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

June 29, 2022

LIFE IN THE FOLD

This past weekend Jon and I had concrete poured for the foundation of our new shed, that we will be building this summer. Three of my nephews came to help Jon on Saturday morning, which was a huge blessing.

After the work was completed, our job was to wait until the concrete hardened. During that period of waiting, the wind blew some small leaves down onto the wet concrete. When we went out to check later that evening, we saw the leaves, but there was really no way to get them off. We couldn't yet walk on the concrete, and they were out of our reach. On Sunday morning, the concrete was hard enough and set so that we could walk on it. As we lifted off some of those leaves, we saw that their imprint was left behind. Something so small and lightweight, left a very detailed imprint in the cement.

What kind of imprint are we making in life, that we will one day leave behind for others to see? We each have to make this decision for ourself.

Often we speak about leaving behind a legacy or the good works that we do that others will remember. Yes, it is so very important that others remember our love and kindness and goodness; that's really what we went others to think of when we are gone. Perhaps, also, our laughter and joy... our talents and skills... our ability to garden or grow flowers or make our house feel welcoming. Most important, we should want them to remember the relationship between us and Jesus, and how we reflected His love and allowed His light to shine through us.

What people remember most about us shouldn't be that we were a big gossiper, or exaggerator of the truth, or being full of bitterness, our negativity, being critical and judgmental, treating others harshly, nosing into everyone's business, greediness or stinginess, or being unforgiving. We should desire that the good in our life far outweighs the bad, so that when we are gone from this life, those godly qualities are what we are remembered for.

Something that has been on my mind lately is the need to forgive others, regardless of what they did or if they deserve it... or even if they don't think they did anything that needs to be forgiven. Forgiveness is not an option, although we try to justify and make it optional more times than not.

When Jesus was teaching how to pray, one of the lines (which we refer to as 'The Lord's Prayer') is, "Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us."

A couple verses later, in Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus said, "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."

I think that's probably a verse that many of us try to ignore... or try to figure out another meaning... or think that Jesus didn't really mean what He said.... or justify why it's okay for us not to forgive. What's really difficult at times is that we have to forgive, even when the other person doesn't ask us to forgive them; and they were the one who wronged us.

Scripture plainly states, if we want God to forgive us, then we have to forgive others. Period. If we don't forgive others, then God won't forgive our sins. So forgiveness isn't optional, or just a good idea; it's this -- we forgive with the same level of forgiveness that we want God to forgive us. That's hard at times!

Hand in hand with that is, we don't keep bringing up the past where others hurt us or whatever it is that they did that needed forgiveness. "I forgive them, but....." "They did this and I no longer hold it against them, but...." If we have truly forgiven, then we also put it from our minds and not keep telling others or thinking about it.

Jeremiah 31:34 says, "I (God) will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins."

Psalms 103: 12: "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west."

When we remember our past sins and feel guilt or condemnation, it's not God reminding us -- that's not what He does. It's Satan trying to keep us tied to those sins, bringing guilt and shame, to try and prevent us from feeling as if the Father has truly forgiven us. When we repent, God forgives and cleanses us, remembering those things no more. That's how we should be when we forgive others; we don't bring them up again and don't relive that hurt. Perhaps we "share" it with others how we were hurt, so that they will sympathize with us or won't trust that person. That's not true forgiveness.

I struggle with that at times and have had to repent about it over and over again. I think that I've forgiven someone for hurting my feelings or words that they said to me or things that they did; but then will find myself telling someone about it or thinking about it.... years later, after it happened. I "think" that I've forgiven, but really I've held onto it and not ever let it go. Here lately, I've been convicted of that and am trying to let go of things that need to be forgiven and let go of; just as I want God to do with things that I've done and sins I've committed. Honestly, it is freeing to let go of those things and not hold them in my heart and rehash them.

I heard a story recently that really impacted me regarding forgiveness. There was an older, very godly, woman who was dying and a younger lady was spending some time visiting with her. The older woman had been her mentor and she wanted to soak in these last few moments hearing these last words of wisdom. The elderly woman told her that when she was younger her husband had an affair, and had even brought the woman he was having an affair with into their home. He showed up with her one morning when the wife was getting ready to leave for prayer meeting. The wife felt like she couldn't go to prayer meeting and her prayers be effective if she had unforgiveness in her heart, so asked God what she could do. She cooked breakfast for her husband and his mistress! Then she went to prayer meeting, knowing that she had done what she needed to do so that her prayers wouldn't be hindered in any way. After hearing this story, the younger woman asked, "How in the world could you do that?! How could you cook breakfast, in your own home, for this man and the woman that he was having an affair with?" The older woman looked at her and said, "Because I wanted God to forgive me; and I knew if I didn't forgive them, then He wouldn't forgive me!" She believed that scripture so strongly, and desired to be forgiven by God so deeply, that she was willing to do whatever it took to forgive others.

If we truly believed this scripture, I think we would be quick to forgive others, regardless of what they said or did to us or to someone whom we love. Our own feelings would be secondary to desiring God's forgiveness. We would not hold grudges or remember past hurts and keep bringing them up or reminiscing about them; but we would be quick to forgive and forget. We would choose to let go and do what was necessary in order to walk in a continuous state of forgiveness.

