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

September 21, 2022

LIFE IN THE FOLD

When my nephew and his wife brought Mariah home from the hospital, she was around 1-1/2 to 2 weeks old. She was a tiny little girl! I started babysitting her when she was about 3 weeks old.

Mariah had a hernia at birth that pushed her belly button out. As she grew, so did that hernia, which ended up being about the size of a mini corndog, before she was big enough for them to do surgery.

Due to her size and various health issues, I rarely laid this tiny baby girl down during the hours that I was babysitting her. So I often carried her around with me or sat holding her. One of the most comfortable positions for her seemed to be on her stomach, with her head resting in the crook of my arm and her body laying on my forearm. It made it easier to hold her on my left arm like that, while using my right hand to fix her bottles. I would often carry her around in that position.

One day I was standing outside with my nephew in the morning while he was waiting for the school bus. When the bus came, one of the kids yelled out the window, "Hey lady! Don't you know that you're not supposed to hold a baby like that?!"

The bus is for kindergarten through 5^th grade, and the kid was probably around 8 to 10 years old. He may have had a younger sibling and his mom made him sit down while holding the baby, supporting the baby's head and carefully using both arms to cradle to baby to his chest. That is how a youngster should hold a baby!

That young boy didn't have the strength, maturity, responsibility, or size to be able to hold a baby like I was holding Mariah. So to him, I was doing it wrong. But I had a relationship with her and knew how to make her the most comfortable; as well as having the strength and longer arms and maturity to be able to safely hold her in that position. I knew that she wasn't going to fall and that she was secure. I rested her up against my body and had assurance that she was okay. She felt protected and safe and comfortable being held against me like that.

Sometimes, in life, when someone sees us doing something that they don't understand or don't have the maturity to do themselves, they will be critical. Perhaps it's seeing God doing something in us that they've never experienced and it makes them feel uncomfortable, so it must be wrong. It may be how we are ministering or loving others, how we are handling life situations, our response to negative situations, how we are caring for someone and showing kindness, etc. We are doing it in a way that makes no sense to them or that they are perhaps not spiritually mature enough to comprehend or be able to do themselves, so they call us out on it.

When Jesus began His ministry and tried to do miracles in His hometown, the people who had watched Him grow up and knew Him best had a problem accepting Him. Surely the son of Joseph and Mary couldn't be doing these type of miracles and He surely couldn't be the promised Messiah. They rejected what Jesus was trying to do for them, so He had to leave. He wasn't shown honor in His own hometown. Think how many miracles and healings the people missed out on, because they failed to believe who He was.

Paul was a very religious man prior to his encounter with Jesus. He had studied and knew that law and knew how to make sure that the law was being strictly followed; to the point of having christians, who went against what he thought was right, killed. He knew about religion, but didn't know about relationship.

But when Paul had an encounter with Jesus, it changed his life! He realized that religion means nothing and relationship with Jesus means everything. Paul became very zealous for preaching and telling others about Jesus; teaching them how to live in love and live an abundant, overcoming life for Christ.

Prior to his salvation, Paul only cared about following the law and doing what he considered was "right", even though it meant killing people who disagreed with him. Upon meeting Jesus, his focused changed and his passion was to tell others about Jesus and encourage their spiritual growth.

Peter wrote, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, to that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." (1 Peter 2:2,3)

Mariah grew and developed so that after a few short months I was unable to carry her around on my arm. She became alert and wanted to sit up and see what was going on around her. She wanted to look around and play with toys. She continued growing until she could sit alone, crawl, then finally walk alone.

Now she is 4 years old and can climb and run and talk and is a smart, funny, opinionated, sweet little girl. She still likes her Aunt Retta to hold her and we have a special bond, but she can tell me what she wants and what she doesn't like and has a giggle that always makes me smile. I can't hold and treat her like I did when she was a newborn, but have to communicate with her on the level where she now is.

If I refused to let her grow and mature and learn new things, that wouldn't be fair to her. But instead, I want her to grow and develop and mature and become everything that God created her to be; which means I have to change my attitude and mindset and care of her as she gets older and is learning more and more all the time.

Even when we may not understand what God is doing in someone's life or how they are handling a situation or whatever the case may be, let's be careful that we don't criticize and cause them to feel belittled or misunderstood. Let's encourage and show kindness and pray for them, instead.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

One of the problems with maturity in our relationship with God is that it isn't obvious.

One person may seem totally mature in God. They may go to church every time it is open. They may participate in prayers, or even give prayers using all the King James wordings like "thou" and "hast". They may even remember every Bible verse someone can bring up. And yet, if they haven't taken the time to get to know the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they may still be babes in their relationship.

Another person may have a long beard, unbrushed hair, and wear an old hat when they come into church. They might burp at the wrong times, and keep quiet while everyone else is giving their "amens". But they may know God more closely than any of us. They may have learned when to keep silent, and when to speak up. They may only speak what the Holy Spirit tells them to speak.

God knows. If they seem to act in a way that doesn't line up with our expectations, that doesn't mean we can judge them, or criticize. We can simply leave them in God's hands, and work on ourselves.

ON THE MENEWE:

Potato Wedges

Peel and wash potatoes. Cut each potato in half, then cut each half into three wedges.

Melt butter in baking pan.

Roll potato wedges in butter and sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, and parmesan.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until soft.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

I love going back and reading memories from old newsletters that I've written. Many things I have forgotten over the years. This story is from 2013, 9 years ago. Abigail would have been 5 years old at the time, and is now a young lady of 14!

My great-niece, Abigail, calls me "Aunt Beretta". Her parents have tried to tell her my name is Loretta, but she will argue that no, they are saying it wrong, it is Beretta. A while back I was watching her play with another great-niece, who calls me "Aunt Retta". When she was talking to me and said, "Aunt Retta," Abigail piped up and said, "She doesn't even know how to say your name right! She said Aunt Retta and it's supposed to be Aunt Beretta!"

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything. - unknown

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org