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10-17-09 (Bringing Them Home)
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Stephanie McIver
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Oct 17, 2009 06:57 PDT
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Steph's Stuff
10-17-09
(Bringing Them Home)
"Mom! Look! This puppy followed me home! Can I keep him? PLEASE??
CAN I?!"
That's a hard one to say no to, isn't it? Even if the puppy in question
weighs 200 pounds, smells like a wet dog (and that isn't a good smell,
is it?) and has clearly been dragged several blocks under protest.
There are probably those of you hearing this now and remembering the dog
who sleeps at the foot of your bed--that's how HE got there, isn't it?
As a mom, I fell prey to this little scenario more than one time. And
when I say FELL prey to--that is no exaggeration. You know the next
fact. That beloved dog, the one the little kid cannot live without,
becomes your responsibility after the initial honeymoon period wears
off. You remember to feed the dog. You vacuum up the hair (and clean
up the puke). You survey the chewed up items, like your favorite shoe
or your middle couch cushion. And you suffer through all that because
you love the one who brought the dog home in the first place.
It wasn't just dogs. It never was cats (I'm allergic). Sometimes it
was people. Some of the people who inhabit my life have been brought
there by a loved one. 'This is my new best friend! Can she spend the
night? PLEASE, Mom? PLEASE?' You look at those shining eyes in front
of you and you KNOW they will be up giggling all night long. You KNOW
they will get into your stuff. You know (sometimes) by looking at this
new best friend that she's TROUBLE with a capital 'T' but nothing and
nobody is gonna convince your kid that they're a bad influence. Bad
influences are a BIG DRAW to kids--and if you protest, all is lost. So
against your better judgment, you say okay. You can keep the puppy.
She can spend the night. I will adjust my life accordingly and pray it
will all work out for the best.
Usually it does. Sometimes it doesn't, but you learn a lesson and move
on. I don't have any puppies in my life at the moment--and
interestingly enough, neither does my daughter--even with two small
children. Hmmm...
I wonder if God ever feels that way with some of the people Jesus brings
to Him. "Father! Look who I found! Oh, I know. He's a little stinky.
He's a little ugly. Yeah, he's got some bad habits...but I'll clean
him up! Please? Can he come live with us--forever?:"
When you think about it, WE probably looked that way when He first found
us. Some of us still do, a lot of the time. But He still loves us and
pets us and feeds us. He still lets us sleep at the foot of His bed.
He considers us His best friend--and He would do anything to keep us.
Anything.
When I ponder His love for me, that love that induced Him to drag me
home to His Father, dirty, smelly, unholy and shivering in fear and
abandonment, I can't turn my back or walk away from that love. When I
TRULY ponder it, with all my heart and soul and mind and strength, His
spirit fills my heart with compassion and the need to show my own poor
shivering friends that it can be better. They can know Him too--and He
gives me the tools and the words and the love to drag them home with me.
As I watch them grow, I am filled with the joy He feels at the
homecoming of every lost sheep.
"How truly I love you! We're the best of friends, and I pray for good
fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your
everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul! I was most happy when
some friends arrived and brought the news that you persist in following
the way of Truth. Nothing could make me happier than getting reports
that my children continue diligently in the way of Truth!" 3 John 1:1
(MSG)
There are a lot of lost puppies (or sheep) out there. You know some of
them. They might have followed you home. You might see them every day
and just now realize that they need to know what you know. They need to
feel His love--and YOU can be the one to tell them about it! If you
don't know how to do that (now) just pray for them--for good fortune in
everything they do; for their health. Ask that their everyday affairs
prosper, along with their soul. And rejoice when you hear of their
faith and growth. Join in that faith and growth. It is your job. They
didn't follow you home for nothing!
There have been puppies in my life. I have loved them--and they have
loved me back. There have been people that others brought to me--and I
have been blessed by that (accidental?) introduction.
"Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and
make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will
welcome you to an eternal home." Luke 16:9 (NLT)
I didn't always say 'yes' to all the puppies (or lizards or bugs (yes,
bugs!) that my kid brought home. I'm glad He never says 'no'. He never
says, 'They're too dirty, too smelly, too much work.' He loves them and
trains them and disciplines them. He sets the example--and He asks us
to 'PLEASE! BRING THEM HOME! It's okay, I will always find a place for
them.'
It's worth a few sleepless nights and chewed up couch cushions. Because
it makes Him happy. If I can do something to make Him happy, I'm gonna
do it--and bringing them home is His greatest goal--let it become yours
today.
Say 'yes' to the strays--they are going to sleep at the foot of your bed
when you get home.
Fondly,
Stephanie
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