DRENCHED IN BANANA

Heidi attends a Bible study on Tuesdays.  She has truly enjoyed her time there with the ladies and the boys have enjoyed their time playing with the other kids.  Some weeks, Heidi comes home for lunch and other weeks she packs a lunch and stays there to eat with everyone.

Today was one of those days that she stayed to eat.  She packed a fabulous lunch: BBQ pork sandwiches, Cheerios snack mix, apples, grapes, and carrots.  So I was surprised to hear that Caleb had banana on his clothes when they got home.  But what really surprised me was how Heidi said it…she said that Caleb was “drenched in banana.”  My response was, of course, “What?”—somewhat in disbelief and very confused.  How can someone be “drenched” in banana?  And yet, when I saw Caleb…he was drenched in banana.  It was all over him; there was no question that he had somewhere crossed paths with a banana…and the banana lost.

And that got me thinking…are we as obvious with our Christian walks?  And I’m not talking about being like the Pharisees and showing how “religious” we are; I’m talking about simply being so submerged in everything about God that it overflows from you just being you.  We should be someone who “thinks Kingdom, talks Kingdom, and acts Kingdom.”  That’s how we should live—as described in a book written by a good friend of mine.

So how do you walk your Christian walk?  Delicately with a fork and knife?  Carefully with a few fingers, so as to not get too much on you?  Or do you dive in with all that you have and become drenched?

Dive in!  You won’t get messy…but you will become drenched in the Holy Spirit.

WAITING FOR YOU

We went to the zoo today.  It was absolutely beautiful outside.  There was still a little chill in the air with the breeze, but the sun was out and it was warm.  We arrived early in the morning, so as to get as much time there as possible before the boys needed to go down for their naps.

When we got there, we were some of the few that were there.  We parked fairly close to the front and were able to walk freely around the zoo without many people in the way…until the end of our stay.  The way the zoo is set up, you walk almost in a circle so you can see everything.  But at the end of the circle, you wind up walking against the beginning of it, and therefore the people.  And let me tell you…the zoo was packed.  The crowd had come in behind us and we didn’t realize how many were there until we came out of the “The Plains” area.

And then it hit me…it was a beautiful day; one of the first really nice days this year.  Why not come out to the zoo when it’s nice.  We just weren’t used to that many people.  We have a membership to the zoo and have been going…even when it isn’t that great outside.  I guess most people don’t like going to the zoo when it’s cold.

And that got me thinking…the zoo on a beautiful day is like church on Christmas or Easter.  Churches are always packed on those two “holy” days.  But isn’t every day holy if we give the day to Him and seek the Lord’s Will for that day?  I’m not naive enough to not understand that those days are special…but why is it that we only see certain people (the CEOs—Christmas Easter Only) on those two days?  Is Jesus not worth celebrating on other Sundays?  Doesn’t He deserve more than that?

As always, there is no “perfect” analogy and they all fall apart somewhere; this is simply where my thought went today.  I don’t expect people to go to the zoo when it’s freezing cold, especially when you don’t have a membership and have to pay every time.  But the animals are always there…waiting for you.

In the same line of thinking: Jesus is always there…waiting for you.  And your membership has already been paid for; you just need to pick it up at the ticket window.

PROMISED FEASTS

We’ve been in our rental home now for just over three months.  In that time, we’ve come to know our neighbors to the east fairly well.  We haven’t been as good as I would have liked with getting to know all of our neighbors (even with our neighbors to the east), but we have had quite a number of interactions with them simply by being outside at the same time.

One of the things that Heidi and I really struggled with in the parsonage was that we didn’t have any “neighbors”.  Living at the back of the five-acre property didn’t allow us to sit on the front steps and talk to people as they walked by on the sidewalk (we didn’t have a sidewalk there either).  So, moving here, that was something that we had talked about often.  Unfortunately, we haven’t done that enough (please hold me accountable by asking if I’m reaching out to our neighbors every once in a while).

However, the one area where we have been “great neighbors” is in the stereotypical way.  Our neighbor to the east has been to our house twice now looking for the proverbial “cup of sugar”.  The first time it was for a couple of eggs; today, it was for a couple of cups of flour.  Both times we gladly gave of what we had; both times were for her famous fried chicken.

When she borrowed the eggs, she said that she would pay us back with a fried chicken dinner sometime.  Today, it was: “Could I borrow a couple of cups of flour?  Dinner will be ready in an hour…don’t eat anything.”

Wow…it was more than just empty words.  I don’t want that to come across as untrusting or anything, but sometimes people say things just to say them or to be nice.

And that got me thinking…the Lord doesn’t just offer words to say them or to be nice.  When He says something, He means it.  He always follows through with what he says and He never breaks His promises.

Today’s dinner situation reminds me of one of those promises of God:  Malachi 3:10 says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’”

Heidi and I have long been convinced that we have been blessed financially because of our decision to give the first 10% of our income and more.  We have offered a little and the Lord has indeed thrown open the floodgates of blessing in our lives.  He never fails in His promises.

Our chicken dinner tonight was fabulous—fried chicken, mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, and corn.  Oh baby…I can still taste it all.  It was an amazing meal and we have some left over for lunch tomorrow.  We offered a little—two eggs and a couple of cups of flour—and we were blessed with a feast.

The same holds true for the Lord.  Trust in Him and He will be faithful.