baskets and birdseed

Our family’s latest form of cheap entertainment includes 2 simple ingredients: an empty milk jug and birdseed.  Every morning we have been enjoying watching the birds feast from the birdfeeder that our four year old made (with some parental help).  It was such a simple gesture.  He just thought it would be fun to feed the birds.  And we have received so much joy.  The kids have oooohhed and ahhhhed over all the different kinds and colors of birds.  This simple recycled milk jug hung from the porch by a simple ribbon with a simple hole cut in the side has attracted some of the simplest and yet most fascinating of God’s creatures.  Beautiful bright red male cardinals, a few blue jays, a lot of small brown birds, the occasional woodpecker, and my favorite, the brown female cardinal with bright orange beak and crest.  It has provided hours of ongoing entertainment right outside our kitchen window.  Every time we sit down to eat or enjoy a cup of coffee, we also get to enjoy these birds. 

I was thinking about it this morning and realized that God did not need my son to feed those birds.  I’m pretty sure they were doing just fine on their own without his little milk jug feeder.  But God allowed our four year old to be used to feed the birds.  And in that we have watched him receive so much joy. I think he feels good knowing that he is “helping” the birds when they’re hungry.  We had to wait a week or two after we hung the feeder before the birds found it.  But when they finally did, Graham was sooooo excited.  He was literally jumping for joy and celebrating that they had found his little offering of love. 

It reminded me of the little boy that had the basket full of loaves and fish. 

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”  John 8:9

He offered his little basket to Jesus and God used it to feed over 5000 people.  I realized for the first time this morning as I was watching those birds that Jesus did not really need that little boy’s basket.  He could have fed them from food made out of thin air.  He was God after all.  But he took that little boy’s small offering of love and used it to feed the masses.  He produced a big miracle with a little basket.  And I can only imagine that little boy’s amazement and joy at how God had used him.  Maybe even a little jumping up and down.

I think it’s the same way with us.  God certainly does not need us to accomplish his purposes.  He is perfectly capable of taking care of this world and its people on his own.  But his designed purpose for us it to be used by him and take part in his work of love.  Love for creation and love for creatures, the most important of which is people.  And when we take part in his work we receive joy. 

Maybe that’s why so many of us are lacking joy.  We are too busy doing our own thing.  We are missing God’s purpose for us in loving others.  And we are also missing out on His joy.  And I think many of us hesitate because we are afraid we don’t have what it takes to feed the starving world around us.  And we don’t.  But the God we serve does.  And all he wants from us to meet their need is a milk jug and a little birdseed. 

Jesus

I’m sitting down to write tonight and the words just aren’t coming out right.  A few ideas here and there that sound good in my head, but so far none that look quite right on paper. 

So I will forfeit to just one word.  JESUS. 

Ah……… Jesus…….  Just… Jesus.  The one word that makes me want to stop and take a deep breath and smile.  Jesus J

The name actually means “He saves.”  And maybe that’s why it brings so much peace.  So much joy.  A sigh of relief.   Because everywhere we look, we see signs that we live in a fallen world.  A world that needs saving.  Cancer.  Poverty.  Disease.  Murder.  Abandoned Children.  School shootings.  Domestic Violence………..  But we don’t really need to even look to the headlines to find evidence that we need saving.  A good look into our own heart will reveal how desperate our situation when we see the cancer of sin in our own souls. 

So here we are, needing a hero.  

And there He is – JESUS – mighty to save.   

JESUS

Deep breath

Smile J

Matthew 1:21

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

what matters

OK, so my husband likes to brag.  And not about himself.  About me.  He loves to live vicariously through my college glory days.  Seems like everyone he introduces me to says words like, “so I hear you’re some kinda soccer star….”  Drives me nuts.  Well, at least I say it drives me nuts.  But secretly, I like it.  I always try to act modest and like I don’t care, or like he’s embellishing the statistics a bit.  But deep down somewhere (probably not too deep), it does make me feel good. 

However, for the last couple years my husband and I have had a debate going.  His claim to friends and coworkers is that I am my alma mater’s all-time leading scorer.  He thinks the number of goals I racked up is a record that will stand for all of eternity.  As for myself, being a little more knowledgeable about the growth of women’s soccer in the United States, I tend to think that the “record” has probably already been broken and that it really wasn’t that big of a deal in the first place.  But the other day I got a curious streak in me about this very issue and decided to research it in order to put the matter to rest once and for all. 

Basically what I found was that nobody knows and nobody cares.  The statistics on my school’s athletic website only go back to 2006.  I played there from 1998-2002.  So there are at least 4 years of stats in there that I can’t account for, and no one currently at the school knows or cares where they are.  I know the girl that kept the stats for the team while I was there, and she was very meticulous about it.  But we were just a small no name school as far as women’s soccer was concerned.  So at best, those are on some jump drive somewhere in some junk drawer.  I was able to piece together the number of goals I scored while I was there, but I have no way of comparing that number that to the achievements of countless other athletes.  So my experiment left me both proud of my achievements and depressed that they didn’t matter. 

And then I got to thinking about what does matter.  I don’t really have any significant statistics attached to my name.  I was never a national champion or a valedictorian.  I don’t have a record number of children or dollars or prize winning recipes or anything.  I don’t think I’ve even invited that many people to Sunday School or stormed the gates of hell with a thousand new converts.  And I think MOST people would say the same.  I think even those that have would tell you those things don’t matter.  So what does matter?

As I was thinking about this, God brought to mind my sweet 4^th grade reading teacher.  What she did mattered.  I’ll never forget the day she pulled me out of class to remind me that Jesus loved me.  And that she loved me.  She could see that I was having a rough day and a hard time fitting in.  And she took the time to reaffirm to me that I was fearfully and wonderfully made.  She probably even broke several public school rules by mentioning the name of Jesus.  But it mattered. 

And then I thought about the principal I had who made sure to walk my sister and I home the day our house burned down.  His gentleness and empathetic presence was very comforting on a very bad day for our family.  That mattered. 

And then there was the PE teacher who made such a big deal about me running the shuttle run so fast (especially for a girl).  At the time I thought he was truly amazed by my performance when he tapped his stop watch to make sure it was working correctly when I was finished.  But looking back on it I know he was putting on a show.  But he took the time to pretend and it made me feel special.  That mattered.

Then there was the soccer coach who time after time reaffirmed my hard work and potential by comforting me when I thought I had failed and praising me when I achieved.  That mattered.

So if you ask me what matters I would say it’s taking time to love those right in front of you.  And if Jesus’ life was any indication of how he felt, I think he would say the same.  He always seemed to make those right in front of him his first priority.  He wasn’t distracted by schedules, to-do lists, numbers, or performance ratings, or trying to get somewhere on time.  He did things slowly and gently and deliberately took time to love those he came across at the point of their need.  As he was blazing the ministry trail, he made time to bounce the little children on his knee.  As he was thirsty, he made time to make sure an adulterous woman never would be again.  As he was hurting on the cross, he made time to make sure his mother would be comforted.  As he was taking on the very wrath of God, he made time to forgive the very ones responsible for that wrath.  The examples in the gospels are endless. 

So let us follow that example.  Because it doesn’t really matter how much money we make or how many likes we can get on facebook.  But maybe, just maybe, there might be a friend who could use a phone call.  Or a neighbor who needs their yard mowed.  Or a little boy or girl that would love to know someone thinks they’re special.  And they will remember it forever.  Because it matters to them.

Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"