A couple weeks ago, my pastor mentioned this in her sermon. She was talking about allowing Jesus to shine His light into every dark corner of your life, so that we would be filled with His light and there would be no darkness within us. Unforgiveness can cause there to be a dark corner that we hold onto in our heart. I was convicted of that.

There is someone whom I've been holding a grudge against for many years. I think I've let go, then will remember things that this person said and did to me over the years. Honestly, I felt like I had good reason not to trust them. It was one of those, "I love them, but don't like them," type of attitudes. But I didn't really love them the way that Jesus wanted me to love them, and I hadn't really forgiven and was holding onto every single thing they had done. Years ago, we had been close friends; but after many lies and transgressions and a long list of things done and said, I didn't want anything to do with them. And yes, I do believe that sometimes we have to come to a point where we cut ties with people who take advantage of us and use us.

We don't have to remain best friends and allow them to continue doing those things. Sometimes we need to walk away. But we need to do so with forgiveness in our heart, even when they're not sorry and have never asked forgiveness or maybe not even acknowledge that they've done anything wrong. We do it for our sake; so that God will forgive us. I never really understood the importance of that or what it really meant, until recently. But now that I know, I have a responsibility to respond and forgive -- always!

If we can learn to forgive and not hold onto grudges, not talking about or bringing up the past and things that were said or done to us, then that is one of the best imprints that we can leave behind in life. We can teach others, through example, how to walk in forgiveness so that we, too, can be forgiven by God. Our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, neighbors, church family, community..... need to see that and experience for themselves and learn to walk in forgiveness. And it can begin by us choosing to be an example and leave behind a legacy of being quick to forgive others and never speaking of it again! That's what I want for myself, and I pray that the Holy Spirit will allow that to take root in your heart so that you will practice that, too, and make it a priority.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

When Loretta first sent out word that we needed help, one nephew volunteered fairly quickly. He was the same one that I helped with concreting a couple parking spaces at our church. But the day before the work, he fell sick. It wasn't a shock. His youngest child had been sick for a couple days before, and it was getting passed around their family.

A second nephew volunteered also. He came as expected and was very helpful.

Another nephew was eager to help, but was scheduled for work the same day. The day before, we reviewed schedules, and it turned out he was available for the time we had the concrete scheduled to arrive. He was great help.

A third nephew never did answer. But he did show up and help. We found out that he was with company when Loretta asked for help, and kept meaning to answer, but never thought of it when he had a chance to follow through. He was also a great help.

It turned out that four of us working together was perfect. We were all exhausted after an hour of spreading and flattening the fresh concrete, and just kept up with the driver of the tractor dumping one very big bucket at a time (the mixer truck was in the front, and the tractor took about 1/10 of the concrete we ordered to the back on each trip). I was very thankful for each and every volunteer.

Jesus told a parable of a father who told his son to do some work, and the son refused. So, he told his other son to do it, and that son agreed. But the son who agreed got distracted and didn't do it. The one who refused felt guilty and did the work. Which one was obedient and earned his father's respect? The one who did the work.

I did give the first nephew a hard time, especially since he felt better as soon as the work was done. But he made the right choice. If he had worked as hard as we all did, and in the heat, he would have lost all his progress recovering, and would have been much sicker.

When Jesus tells us to do something, it isn't good enough to say yes. We have to follow through, and do it. When we agree to follow His commandments, we aren't just agreeing to do the ones that are convenient, or the ones we already did. We have to obey all of them.

ON THE MENEWE:

Coffee Creamer Homemade Ice Cream

You can use any flavor of coffee creamer that you desire (the liquid, not powdered), depending on what flavor ice cream you are wanting. The person who gave me this recipe said that they've tried several different flavors and have liked them all.

Add all ingredients together, minus the whole milk.

Put the mixture into your ice cream maker canister, then add whole milk up to the fill line.

Freeze according to freezer instructions.

This recipe makes 5 quarts, so adjust ingredients according to you ice cream maker size.

**Note: The original recipe given to me called for 1-1/4 cups of sugar, but the lady said that they like their ice cream really, really sweet; so she suggested that start with less sugar, then add more, if desired. I found about 3/4 cup to be enough for my liking; but you can add more, if you want.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

Growing up with only sisters and without a lot of money, we didn't ever buy fireworks around the 4^th of July. But my mom's sister and her family lived a short distance from us, and they had a son who was probably 8 years older than me (he was somewhere between my two sisters who were closest to my age). Mama also had a brother whose family lived nearby, and his son was about the same age as my aunt's son. Those two boys made my parents thankful that they didn't have any sons! I remember them sneaking over to our house early in the morning, sometime around July 4^th, and popping an entire pack of firecrackers underneath my parents bedroom window. We didn't have central heat and air, so slept with all the windows open... the front door opened with just the screen door locked... and box fans. I'm sure that the two boys ran off and hid, thinking that they were really funny! My parents and we girls knew who had done it. Those boys were always up to something ornery, but loved coming over to our house when they were kids! They built a secret clubhouse in the woods, where they would sometimes spend the night. I'm sure it was built out of old lumber that they had scavenged from their dads. No one was allowed to see it, except my mom. The boys took her to see their clubhouse and let her go inside to "admire" their handiwork. In spite of their orneriness, they were good boys and daddy and mama loved them -- and we girls did, too!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive. - C.S. Lewis

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org