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

April 23, 2025

LIFE IN THE FOLD

Why is it that when you fall down, you tend to be embarrassed, hoping that no one saw you? At least that's how I feel! I will jump up as fast as possible, look around to see if anyone is watching, and try to act as if I'm perfectly fine. It's not as if I fall often, but I have fallen down from time to time.

When Jon and I were dating, we were walking out of the movie theater one evening, when I fell down. It was dark out, and we stepped off the curb onto the parking lot and my foot hit the edge of a huge pothole... that I hadn't seen. Suddenly, I was down on the ground. Jon looked down at me like, "What are you doing down there?!" I sprained my ankle and couldn't walk, so sat down on the edge of the curb, while Jon went to get the car. I had also just bought a new pair of jeans and was wearing them for the first time and the jagged edge of the pavement sliced a hole in the knee.

Another time, my sister and I were at a park using the walking trail. We were chatting and walking. I think the sole of my tennis shoe got kind of hung on a rough place on the the pavement, and I felt myself losing my balance. It was one of those times where it felt like it was happening in slow motion, and there was nothing I could do to catch myself. I scraped one of my knees pretty badly, but thankfully was able to walk. The problem was getting up off the ground! There was just a short part of the trail that is paved, and it is rough and uneven. There was nothing to hold onto to pull myself up, but I couldn't put any weight on my scraped knee. But I did it!

My most recent fall happened several weeks ago. Jon and I were meeting my sister for dinner. We had to park a ways from the restaurant and was walking down the sidewalk to get to our destination. It was misting rain; just enough to make it a tad miserable outside. We were strolling along, talking, and enjoying the evening. Next thing I knew, I was flat on the ground. I didn't feel myself trip and have no idea what happened! I think the sole of my shoe must have caught enough on the pattern embossed on the sidewalk that it tripped me up. Again, I thankfully could walk, but just skinned my knee.

Proverbs 24:16 says, "The godly (righteous) may trip (fall down) seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked."

Psalms 37:23-24 says, "The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand."

Psalms 145:13b-14 says, "The Lord always keeps His promises; He is gracious in all He does. The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads."

Throughout our journey through life, there will be times when we may trip and fall down spiritually. We stumble, make mistakes, sin, grow discouraged, etc. Sometimes those falls may happen suddenly, without warning. It may catch us unaware and we didn't realize that Satan had set a snare trying to entrap us. We didn't know that we were going to slip and fall. Other times, we may be dabbling in sin or giving into temptations, so the fall isn't as surprising. We may have thought we were strong enough to handle the situation, and finding ourselves lying on the ground is unexpected.

From scriptures, we see that we will all stumble. We will trip and fall. But we have God's promises to hold onto! We see that we can get up again! Those falls aren't going to destroy us, as children of God, as they would the wicked who aren't relying on the Lord and in a relationship with Him. God promises to help the fallen and lift us up.

When Jon has been with me and I've fallen, we have either been walking holding hands or arm in arm. When I land on the ground, he is still holding onto me. The fall doesn't break our connection. He graciously and lovingly checks to make sure I'm okay and helps me stand.

That's a picture of our Father. When we fall, He never lets go of us. In fact, there are times when we stumble, but He keeps hold of us and prevents us from falling. What a loving and gracious and good Father He is!!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

In the first case, I don't honestly remember whether Loretta and I were holding hands, or if she had her hand on my elbow. Either way, I would have had to raise my arm all the way up in an instant to prevent her from falling. And she was on the ground before I could even think that I might need to.

There is a significant difference between walking with my wife (or girlfriend initially), and walking with a child. As Loretta fell, I had no hope of catching her. But if I had been holding a child's hand, I could simply hold tight, and when their arm was stretched out, they would have stopped falling. They might still stumble, but wouldn't have hit the ground. The key is in their arms. If they are so small, they have to stretch as high as they can to hold your hand, they can't fall at all. As they grow taller, they have more slack, and can fall further.

Of course, most children reach an age where "I can do it myself", and they refuse to hold hands. We can still walk beside them, but we can't catch them any more.

Even though we have grown up, we can still stretch our arms up as high as they can go, and hold onto God. And we can admit, "I can't do it all by myself; I need You!"

ON THE MENEWE:

Tangy Cocktail Smokies

Preheat oven to 350. Toss all ingredients together in a 9-inch baking dish; cover, and bake for 30 minutes.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

My nephew and his wife went out of town for a few days last week, so I stayed with their four kids. Their mom had fixed an Easter basket for each of them, and asked if I'd set them out so the kids would see them when they woke up on Sunday morning. That worked out well for me! The two little ones told me that the Easter bunny was kind of like Santa Claus -- he wouldn't come until they fell asleep -- so getting them into bed and asleep on Saturday night was easy.

The little boy wrote a note to leave for the Easter bunny, saying, "The Easter bunny is good." His sister found an old piece of paper and wrote her name on one side and asked if I'd tell the Easter bunny to write his name on the other side..... so I drew a heart and signed it "Easter Bunny". She also left a couple of little gifts for him -- a plastic necklace she had got at school inside a goody bag, and a marble. When they woke up the next morning and she saw that the Easter bunny (aka me!) had taken the gifts and had signed her note, she was so excited; and her brother was excited that his note had been taken. Sometimes it's the little things that bring joy to kids!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Rest is a weapon given to us by God.

The enemy hates it because he wants you stressed and occupied. - Elisabeth Elliot

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org