Matthew 18:20 ‘For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them’ NIV
It’s been a long time since I have written any devotions, but I hadn’t realized how long until I looked it up on the blog – Oct 4th to be exact. Way too long to stay away and I miss writing.
Since Labor Day weekend, I have acquired a household of 5 more people, bringing the total living here to eight – ages 5 months to 61 yrs – plus one cat, 7 fish, 3 hens and 6 roosters. We had a visit from a hawk and a young moose last week and last night the coyotes were howling up in the woods. Always something going on.
And of course, added to that, Rebecca does childcare. She watches my 3 yr old granddaughter five days a week and 3 of those days, she has another 3 yr old and one other 5 month old added to her collection. So on a full day, our house can have eleven people milling about. And I don’t want to forget to mention that our 31 year old well pump died on Saturday morning and consequently we had no water all day. Thankfully, we have a small pond down by the garden so we were able to get a five-gallon bucket of ‘flush’ water brought in.
There seems to be a gazillion stories I can tell, but how to put them to Scripture is difficult for me. How to pick the right one and then make sure it’s in the proper context.
Our three year olds, Jacob, Natalee and Claire) like to do crafts and get very excited when Bec brings out the glitter and glue and they get carried away with the glitter and it looks like the morning after a New Year’s Eve party on my kitchen floor. Everything is soooo pretty and sparkly…But who cares!! It’s been fun!!!
But when, one child hurts another child and that child is crying, who ever did the deed must apologize to the hurt one and give them a hug. Sometimes they do it on their own (one on one) and sometimes Bec must be in the mix. And as children do, forgiveness comes quickly and everyone is a friend again, boom, just like that…
God tells us to reconcile with each other, one on one as a starting place. We teach our children early on, but it can get sidelined over the years. When a fellow believer (sins) or hurts you, talk to them about what happened and if they won’t listen to you, go to them again with a couple of other believers and try talking again. If they still won’t listen bring it to the church. If they won’t listen to the church, start over again one on one.
Remember - each time you confront that person in God’s name, God will be there to help you with it.
I realize I’ve jumped around quite a bit, going from a household of eight to critters of various species, to an inconvenient event to glitter crafts and finally to what Matthew 18:20 is telling me. Two families living together is a challenge, but God is here in the midst of my chaos and for that, I am so thankful to my God.
Nancy
