Monday, September 14, 2020

You're Not Home Yet

 An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New York to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated and discouraged.  They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions.

No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President's entourage, with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man.

As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong.  Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us."

"Dear, you shouldn't feel that way", his wife said.  He replied, "I can't help it; it doesn't seem right."

When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President's arrival. No one noticed this missionary couple.  That night the man's spirit broke. He said to his wife, "I can't take this; God is not treating us fairly". His wife replied, "Why don't you go in the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?"

A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different. His wife asked, "Dear, what happened?"

"The Lord settled it with me", he said. "I told Him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put His hand on my shoulder and simply said;  "But you're not home yet."
 
"But our citizenship is in heaven." (Philippians 3:20)

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Oh to be loved like that!!

Yesterday one of my very sweet friends dropped by my office to visit and came bearing my very favorite brew of coffee! (In case you're ever in Ball Ground, Georgia, you have to stop in and try the Barrell Aged Coffee House coffee! It's amazing!!) But back to what I wanted to share ...

During Ashley's visit, I reported that I had sold "Bertha" (my 2003 Suburban) and purchased "Sassy" (an Acadia Denali). She's "Sassy" because she gets sassy with me when I get too close to the road margins - she beeps at me! Right after I took ownership of her I knew she was going to be "Sassy". She's got all kinds of bells and whistles (most of which I still don't know what they're for), so there's a "ding" here and a "ding ding" there any time I don't do what she thinks I should! Seriously!

But that's not the point of this post. During our conversation yesterday (a colleague joined us in the viewing of Sassy), I noted that I had immediately applied my rear window decal "Proud USAF Mom". Ashley commented something to the effect of "like anyone who knows you would think you're not proud of that guy". I quickly pointed out it had been 54 days since I had hugged his neck. My colleague, Meredith, exclaimed, "Oh my, you actually know how many days it's been?!" "Of course, I said. I have a countdown app on my phone that can tell me to the minute how long it's been." And here's what got me ... Ashley said, "Oh! To be loved like that!"

All afternoon that resounded in my heart - my sweet friends, we ARE loved like that! God knows exactly how long it's been since you hugged HIM in prayer, in song, worship or any other way that you choose to love on Him. It matters to HIM! YOU matter to HIM!

With tears rolling down my face I loved on HIM, my God, my maker, my rescuer, all the way home last night. I just couldn't get over how much He loves us like that!! How long has it been since you thought about how much He loves you like that!?

Think about it.