advice all the time.
I love that I can recognise this and repent and read God's word and that He is gracious enough to continue to speak to me despite my lack of commitment to his word.

I hate that I have to be guarded with people for fear of being betrayed.
I love that I don't have to be guarded with everyone.

I hate that I long to relate to people on a real level but this rarely happens.
I love the rare moments when I can be real with someone.

I hate that sometime when I get home my children are already asleep and I have seen them for less than one hour in the whole day.
I love that I have children and they are so lovely and they leave me kisses under my pillow. I love that tomorrow is Saturday and I can be with them all day!

I hate that there is so much death and pain in the world.
I love that one day there will be no more pain: people will not die or get sick or live in pain or hurt each other or cry or lie or suffer.