Dialogue with Dotty

Yes, Dotty my cat.

No, not the cat that peed in my face. That was her evil son.

Dotty was the one who peed in my gym bag in high school. Of course I didn't notice until practice when I had to put on a jersey soaked in cat urine and then pretended that I too had no idea what smelled so rancid in the gym.

I got her when I was 15 and named her after Dot from the Animaniacs cartoon. Yes, I watched cartoons in high school. Still do. Phineas and Ferb is amazing.

So why am I dialoguing with my cat? Truth be told, I do it all the time. You know, the basics- how was your day, Dotty? That sort of thing. Totally normal. And I found a highly entertaining blog this summer where the author has really funny conversations with himself. Not wanting to be a complete copycat, I decided to steal his idea and put my own spin on it.

Dotty- There's something in my litter box that needs to be taken care of.

Me- Yeah, I'll clean it in a sec.

Dotty- Okay, but if you don't do it soon, I might pee on your bed again.

Me- Geez Louise, cat, I'm trying to write a blog entry.

Dotty- Seriously? Again? Didn't you try that two years ago and wrote 3 posts then quit?

Me- Yeah, but I want to try again. I'm feeling more motivated.

Dotty- Why weren't you motivated last year? Nothing of interest to write about? I know you weren't too busy because I watched The Bachelor with you every Monday. Still can't believe he picked Vienna.

Me- Well random, awkward, and interesting things did happen but they just couldn't compare to the adventures I had every week in Mozambique and I couldn't stop making the comparisons. Then I read other blogs and got self-conscious because other people are much more witty and insightful than I and then I just started procrastinating...

Dotty- like you've been doing about getting me declawed? You've been talking about it for 2 years.

Me- Yeah, sorry about that. And then pretty soon, I forgot I even had a blog. This summer I read a really encouraging blog post by my friend Heather about how we should be declaring the Lord's goodness and telling other's about what He is doing in our lives. I heard a sermon recently where the pastor said our testimony should always just be a few days old because God will always be moving and working in our lives and teaching us new things if we are seeking Him. I realized that I really missed blogging about what God has been teaching me because it forces me to more thoughtful about what I'm learning and more conscious of how God is working.

Dotty- You lost me two sentences into that explanation. Are you going to clean my box or what?

So I'm back. I plan on being more disciplined about writing. I figure that while I make my students write in class about the themes in Huckleberry Finn or comparing the Montagues to the Capulets, I can write about funny, random moments in my life.

I may not be chased by three-legged dogs or homeless men trying to mug me. My life probably won't be in danger (unless I get hit by a car again while biking to school). Trips to the grocery store won't entail traveling through a national reserve park where lions and elephants roam freely and malicious monkeys try to steal your chocolate bars. My weekend trips won't be to exotic places like Swaziland. And my church services won't be as life-changing as they were in the village of Shiparango.

But my God is the same and still works in marvelous ways. And awkward moments still are bound to happen since I seem to be a magnet for them. (more to come in next post)

So I will attempt to stop the deadly act of comparison. Brennan Manning wrote a convicting quote that has helped me stop: "Any attempt to measure the value of our lives by comparison and contrast to others belittles our gifts and dishonors God by our ungratefulness."

I will attempt to stop procrastinating.

And I will just write...