Jesus Loves the Little Children

 I hate lots of things about the world we live in…especially lately.  There is so much hatred and turmoil, so much that is evil happening.  But, what is happening to children is what bothers me the most.  I wonder if I am turning into my mother.

After my mother had the massive stroke and could no longer express herself clearly in words, she would become agitated if we turned on the news, and she saw something bad had happened to a child.  I am getting to the point where every time I see an article or hear a story about a child being harmed, it is like a gut punch.  I feel a wave of nausea.  I don’t understand it, and I want it to stop.

Sometimes children are “collateral damage.”  Someone in their neighborhood or even their parents are involved with drugs, and there is a shooting, and the child is hurt or killed.  Sometimes we see pictures of parents sitting in the front of the car passed out from drugs, and there are children strapped in carseats in the back.  Children are abducted and trafficked.  Children wander through bombed out streets in war zones alone and helpless.  A child may be tortured or purposely killed…sometimes even by a parent.  By a parent?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!!

Actually, I know what is wrong.  People are so steeped in sin and have so little regard for themselves, that they don’t see the value in the continuation of the human race.  Anyone who has self-respect and an appreciation for his/her own life would value the life of a child.  All children…children of every race and color, children who are “perfect” and children who are not so perfect, children who are endearing and children who are annoying, children who are ones own flesh and children who are not genetically related, children in our own homes and children on the other side of the world.  Every child should be cared for and loved.  My heart breaks for those who are not.

I suppose such feelings are why I have two adopted children along with the biological ones.  I can’t help every child, but I could care for two who were not my own flesh.  I know sometimes they haven’t appreciated me, but I know they are better off having been in our home than if they had grown up elsewhere.

We, who do value life itself, need to do what we can to care for all children.  Not everyone can adopt or foster a child, but anyone can give a word of kindness or a cookie to a child in the neighborhood, make a donation to an organization that meets the needs of children,  be involved in children’s clubs or teams.  There are many ways to care.  Perhaps the most important way is to introduce them to Jesus, who will always love them and never let them down.

Let the little children come to me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 19:14)

 

Jesus love the little children,

All the children of the world,

Red and yellow, black and white,

All are precious in His sight.

Jesus love the little children of the world.

 

If my heart is breaking for the children of the world, what is happening to His? 

 

What will He do when He has had enough of this and He judges the world?

Servant Leadership at Its Best

 This morning we watched the worship service from The Village Church at Shell Point Retirement Community.  The residents who participated by reading scripture and offering the pastoral prayer were Jerry and Peter Nanfelt.  Dr. Peter Nanfelt was president of the Christian and Missionary Alliance from 1998 to 2005.  Jerry is his lovely wife.

During the era of Dr. Nanfelt’s presidency, we attended the C&MA National Council on a yearly basis.  Because our son was the only child still at home and was homeschooled, he attended this national meeting with us.  There were always activities in which he enjoyed participating, but he was also tolerant of being dragged along on adult events.  One year when he was a preteen, we were invited to a luncheon attended by about 30-40  others.  We were among the last to arrive and ended up toward the end of a long table with empty seats next to us.  We sat down with our son between us, but he quickly analyzed the situation and offered to trade places with me so that he was next to the empty chair, and I could more easily talk to people across the table from us.

The program and meal were almost ready to begin when Peter Nanfelt walked in.  His attendance at this event had not been announced.  No special place had been saved for him, so he sat down next to the young boy.  I was laughing inwardly as I thought of all the people at that council who had agendas, and who would have loved to have the ear of the president during lunch.  So, what did the president of this national organization and our son discuss during the meal.  Well, of course, it was baseball.  At one point, I looked over and saw Peter sketching out a play on a paper napkin.

The incident was a lovely example of a gracious and humble leader in action, but there was more to come.

