Don't Discard Your Future Provisions!

One sunny Seattle morning while I was washing dishes I was looking  through my kitchen window.  I saw a little girl waiting on the corner for her big yellow school bus. She carefully  opened her brown paper lunch bag. She  peered inside the bag and pulled out  a sandwich. I thought that she must be hungry and that she was going to take a bite. Instead she unceremoniously pitched the wrapped sandwich into the bushes in front of my neighbor's home. Then she propelled another item into the bushes and then a third thing. With no need for the bag it was catapulted into the greenery. 

 I thought, someone is going to question what kind of parent sends their child to school with no lunch or lunch money?  You see, that carefully  packed lunch meant nothing to the that little girl. Unwisely, that young girl threw aware her future provisions.  Maybe she had just eaten breakfast. She never thought she might be hungry in a few hours. Children are like that. Plus, the child's action caused the parent to be unjustly vilified. 

I wonder if we do the same thing about God and eternity. Right now we are satisfied.  During this part of our lives we have all we need. There’s no need to think about our souls and the future, or life or death. 

It's amazing that even  great stars like Prince, Michael Jackson, Sonny Bono and the immensely wealthy billionaire Howard Hughes  demonstrated  that their inevitable futures just looked too far off for them.  I say this because none of them had wills. It's like  eternity snuck up on them like that lunchtime was going to come for that child.  

 Right now many are taking what God has given us, and tossing it away. God has provided the precious  gift of  eternal salvation  and peace with God through the Birth, Death and  Resurrection of Christ.  Even though it's free many discard the gift. 

Then like that little girl, it's lunchtime and we have nothing.  That lovingly wrapped sandwich  was discarded during her time of fullness.  Human beings are funny like that.  Everyday we get closer to that final stop, to be blunt our death, when time for us is no more.  All of us  will have a day of reckoning for our souls.   Please  don't stand at the corner of life waiting and  tossing important  God  given  provisions  into the bushes. Take a moment to consider,  salvation which is a way to peace with God.  Salvation and  security are yours,  if you don't toss them into the bushes.

Steps to Peace with God

Admit your need. (I am a sinner)

Be willing to turn from your sins. (Repent)

Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and rose from the grave.

Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive him as Lord and Savior)

If you would like more information don't hesitate to  leave a comment or question on this blog or contact me at panewton12@comcast.net

Bring Back My Old Life!

When our four sons were very young we would take long road trips from Washington State to visit our East Coast relatives.  It was a great way for our children to see the wonders of this great country. To break up the long distance, for three or four nights we'd stay at different hotels or motels.  

 Our children were generally well behaved  playing  games such as Slug Bug or even the Quiet Game.  As the day wore on we  would start looking for a place to spend the night.   On my insistence  my husband Winston would go into the rooms to make sure they were  acceptable to my standards before I would agree to stay at the designated place.

One late afternoon, on our return trip to Seattle, as he was going through the inspection ritual,  a little voice piped up from the back seat. " I don't want to stay at anymore hotels I want to sleep in my own bed," said the exasperated child. "I understand, we will soon," I replied.  For some reason the trip coming back home always seemed longer than the trip going. It was exciting thinking about seeing the relatives and being on the East Coast. On the way back to Seattle, I declare the coast moved further west.

I thought of that scene this morning as we head into the 16th or 17th week of  restrictions and the recommended  social distancing.  We don't want to do this anymore. We want to go back to the familiar. we want our old way of life. We want to live the way in which we've been used to doing.

 What has occupied my thoughts is that for some there is no going back to the way it was previously. People's worlds have shifted. People I know have lost loved ones. Their world will never be the same. Some people have lost their jobs permanently. Their world will not be the same. High school seniors have had their world changed beneath their feet. They cannot go back.

 Some elders have been dragged kicking and screaming into the tech age. They soon learned in order to connect with people they had to get up to speed with Facebook and Zoom.  While many of the younger people have moved on to  Instagram,  and my latest addition, WhatsApp. No, we are not going back to what used to be before this worldwide crisis. Even the behemoth Amazon will never be the same. They learned in this crisis that the delivery business is a beast that they can't conquer at this time.

I believe we are going to need to focus on how we move forward in this world. I believe we need to decide now what are the essentials  we need to lead productive and helpful lives. Hopefully people come out seeing that relationships are more important than material things. I am hoping that people come out with a renewed understanding that faith in God is more important, especially when times are challenging. I hope we come out as more compassionate people. We've watched our medical professionals, First Responders, truck drivers, grocery stores, bus drivers  put us first even when they were putting their lives on the line. Some of them did not make it even as they served the needs of the public I hope we  come out of this crisis with more grace, compassion and kindness than when we  went into it.

Yes, like my very young son who was tired of the journey and nightly stops sleeping in different  beds, we want familiarity.  However just like our  long journey home to Seattle, we may have a few more days, or weeks to make it to the other side of this crisis.  

Take care of your family and friends, we will make it!

This beautiful photo of Mt. Rainier was taken by a former colleague Valerie Grimm.