Snow-balling effect
Snow-balling effect
A few days ago, being a public holiday, my family went for a Sentosa outing. Naturally we brought Jolly, our maltese along. Toby, our mongrel, had to stay at home since he had motion sickness and the drive from home to Sentosa can be a real traumatic one for him (we tried before and he threw out and created a real mess on both the to and fro trip). This time round, there aren't many pavilions around, so we had to settle on a sandy patch, nearer the pavement, while mum can still see the sea and all the actions there. My sis brought Jolly for a swim and when she came up of the waters, she just rolled herself on the sandy and grassy patch - and instantly we had to bathe her clean before she dirtied herself real horribly. Of course, she was carried by my mum and never had a chance to be near the grass or sand after that. Little did we expect that little roll which Jolly had before her shower would have caused some dog fleas to stick to her coat and skin, and guess what? she brought these little creatures back home and before long, mum discovered Toby scratching and itching all over.
These fleas were real horrible creatures, and rapidly populating themselves too - we wonder how many Jolly brought back home, really ... Mum, sis and myself spent almost 3 hours on Toby yesterday to check on his skin and coat before and after bathing him clean - and my! it was no easy feat - considering Toby's size and his real thick coat. I won't say how many fleas we caught - it's beyond our fingers and toes, and to our horror, some real big ones that forced Toby to donate to their blood bank. Thank God we managed to spot most of them, and now it's to continue monitoring and checking on both Jolly and Toby to ensure that the fleas don't continue to populate. Anyway, my 5th bro-in-law suggested putting some garlic into dog food as the fleas are repelled by such "scent".
This whole episode just makes me reflect on the snow-balling effect one thing can have on another - how an innocent party like Toby can be affected by an unintentional act of Jolly ...
Incidentally, some things also happened the last few days between me and some friends - I will not elaborate the details, but I think I have also created some snow-balling effect on them, and perhaps make matters worse. I can justify all I want, and rationalize all I want, or explain all I can - be it out of good intention, or naiveness, or foolishness, or whatever that is that I've done, the truth is the snow-balling effect is felt. One "good" that I guess I've done is that I've taken the courage to own up to that friend whom I felt I've done a great disservice to, and how things will turn out from here, I'm really leaving it to the Lord.
The other lesson I've also learnt is that I've got to nib the problem at the bud, and I thank God for convicting me and giving me the courage to apologize for the wrong that I did. To me, if this is not done, it will probably lead to another snow-ball. I'm not someone who will excuse myself for doing something wrong, if I knew what I did was not right - to a certain extent, I'm quite hard with myself because of my own standards and expectations. What convicted me (besides the Holy Spirit) was also the words from 1 Corinthians 5:6-7a "Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast - as you really are." I cannot allow one excuse to harden my sensitivity towards the work of God in my life, if I want to be someone who walks my talk ...
A few days ago, being a public holiday, my family went for a Sentosa outing. Naturally we brought Jolly, our maltese along. Toby, our mongrel, had to stay at home since he had motion sickness and the drive from home to Sentosa can be a real traumatic one for him (we tried before and he threw out and created a real mess on both the to and fro trip). This time round, there aren't many pavilions around, so we had to settle on a sandy patch, nearer the pavement, while mum can still see the sea and all the actions there. My sis brought Jolly for a swim and when she came up of the waters, she just rolled herself on the sandy and grassy patch - and instantly we had to bathe her clean before she dirtied herself real horribly. Of course, she was carried by my mum and never had a chance to be near the grass or sand after that. Little did we expect that little roll which Jolly had before her shower would have caused some dog fleas to stick to her coat and skin, and guess what? she brought these little creatures back home and before long, mum discovered Toby scratching and itching all over.
These fleas were real horrible creatures, and rapidly populating themselves too - we wonder how many Jolly brought back home, really ... Mum, sis and myself spent almost 3 hours on Toby yesterday to check on his skin and coat before and after bathing him clean - and my! it was no easy feat - considering Toby's size and his real thick coat. I won't say how many fleas we caught - it's beyond our fingers and toes, and to our horror, some real big ones that forced Toby to donate to their blood bank. Thank God we managed to spot most of them, and now it's to continue monitoring and checking on both Jolly and Toby to ensure that the fleas don't continue to populate. Anyway, my 5th bro-in-law suggested putting some garlic into dog food as the fleas are repelled by such "scent".
This whole episode just makes me reflect on the snow-balling effect one thing can have on another - how an innocent party like Toby can be affected by an unintentional act of Jolly ...
Incidentally, some things also happened the last few days between me and some friends - I will not elaborate the details, but I think I have also created some snow-balling effect on them, and perhaps make matters worse. I can justify all I want, and rationalize all I want, or explain all I can - be it out of good intention, or naiveness, or foolishness, or whatever that is that I've done, the truth is the snow-balling effect is felt. One "good" that I guess I've done is that I've taken the courage to own up to that friend whom I felt I've done a great disservice to, and how things will turn out from here, I'm really leaving it to the Lord.
The other lesson I've also learnt is that I've got to nib the problem at the bud, and I thank God for convicting me and giving me the courage to apologize for the wrong that I did. To me, if this is not done, it will probably lead to another snow-ball. I'm not someone who will excuse myself for doing something wrong, if I knew what I did was not right - to a certain extent, I'm quite hard with myself because of my own standards and expectations. What convicted me (besides the Holy Spirit) was also the words from 1 Corinthians 5:6-7a "Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast - as you really are." I cannot allow one excuse to harden my sensitivity towards the work of God in my life, if I want to be someone who walks my talk ...
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