How to Walk With Lambs

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. Genesis 33:13 ESV

While he was a young man, unlike his brother Esau who had been primarily a hunter, Jacob took care of his father’s flocks of sheep and goats. Then over the next twenty years, Jacob worked for his father-in-law doing guess what? Yup – he was still messing around with sheep and goats! So, if there was one thing that Jacob knew, it was how to walk with the flock. Now, I am by nature a hurrier. I used to rush through breakfast, speed out the door like Dagwood on the way to his job, and wolf down my lunch, afraid of falling behind. But when I became a grandfather, I learned the delightful art of walking slowly with my grandchildren. They stopped to look up at birds, bent down to pick up acorns and stomped in every available mud puddle. They taught me that efficiently speeding around the block was far inferior to genuinely enjoying the journey and seeing all the wonders along the way.

How strange it has been to learn that at the opposite end of life’s spectrum, in nursing home ministry that what I learned from my grandchildren works there as well. When I stop in to see my friend Lorna I can’t simply ask, “How are you doing Lorna?” without giving her a minute to gather her thoughts and tell me about her doctor’s visits, the nice young lady who took her to church or her daughter’s plans to visit for Mother’s Day. Spending time with people who don’t have many visitors means that they want to soak in every moment they can while we are with them. I was struck this past Sunday by a testimony from a couple in their eighties, who serve in our church’s nursery. During their talk, the pastor showed a short video of them holding babies, and gently rocking them. They had learned that walking with lambs means that sometimes we even have to carry them!

Who are the lambs where you live? You may need to pray and ask God to open your eyes to the see them. And walking with lambs means slowing our pace, because getting places on time is far less important than arriving with every lamb that God has put in your care!

For those with an interest in learning more about nursing home ministry, I have written a book filled with stories about some of the lambs I have met along the way. Walking With Lambs is available in both soft cover and eBook format on Amazon.

IN – Everything Give Thanks

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV

The Apostle Paul, who wrote these words to the Thessalonians, was an expert on giving thanks in everything. When Paul and Silas had first arrived there, they were still healing from the beating they had received in Phillipi, not to mention spending the entire night hey had spent in the jail. In Thessalonica things were going a bit better for the first three weeks, but then some people began stirring up trouble there also and they ended up leaving town just ahead of an unruly mob. I imagine that when the church gathered to listen to Paul’s letter read publicly, many of these new Christians nodded their heads in agreement. “Oh yeah! We definitely know what Paul means by “giving thanks in everything.” They had witnessed Paul thanking God while still in some terrible situations. Paul thanked God when he arrived in Thessalonica and was gladly received, and he thanked God when he had to head on to the next town because of persecution. So, this morning I ask myself, “Am I being thankful while still in this situation, or am I waiting for everything to work out first”?

The beauty and the adventure of this Christian walk is not only about the victorious outcome, but in the rejoicing, praying and giving thanks to God, while all we can see is suffering, unanswered questions and problems we cannot solve. On this earth we will not see every issue resolved, every injustice made right, or every wound healed. Instead, on this side of Heaven there are tears, doubts and frustrations, but God gives us the choice of complaining about everything or giving thanks in the middle of the mess. The verse urges us to do this because it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. It is His will in Christ Jesus, who gave thanks for the bread on the night He was betrayed, and later prayed for His enemies to be forgiven, while He was on the Cross. God’s will in Christ Jesus is the same for us, right here, right now, in the middle of everything, we are to give Him thanks!

Fresh Baked Bread

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35 ESV

When I was a boy, my friends and I used to play baseball in our shared backyards. No matter what the score, we would keep at it, unless a parent called us in, or we smelled the aroma of my mom’s fresh baked bread, wafting out through the kitchen window. Then like thieves rushing to a bank robbery, we would hurry in letting the screen door slam behind us and stand anxiously watching my mother. “What is it you all want?” she would ask us with a smile, before going back to popping those loaves out of the bread pans onto the counter. Then she would always nicely add, “You do know, hot bread is bad for your stomach. It has to cool for at least five minutes.” I think mom just made us wait because she loved to watch us hop from one foot to the other, while our eyes stayed glued to the hands on the clock just above the stove. She must have chuckled watching our twitching faces as the seconds ticked away, but true to her word, at the five-minute mark, mom would put a loaf onto the bread board and begin slicing. Then after slathering it with butter, mom would hand each one of us a slice., while asking, “Now, what do you say?”

“Thank you!” we’d all shout as we ran back outside to play with the last of her bread still in our mouths. When people met Jesus, they may not have been able to put their finger on why, but there was something familiar about Him that stirred a hunger in their hearts, just like the aroma of mom’s bread did for hungry boys. And what about you today? Are you standing outside Heaven’s door, enjoying the aroma of God’s fresh baked bread? Maybe you have come into the kitchen but are still shifting from one foot to the other, thinking you still have to wait your turn. Or have you finally found your seat at God’s kitchen table, and are hungrily gulping down that first buttery slice? Jesus tells us that we don’t have to wait any longer. Fresh bread is God’s promise to everyone who is hungry. But we must choose to come, and ask, and then don’t forget to say thank you!