A Parable by Marcy

There once was a woman who just loved the Lord. In fact, she loved him so much she was bursting with the desire to do something for him. So she exclaimed, "Oh Lord, here I am! Use me! Just tell me what great thing you want me to do. I'm ready. I'll do whatever you want, no matter how big, no matter how hard! Just tell me what it is. I'll be listening, Lord. In the meantime, I'll just go about my business. But rest assured, I'll be listening for your command."

So the woman went to the supermarket to do her grocery shopping. As she circled the lot for a parking space, she spied a good spot right near the entrance. But just as she got near it, she noticed that someone else in another car was also approaching the same space. "Oh well", she thought, "they might need it more than I do. I'll let them have this one. I'll find another." And she waved them into the space and found another one, further away. As she walked toward the store, she noticed an elderly woman having trouble getting her groceries into her car from the little motorized scooter she was driving. So the woman went to her and helped her get the groceries in the car, then helped her from the scooter into the driver's seat. "Don't worry," she said, "I'll see that this scooter gets back to the store. You have a nice day now."

At the entrance to the store, some people were collecting money for disabled veterans, so the woman dug in her purse and pulled out a five dollar bill, which she tucked into the collection jar. She also noticed a homeless man sitting on the ground outside the store. She said a little prayer for him and went on inside.

The woman did all her grocery shopping, then stopped by the deli counter and ordered a sandwich. She thanked the deli man for making such a nice sandwich, and then took her cart to the checkout. As she stood in line, she couldn't help but notice that the young mother checking out in front of her didn't have enough money to pay the cashier. She was short two dollars. So the woman quietly handed her two dollar bills and gave her a wink. The young mother thanked her from the bottom of her heart, and her baby even smiled and gurgled for her.

As the woman left the store with her cart, she turned and walked to the homeless man sitting on the ground. Without a word, she reached into one of her bags, pulled out the deli sandwich, and handed it to him. "God bless you, Sir", she said.

When she got home, she sat wearily in her chair and once again spoke to God. "Well Lord, I'm a little disappointed. You never told me what it is I can do for you today. Oh well, maybe tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'll just go about my business.."

My Birthday

It's my birthday. I cannot think of any greater gift than that which I already have: the love of God, the love of my husband, the love of family and friends, and the knowledge that each day holds a thousand gifts hidden within it. The trick is to seek them out like treasure.

Thank you God for my life. Thank you for Life.

The Hardest Part is Deciding

In most any life situation or challenge, making a decision is the hardest part. Buy or rent? Say yes to marriage? Accept the job offer or hope for a better one? During this decision-making process is when we lose sleep. We carry on conversations in our head. We consider all the pros and cons. We berate ourselves for not deciding. But what if we make the wrong decision?

But it seems, at least to me, that once a decision has been made, things get considerably easier. Right or wrong, you get to get on with it.

That's the way it is with the decision to ask Christ into your life. My own decision about that was long in coming. My arguments went something like this: "I'm not good enough. I still smoke and have other bad habits I need to stop before I'm worthy of Christ. I'll have to start acting all pious. I'll have to become a member of their 'club'. I'll be scrutinized to see whether I 'walk the walk' once I make this decision." And on and on. Finally when my life became intolerable I simply got down on my knees and did it. I asked Christ in and surrendered, not knowing how it would play out.

The short story is that once I made the decision, I got immediate relief. Things got better. I got better. One by one the bad habits fell away. Not all at once by any means, but they lost their appeal and circumstances magically changed so that it was easier for me to become better.

I guess my point is there will always be decisions to make, but don't waste your time arguing with yourself about this one: ask Christ to enter in. He will immediately come. And He will begin making the changes in you that you cannot make in yourself. Don't worry that you're not good enough. It's like cleaning your house before the maid comes. That's her job. And that's His job.