YES, and

I have had the privilege of helping to raise nine children in my home. I have had the delight of teaching more than six hundred more! The story that follows is a truth taken from several experiences with several of those children. Please do not assign any part of this story to any particular child.

The silence was suspicious, as any parent would know. I found the toddler in the bathroom and asked, "Are you pooping your pants?" The "No!" came quickly, but the smell gave him away.

After I peeled his clothing off, he was standing there covered in poop. "Did you poop your pants?" I asked again, hoping to help him acknowledge the mistake so we could work on preventing it next time.

"No!" he wailed too loudly for the small space. It was a wail I had heard before... every time he did something wrong, actually.

click.

He was afraid. He was afraid that he wouldn't be loved anymore if he pooped his pants. He was afraid he wouldn't be safe anymore if he pooped his pants. His denial was self-preservation, in his mind.

So I said, "Yes, you pooped your pants...AND I love you!" I repeated this several times during the clean-up process. I even said it to his sister later that evening, "Yes, you skipped your chores...AND I love you!" I've said it to many children, many times, "Yes, you messed up... AND I love you!"

Can't you just imagine God looking at us lovingly while we are standing stark naked, covered in the poop of sin, denying that it's there? "Yes," He would say, "You are guilty of adultery...AND I love you!"  "Yes, you were selfish and unkind... AND I love you!" "Yes, you denied me... AND I love you!"

And we stand there, vulnerable and terrified, wailing, "NO! I didn't do it" when all God wants is to help us out of the mess we're in. We can't even SEE the sin, but God, seeing ALL of it, still says, "Yes, you sinned...AND I love you!"

God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to wash away all that poop. We are washed cleaner than the toddler after his shower/bath. What joy! No more stinky and filthy sin. BECAUSE God loved us when we were filthy (Romans 5:8). We can say, "Yes, I sinned. Praise God for washing me whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7)!"

Amen!

Uncomfortable

Early this morning, I answered the doorbell. It was a man I recognized, but didn't know well. I know he drinks. A lot. He didn't seem intoxicated this morning, so I opened the door to him and asked him how I could help him. He inquired if "Pastor" was home. I answered that he was busy. The man asked if I could make a sandwich for him; he was hungry. We've fed him (and many others) before; this is part of the mission here.

So, I made him a couple of bagels and some fruit and drink. He took them, said thanks, and headed on his way. If I'm completely honest, I have to admit I was glad to see him go. It's uncomfortable to spend time with people so different from myself.

Uncomfortable. That actually describes a lot of the mission work here. (And probably elsewhere as well!) Not in our comfort zone. Out of our normal. There is nowhere in the Bible that it tells us that life with God will be comfortable and easy. And it's not.

We serve God when we pick up students from the Jicarilla Apache Student Residence and bring them to church, despite the noise and chaos in the pews. We serve God when we welcome the families of our foster and adopted children into our home and family, despite the different traditions and habits of those families. It's kind of like marriage, we add a whole new family with every new foster or adopted child.

We serve God when we answer the door at midnight and feed, clothe, or transport someone in need. My husband serves God when he preaches the Gospel in a funeral to a gathered group of people who would never otherwise enter a church.

God calls us to the uncomfortable and He makes it easy. Maybe not easy to actually do, but easy to enter into because He is beside us. He calls us to minister to our neighbors... even our drunk neighbors. He calls us to care for the widows and orphans, not just our own families. God calls us to do His work here on Earth and he equips us to do it.

We never have to handle it alone. He is beside us as we foster someone else's children while they deal with the difficulties of life. He holds us while we include those elders in our daily life who do not have family to include them. He never leaves our sides when we invite an unpleasant stranger to join us at the meal table.

We, Christians, are each charged with being Jesus' hands and feet here and now. What is your call? How has God prepared and equipped you for it? He will be with you the entire way, uncomfortable or not. Take the first step and begin the journey to the unknown... you will go marvelous places with spectacular people!!