Happy First Anniversary To Cat Lawyer!

This Wednesday is the first anniversary of Cat Lawyer! I love Cat Lawyer so much that I felt it appropriate to give him an homage via blog. 

There are so many things to love about Cat Lawyer, but the one I’ll focus on today is how Cat Lawyer and friends are in the zone. 

The hardworking (I’m sure) lawyer in the upper right hand corner is in the zone for most of the video clip. Only at the end does he pause from what he’s doing and chuckle.

And Cat Lawyer, oh Cat Lawyer. How I love that you were prepared to go forward and move on with a cat filter. You were so ready to do the not so glamorous box-checking parts of your job. You were on a mission to do what needed to be done so you could move on with your day. You were laser focused even though you were disguised as a cat.

I’m often caught in the zone. Just last Sunday as I was working on a blog post in the front yard, Silas (age 2) presented me with a blue ball and said, “Coco poop.” He startled me. (And then I washed his hands, because he wasn’t lying. The ball was covered in dog poop.)

Pre work-from-home days, I used to work in what we called the ‘Dev Room’ at the office. I was the only girl in a room of dudes. At Halloween, a few guys would put fake rats and spiders on my chair when I walked away, I’d say ‘ha ha,’ and return the favor later. But one time, I was in the zone, coding away, and a toy spider was lobbed over my monitors. I screamed. Loudly. For a while. The boys, not expecting that reaction, were both amused and apologetic.

When Jeff and I first got married, I was blow drying my hair in our tiny studio while reading my Bible at o’dark thirty before work, and he said, “that’s impressive.” I screamed. And let’s be real, I’m still startled by Jeff eleven years later if he gets out of bed and I don’t notice it. Seriously dude - why are you coming from that side of the house when you should be asleep on that side of the house?

I’m glad being in the zone is not a new human experience. This comical experience is recorded in Acts 12:6-17. Peter is miraculously released from jail. There is a group of believers actively praying. He comes to the location of the prayer meeting, a girl named Rhoda recognizes him, and she realizes that God has answered their prayer request. She runs back to the others to share the good news. She is in the zone though - she forgets to let Peter in. Poor Peter has to keep knocking to be let in.

“When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, ‘It is his angel.’ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.”

Acts 12:13-17

I’m glad that in this age of distraction that I can get in the zone. However, I’m also grateful that God gives me welcome distractions, like Cat Lawyer and a toddler handing me a ball smeared in dog poop, so I can enjoy His creativity and laugh. May I not be so in the zone that I leave the guy I’m praying for knocking at the gate.

For all I know, Peter’s words were, “I’m here live. I am not a cat.”