A few years later, our son was a teenager and attended Life, which is a nationwide youth conference the C&MA holds every 3 years.  One evening, he called me with delight in his voice.  His comments went something like this:

“Mom, you won’t believe what I just saw.  Dr Nanfelt and his wife were directing traffic in the dining hall.  He was not on the platform telling us he was the C&MA president.  He was in the dining hall helping kids find their way.  And I am one of the few people who even realize who he is.”

Our son learned more about servant leadership that day than he ever could have listening to a lecture, reading a book or attending a conference on that topic.

I am a grateful mother.

The Puzzle of Life

A bit of logic,

Some intuition,

Researching foreign words,

And the crossword puzzle is solved.

 

The picture on the box,

Attention to color,

An eye for detail,

And the jigsaw puzzle is solved.

 

And then there is the puzzle of life.

 

Logic

Intuition

Research

Comparison

Attention

Observation

The pieces are still scattered.

 

How does one make sense of competing ideas?

Find clarity among the clamor of voices?

Escape from pressure on all sides?

Come up with a cohesive world view?

 

Jesus…

I hide in the shadow of your wings,

I rest in your sheltering arms,

I listen to the beat of your heart.

 

Peace instead of pieces.

 

Quarantine

Having driven from Florida to New York, we are now on our 3^rd day of mandated quarantine.  We have received an official document laying out all of the whereases and therefores, we have had multiple calls from the contact tracing department, and we have been told some contradictory things.

There is a $10,000 fine for violating the quarantine, but supposedly no one is checking up on us except for daily texts.  I have been told that we cannot leave the confines of our apartment, which affords no opportunity for exercise.  It has also been suggested…off the record, of course…that I could get away with a walk at 6 AM.  However, we live in an apartment complex and we have a car with Florida plates, so I think we are obvious, and I don’t want to risk any “good citizen” reporting us.

One of my daughters has been delivering groceries, so that is taken care of.  The contact tracer asked me if the washer and dryer were in the apartment.  No….they are in a common area.  The area is only available to 6 apartments, two of which are vacant.  Most of the folks here work, so I could sneak down to the laundry when no one was around during the workday.  One contact tracer told me that would be OK if I sanitized the equipment after I used it.  Another one said, “No….you can’t do that. Don’t you have a friend who could do it?”

Ummm….gee, lady…I am 75 and most of my friends are my age.  I’m not asking another old lady to do my laundry!

I have a teenage granddaughter who can do it, but her family does not have a vehicle.  She is in walking distance of our apartment and a laundromat, but she would have to carry the laundry and detergent, etc.  I finally thought this morning about putting the laundry in a rolling suitcase.  That should be doable.  Of course, the laundry detergent is in the storage closet in a common area, and there is a combination lock on the door.  I guess one of us will have to sneak down there avoiding other tenants.

I was also informed since there are two of us in the apartment and there is only one bathroom, we should be sanitizing the room after each use.  Good grief!  We sleep together and routinely snuggle up doing it.  We kiss (gasp!).  Sanitizing the bathroom between uses is a ridiculous waste of time and Lysol.

But, my main complaint is the lack of exercise.  In our community in Florida, I swim nearly every day, and when it isn’t too hot to do so, we walk around the island every day.  Combined with trips to the pool and the garden, I typically walk at least 2 miles a day.  So now, I am pacing the floor in my itsy bitsy apartment.  The Y pool is about a block away, but of course, I can’t go there until I’m out of quarantine.

Hey…at least I’m alive, and the sun is shining, and we have a little balcony I can sit on…AND…my fellow inmate is a very pleasant guy.

If You Don't Believe in God...

If you don’t believe in God…

To whom do you offer praise,

When your breath is taken away by the colors in a sunset,

When your heart swells with joy at the cry of a newborn,

When you realize you have escaped a tragedy?

From whom do you seek comfort,

When your breathing comes with excruciating pain,

When your heart is breaking with sorrow,

When you realize a dear friend has betrayed you?

