THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

November 18, 2020

LIFE IN THE FOLD:

A few years ago, my sister and I were traveling to California and stopped at a shop in Arizona that sold authentic handmade American Indian items. I bought a piece of pottery that is called a seed pot. The worker at the shop told me the history behind the seed pot.

Indians would make these little containers out of pottery that had a small hole in them. They would store seeds, for planting the following year, inside. The purpose was to protect the seeds from rodents and insects.

When planting time came, the individual would have to break open the seed pot in order to get the seeds out.

There was a lot of work involved. The person had to harvest their crop and collect the seeds; make the pottery seed pot; keep the seeds in a safe place; then in the next spring, break open the seed pot and plant the seeds. Those seeds were very precious, for they represented a crop that would feed their family or perhaps be sold for income to buy supplies to provide for their needs.

The man would value those seeds. He would plant those seeds in his field, which he had cultivated in preparation of receiving those seeds. He could water them, weed his field, water it, and do everything possible in order to have the best crop possible. Then he would harvest it and sort out seeds so that he could be prepared for the following year.

What would happen if he shared his seeds with loved ones who were in need, thinking he was helping them out and was being generous, helping them out, and blessing them; then they sold them or squandered them, or tossed them on top of the ground without first preparing it, or set them on a shelf and never used them, or threw them out, etc?

It would be heart-breaking for the one who gave them away; especially if he shared seeds that he could have used himself for his own family or needs.

As christians, we can sow into the lives of others, sow into ministries, sow into dreams..... and what we give may come at a great cost to us and be something that we could have used ourselves. We may see a need or hear of someone who is going through something and feel impressed to help them out. Our heart may go out to them and we decide to share what we have in order to help them out.

Then that person misuses that seed, gives it away, wastes it, thinks it's owed them, or doesn't like it because it's not enough or not what they were expecting or wanting.

When we sow seeds and are generous, we can't force people to respond like we think they should or how we want; nor can we make them accept that seed and use it as we intended. It may be disheartening sometimes to see that gift misused.

My sister had this dream a few nights ago that she shared with me: In her dream, the wife sang really well and the husband wanted her to record an album. They were going to meet with record producers. The husband had saved a bag of seeds to pay for the recording. It was a sacrifice for him to give it up. The wife took the seeds and instead of recording the album, she made a deal to become a full-time entertainer and left her husband. In her dream, my sister felt so sad that the husband had sown into her talent and she was an opportunist and left him to chase after fame.

As soon as I heard about her dream, I immediately thought about that seed pot. Even though there may be times when we sow and someone misuses or abuses our seed, we can't think, "Well, I'm never going to sow again!" There are scriptures that speak to the importance of sowing and reaping generously.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8,10-11 says, "Whoever sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one give as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion -- for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that by always having enough of everything, you may overflow in every good work. Now the One who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in everything for all generosity, which through us brings about thanksgiving to God."

The truth is, God is the one who provides the seed to us to begin with. When we share our seed with others and they choose to not use it according to the intent in which it was given, God will continue to increase and bless our seed as long as we are faithful to God. It is His desire for us to be generous givers.

Psalms 37:21 says, "The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers."

Let's bust open those seed pots and be generous givers!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

The seeds tend to be used as a metaphor for telling people about Christ. But it could mean a lot more than that. It can mean being kind to someone who needs it. It could be visiting with someone who just needs someone to listen. It can be almost anything that shows love for our fellow people.

But we could also sow bad seeds. Like the person who drives around with christian symbols all over their cars and cuts people off and yells at others who cut them off. Or like someone who proclaims they are loving christians but spouts hatred for others.

If we spread both good seeds and weed seeds in the same place, the weeds will take over. It takes a lot more patient labor plucking out each weed to get back to the good stuff.

ON THE MENEWE:

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

Mix all sauces together in a small bowl. Lightly salt chicken as you put it into the crockpot. Pour the sauce mixture over the top. Cover and cook all day on low 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.

Remove the chicken and shred. Return to crockpot and stir to coat with sauce really well.

Serve on Hawaiian rolls for BBQ sliders, or on hamburger buns for sandwiches. Or -- you can just eat alone!

Also, makes great leftovers!

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

This past Saturday was one of my very favorite activities that I look forward to every year. About 6-7 years ago, I started hosting a Christmas party for the "girls" in my family. My sisters and I have a sleepover on the Friday night before the party, then their daughters, daughter-in-laws, and granddaughters (that can) come around noon on Saturday. Everyone brings delicious finger foods. I make sure that all the younger girls have a gift to open. Then the adult women all bring an inexpensive gift and we do a fun gift exchange. It's a yearly opportunity for us to be together to relax, laugh, visit and catch up, eat, and have a good time. While we party, the men and boys generally go out to eat and spend time together.

This year, with COVID and sickness and quarantining, I am especially grateful that we were able to get together. I had prayed that God would keep us all healthy and protected so that we could have this special day. I am so incredibly thankful that He answered and we were able to enjoy this special time.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

If you look at the world, you'll be distressed.

If you look within, you'll be depressed.

But if you look at Christ, you'll be at rest. - Corrie ten Boom

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org