Check this out…

“Check this out” are the words my son said a few minutes ago once I was seated in the car, but hadn’t shut the door yet. He took off, which closed the door for me. Oh yeah, so cool. I guess it’s alright since I didn’t fall out or die or anything. However, there’s something super cool I do want you to check out. We stopped by my parents’ gravesite and it had poinsettia flowers in the vase. This is July. I was under the impression that my stepmother was maintaining the grave all this time. Apparently hadn‘t been there since Christmas. Emily tried to make me feel better by pointing out that the faded red made it pink and that was sort of pretty. Sort of, but the principle was beginning to fester anger. I knew my fellow travelers wouldn’t want to take the time to shop for some flowers. There wasn’t even a flag for Daddy’s Air Force service and Memorial Day wasn’t that far back. Then I looked around and saw a bunch of flowers in the trashcan. Hmmm….how bad would that be? Maybe they were real and left from a funeral. It was worth checking out. It turned out to be a new looking bouquet of spring/summer flowers, artificial, and looking very fine. I wondered if some kids had ripped them off a grave, but I didn’t see any without. I personally believe God put them there for me to be able to honor my parents. I would’ve come prepared if I knew I needed to. I didn’t know, so being the wonderfully cool God that He is, understanding the need, He provided for us. It was perfect because there were pink flowers for Mom, red tulips for Daddy, and yellow for cheeriness. I love God. He does such wonderful, thoughtful things for us before we even know how much we need them. God is great!

Shine like the stars....

I’m riding with my son in his little sporty car to go visit my sister and her daughter’s family for the weekend. Since we got rid of our van, we have to take two cars to go anywhere. That’s cool. I’m the only one who shares his overall taste for music so I get to ride with him. It gives us time together so I can get the scoop on his love life and other bits of news. Also gives me a captive audience! (A mother’s dream!) So, what was it I’ve been wanting to tell him?....... My Bible scholar daughter asked me if I knew of any verses that tell us to pray for the lost. Neither of us could think of any so she asked our teaching elder. No, he didn’t know of any either. So they talked about it at home group. It is fascinating since God is the one who awakens the soul to its need for a Savior----although I believe every heart longs for a one. So many books and movies are about heroes, superheroes, and someone making the ultimate sacrifice for the many. Nothing new under the sun---God had the original plot since the beginning of time! But people would rather make up their own hero to worship and follow than bow their knee to the One true Savior of the people. He doesn’t have to save the earth itself (although we God has told us to take care of it) because He’s just going to remake it in it’s even more wonderful-than-it is original state. But back to my original point, it’s certainly not wrong or bad to pray for the lost, but perhaps we should, as Paul did, concentrate on praying for opportunities to share our faith and show His love. It’s not all up to us, but in this instance, it’s ‘all about us’ and if we’re faithful or not to what we’ve been told to do. It’s exciting and freeing somehow. As the old saying goes, you may be the only Jesus they ever see. Let Him shine!