Of whom do you stand in awe,

When you breathe in the fresh air after a thunderstorm,

When your heart is filled with the ecstasy of love,

When you realize how tiny you are in the universe?

In whom do you trust,

When you breathe your final breath,

When your heart trembles out its last beat,

When you realize you are stepping into eternity?

By whom do we acquire salvation,

When we realize our wretchedness,

When our heart needs to be cleansed,

When breathing in His Spirit is our greatest need?

Why Would Anyone Refuse to Wear a Mask?

It is absolutely incredible to me that anyone would refuse to wear a mask and would see this as an eroding of their personal liberties.  How have we gotten to this place in our society, that seemingly intelligent individuals ignore the basic science of the situation and react with such emotion to such a small inconvenience?

I don’t expect this to do any good but…

Wearing a mask prevents those around you from inhaling the small droplets of moisture that you expel when you cough, sneeze, sing, whistle or even just exhale.  Those small droplets are a primary means by which viruses and bacteria are spread to others.  If everyone wore a mask, the spread would be very minimal.  This is truth!  

A mask may inconvenience you, but it doesn’t hurt you.  Reliable studies have shown that it doesn’t significantly reduce your oxygen intake.  Oxygen exists in the air in the form of a molecule which combines two oxygen atoms the size of which is much smaller than that of the moisture droplets the mask screens out.  Oxygen can pass through the mask fibers, and carbon dioxide (3 atoms in that molecule) can get out.  A virus is about 1000 times bigger than an atom.

Seeing the encouragement to wear a mask or the order to do so as an infringement of your rights is absurd.  We cheerfully do all sorts of other things for the safety of ourselves and others.  Many of these things we do without the need for a law.  We don’t insist on our right to drive through red lights.  We don’t let toddlers play with guns.  We wear seatbelts in cars and on planes.

Throwing a temper tantrum about wearing a mask is just plain immature behavior.  It demonstrates the most basic way in which humans display their sinful nature.  “I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it, and no one is going to stop me!”  That attitude is as old as the Garden of Eden or at least as old as Cain and Abel.

I am particularly troubled by Christians with a negative attitude about masks.  As believers we are obligated to put the needs of others before our own needs. I shouldn’t even have to say that!  We are also obligated to be obedient to those in authority over us.  If our government says we should wear a mask, we have Christ’s directive to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”  He said this specifically in regard to paying taxes, but wearing a mask is obviously just another regulation from “Caesar.”  I know of no scripture that says, “no matter what…don’t wear a mask!”  It is NOT the mark of the beast.

You may think you have a right NOT to wear a mask.  I won’t argue with you in public.  I will smile at you (behind my mask) and speak kindly to you, but don’t mistakenly think I respect your rights in this regard.  

In my mind, I will see you as a toddler laying down on the floor and pitching a fit.

Jesus Wept

Jesus wept…

Even though He knew He would raise Lazarus from the dead, He wept outside his tomb.

He wept over Jerusalem knowing the consequences of its rejection.

He must weep now.

Our country is not His chosen in the sense that the Jewish people are.

But, our country has experienced His guidance and blessing for over 200 years.

Now we as a nation reject Him and His truth.

We are hateful towards each other.

We abort our babies before birth, and many are abused after birth.

We call what is evil good.  We encourage perversion. 

In the name of tolerance and pluralism, we are open to everything.  We are proud of it and of our ever-accepting mindset.

There was a time when even those who did not call themselves “Christian” held to its core principles.  Now those values are rejected and mocked.

We fill our minds with sex and violence and filthy language in the name of entertainment.

We have tried to think Him out of existence…as if that were even possible.

We have become so wise in our own eyes that we believe we can solve all problems through our own will and the technology we have developed.

We don’t know that we are poor and naked and blind.

We don’t see that we are teetering on the edge of the abyss, and that only His hand of compassion prevents our falling irretrievably into it.

And as He holds back our inevitable judgment…

He weeps.