"Am I My Brother's Keeper?"

The wisest man I've met in Belize told this story after dinner tonight.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

What food might this contain? He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning, "There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me.  I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house."

The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow.  She said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse.  I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night, a sound was heard throughout the house; like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.  In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife.  The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned with a fever.  Everyone knows you treat a fever with a good chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.  To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.  

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died.  So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

In the book of Genesis, Cain said this about Abel, his brother to our God: "Am I my brother's keeper?"

We are all involved in this journey called life.  We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Remember: Each of us is a vital thread in another person's tapestry; our lives are woven together for a reason.

This is the Stuff I Live for...

Last Thursday, I attended my fourth DJ class as provided by the Rock Church's Cross Fader Ministry. Every since I joined the Rock Church in San Diego, I have been wanting to learn how to DJ so that I could produce electronic Christian music.  I like dancy-type club music and have felt a calling to mix up the two genres - I even blogged about it back in May.

So for Thursday's class, we were challenged to bring as many guests as we could and the person with the most people would win a prize.  I woke up dreaming about my teacher asking me to name five guys and five girls that I could text to come to our class.  I started rattling off names, but then I got stumped.  In my dream, he began to hand out prizes to others in the group.  I woke up certain that I would not be the winner, but started texting friends to come with me anyway.  Out of 25 or more texts sent out, I had a few "maybes" but only one person followed through.  I told my teacher about my dream and we laughed about it together.

Class was awesome!  It was a smaller group than normal, so I got a 20 minute personal lesson on a set up I had not learned yet.  I learned scratching techniques, like the "stab" and the "orbit."  I talked to the DJ I was learning from about my dream of mashing up secular music with Christian music - especially since the club music seems to ask all of the questions that Christian music answers.  It's like the two genres are screaming to be mixed up together!  Plus, no one is really doing it - so the DJ pulled up a song called, "Sandstorm" which has a popular club beat, and once it reached it's peak moment, he set up the Christian song, "He Reigns" to play its chorus Acappella.  It was EXACTLY what I was talking about and we were all dancing around like maniacs bouncing and smiling!  It really fired me up!

Just then, my other teacher stopped the group and announced that he wanted to change the rules for the contest that night.  He mentioned that there were two students who had made it to every class and wanted to suggest a DJ "Battle" between them.  MY heart immediately began to race.  He chose this one other student first and then walked over to me and called me out!  I was scared to death, but also excited and honored all at the same time!

The other student and I "Rock Paper Scissor"-ed to see who would go first and I won, so I gave him the honor.  I stood behind as he demonstrated the skills he had learned in class for one minute straight and then it was my turn!

During my one minute showcase, I danced and wiggled that record back and forth to "Scratch" and smiled so much!  It was such a great time!  The class cheered for me and through audience applaud I took the title of the first  "DJ Battle Champ" of my class!

That night I couldn't wipe the smile off my face and I thanked God over and over for the opportunity.  It reinforced my path and recharged my spirit!  I am already trying to get into private lessons with a couple of my teachers, as I hear that in the next few months, the class may offer a set of tables to the most promising student. 

Life is a journey and you must take steps to fully utilize the spiritual gifts that God gives you.  As I overheard in church on Sunday, every single person on this planet is part of a body.  While you may be the mouth, she may be the heart, he may be hands, and I may be the voice - we must all perform individually to make up that smiling, loving, singing wholeness that is what God intended when He made us. 

What are you waiting for?  Find out your part here.!!!!

Til next time...

xOx,
Ms. Panda