Scoot Over

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Holy Father, help me know when I need to scoot over and get to know my fellow traveler on life's journey.

Nurtured and Nurturing 

Jesus Christ, Son of God, may we seek out opportunities to relinquish bitterness, embrace love and  affirm your presence and one another in our families today.

The Gathered

Holy Spirit, Thank you for those who have taken the time and care to nurture us in our faith.  Help us to pay that gift forward in acts of loving service to our church and community in your name. Amen  

Challenge 

Today,challenge yourself to get to know someone in the church  or community that you might otherwise not usually take time to get to know. 

"Love each other in a way that makes you feel close like brothers and sisters. And give each other more honor than you give yourself." Romans 12:10

Scoot Over

There are days when I, like all of us, like my job more than others. Yesterday was one of the days that I really liked my job. God more or less spoke right through the big blue eyes and tiny mouth of a child at our church at our Wednesday night meal.  

My family was late arriving so I Sat next to some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. Just a couple of minutes later, a blonde haired, blue eyed little friend sat down about three people across the table from me.  This little one and I have a special friendship.  He calls me Mrs. Rebetah and my heart melts a little each time I see him.  He reminds me that there is special beauty, challenges and blessings with every child, but more more than anything he reminds me of the unconditional love of children.

As we ate and chatted, one of the people between us finished eating so he scooted down one seat.  Then the other child I had been talking to beside him finished and went to play, so he moved down one more seat. Finally, that child's big sister who had brought her to church, went to check things out in the nursery and he scooted down one last seat which brought him face to face with me with a huge smile on his face. He proceeded to eat his mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese and tell me about his day and life.  Eventually as he literally shoveled huge heaps of food to into his comparatively tiny mouth I said, "You know Mrs. Beca loves you so much!" and he simply smiled and said "yeah" and continued to eat. 

I hated to leave the table last night. Hated to leave the scene of mutual love and admiration.  Hated knowing the kind of sugar high he would be in just a few moments later after someone brought him a big piece of cake. 

I imagine God does something very similar with us every day. He creates opportunities for us, that if we pay attention and take advantage of them, we can find ourselves face to face with the divine.  Sometimes those moments come in time alone in the Word, but in other truly sacred moments, they come when we scoot over closer to a friend or get to know a stranger.  This week scoot closer to someone and in doing so scoot closer to the heart of God.