Ephesians 1:7-8
New International Version (NIV)
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that
he lavished on us.
Lucy lived with us for 12 years. She came from a loving
pastor’s home. But they couldn’t keep her anymore because they were doing
Vietnamese recordings for Adventist World Radio in their home, and Lucy yapped
all the time. In fact that’s why we named her after Lucille Ball. She was a very
loving, 8 pound ball of red fur that would dance around the room on her hind
paws at the merest hint that she might get some attention.
She was a great watch dog, and we were made almost painfully
aware anytime anybody or especially any other dog came by the house, even on
the far side of the street. She had trouble with sphincter control on occasion,
but short of a nominal scolding she was always forgiven. She loved us and never
ran away and was so full of exuberance that she never learned to heel--or
anything else. She was small enough so that on several occasions she attracted
the attention of a passing coyote.
When she was about 14 years old, she suffered what appeared
to be a stroke. She never barked again. She didn’t recognize us or anybody
else. She wandered around the house in a daze all day. When she would get
outside, she wandered off in any direction. She would go up to any passing stranger
and follow him or her just like she followed us.
One day she wandered off when we weren’t looking. We
searched all over our neighborhood. We got reports that people had seen her
wandering farther and farther away towards the east. But no one knew where she
had gone. About the time we had given her up as possibly having been devoured
by coyotes, we got a call from the county animal services that they had her. We
could have her back for a redemption price of $42.
Sylvia brought her home. Was Lucy glad to see us? No. Was
she unhappy to see us? No. Were we happy to see her? Yes! Even though she still
didn’t recognize us.
Sometimes, Lord, I
think we are like Lucy; we get so tied up in our own troubles that we don’t
even recognize You. Thank You for continuing to so freely lavish on us the
riches of Your grace!
In your earlier blogs you did show a recollection of some old experiences you had when teaching at Ikizu Tanzania. I did write a comment about it, but now I have something additional.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote, '...a young nation where citizens expected the state to provide everything...'. If I quote it correctly, you seem to have had a negative impression regarding this approach i.e. you despise such a system of governance in a country. WHY ?
The opposite of it, would be to have individuals fend for themselves while the nation/public authorities use their tax monies over some important priorities.
Is this what you meant ?
I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. I do know that citizens in a welfare state often do not try to improve their lot, because their welfare is often related to current income. So the more such a citizen earns the less he/she receives from the state. This gives the incentive to these citizens to leave things at the status quo. I have watched it in action both in Massachusetts where we used to live and also in California where we live now.
ReplyDelete