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 12, 2024

LIFE IN THE FOLD

We have pecan trees in our yard, which means lots of limbs to pick up anytime it's windy... or it rains... or the limb just decides to fall off the tree. I have heard the term "self-pruning" used to describe pecan trees.

It seems like with all the rain and wind we've had over the past few weeks, that I've picked up so many limbs in our yard each week before mowing.

Last week, I decided that I was done picking up! I needed to mow, but there were quite a few limbs that needed to be picked up first and thrown into our burn pit.... and I just didn't want to do it. My 16-year old niece, Abigail, had texted me several days ago saying that she wanted to earn some money this summer, so anytime I needed some work done, she would like to do it. I decided to hire her to come pick up the limbs in my yard.

It just so happened that another niece, Jovie, who is 10, was home alone with her daddy and needed entertainment while he was working from home. Her siblings were all gone to church camp and her mom had gone out of town to meet up with a childhood friend for a couple of days. To make it less driving for me, I decided to have both girls come the same day. Even with the age difference, they get along really well, and are alike in so many ways personality-wise. So I picked up the younger niece at her house, then swung by and picked up the older one.

I had not told Jovie that I was paying Abigail to pick up the limbs from our yard. In fact, I had not mentioned anything about her helping. She had brought her Switch to play games on, so I thought she might want to stay inside and play with that.

But without being asked or prompted, as soon as Abigail went out and started working, Jovie immediately began helping her. The two girls were laughing and having fun, but both were working hard. After a while, I mentioned to Abigail that she was being entertained while picking up the limbs/sticks. She replied, "I know! I thought I would be out here by myself with it being quiet!"

I waited to make sure that Jovie was going to really help for the duration of the job, before mentioning anything about pay. I saw that she was working consistently and almost as hard as her older cousin. Both girls had come inside and gotten a drink of water a couple time, then would go right back out and continued working on our yard.

Finally, I asked Jovie, "Did you know that I'm going to pay you for helping Abigail?" She looked surprised and said, "Really?! No, I didn't know that!" She was willing to help her cousin clean up our lawn, without even considering payment. And she was doing it cheerfully and willingly!

We had a fun few hours together. We met the girls' grandma, who happens to be my sister, for lunch. Afterwards, I took them to a store that they wanted to go check out. Then the oldest asked if I would mind taking them to Walmart. I asked if her 11 (almost 12) year old brother would want to go with us. He did, so we picked him up. I bought the two oldest boba tea, before dropping them back off at home; then took Jovie home.

When I dropped Abigail and Owen off, she told me that she had had a really good day -- it was a lot of fun. Jovie, also, really enjoyed her day.

Jovie's dad was on a conference call when I dropped her off. He later texted me and thanked me for giving her something to do today. He said that she had fun and that she was proud to have earned money. When her mom got home, she also texted me that Jovie was very proud of herself for working and earning money.

I found some interesting quote about giving without expectations: 1. Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others. 2. Help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return. 3. Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

Here's the thing: Abigail came, knowing that she was going to be paid for her work. Jovie came, thinking she was just going to be spending some time with me. It was her choice to help Abigail, having absolutely no expectations of being rewarded for her labors. She was doing it joyfully and willingly, working side by side with her older cousin. I loved that she was willing to help Abigail, and have fun doing it, without asking for pay beforehand. And I loved that she took pride in her work and was so proud of herself when she earned some money; which is a big deal for a 10 year old.

We all could learn a lesson from this. Colossians 3:23 says, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Verse 24 continues, "Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what it wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites."

Whatever we do in life, may we always work as if God was our employer. It doesn't matter if we're working in the church, at our weekly job, mowing the lawn, cleaning our house, doing repairs, helping a neighbor, etc.... may we always have the mindset that everything we do is for the Lord; not for a person. We don't do it with the attitude of, "What's in it for me?!", but we do it because it's what the Lord would have us do. Whether the result is a paycheck from an employer or if it's one of no recognition or thanks, we do it with a joyful heart.

Perhaps we will receive benefits for our labor here on earth; but the greatest reward will be the inheritance that the Lord will give us as our reward. Nothing on earth can compare to that!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I remember when I was around ten years old. Several times in a row, when I went to my grandpa's, he made me mow his lawn. He had a huge lawnmower, almost twice as big as ours, and parts of it had been cobbled together to keep it working. And the handle was a few inches too high for me. And it wasn't self-propelled, so having the handle too high made it much more awkward. Lastly, he wouldn't tell me how he wanted it mowed, but whatever I did was wrong. He insisted, not asked, and didn't intend to pay anything. All-in-all, it was a very bad experience.

Looking back, I think if my grandma had asked nicely, I might have gotten through it, even without pay. She very rarely asked anything of us (except to clean up), and when she did, it was always so nice. We would have done a lot just for her appreciation.

God doesn't need anything. So doing things for Him are a good show of our thanks or worship, but they aren't really necessary. Doing things for others is. And God appreciates both. He doesn't ask much from us. But we do good things for others, we can do it simply for His appreciation.

ON THE MENEWE:

Beef Fried Rice

(Amounts depend on how much you want to make.)

Cut minute steak into strips. Put flour, salt, and garlic powder into a Ziploc bag; add meat strips and shake to coat.

Fry the meat in oil until browned and cooked to your preference.

Remove meat from skillet. You can use the same skillet or use a different one.

Melt 1 stick butter in skillet. Saute diced onion until tender; add in eggs and stir as if to scramble, until eggs begin to set.

Add cooked rice (I use minute rice) and stir to combine the onion, eggs, and butter with the rice. Cook until rice begins to get browned bits.

Add in 1 can of beef gravy; stir to heat thoroughly and mix. Add soy sauce, to taste.

Add meat back in with the rice mixture; toss to combine and reheat meat, if needed. Serve.

You could add green onions to the top, if desired.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

My sister's son and his family share a home with her. Recently, she got up around 6:30 to let her dog out to go potty. Everyone else was still asleep; or so she thought! She walked into her kitchen, on the way to the back door, and to her surprise, saw her 3 year old grandson. He had pulled a kitchen chair over to the counter and was standing on the chair. She asked what he was doing and he said, "Eating pie! I'm so hungry!" There was leftover apple pie on the countertop and he had the pie server, eating all of the apple filling -- leaving the crust behind. When she found him, he had probably eaten a quarter of a pie (well, just the apples, not the crust)!! Apparently, he had woken up hungry and remembered that pie on the kitchen counter!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Sometimes burning bridges isn't a bad thing;

It prevents you from going back to a place you should never have been to begin with. - TobyMac

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org