A New day; A New Opportunity!

Holy Land Picture of the Day

A Shepherd with his sheep Today's picture is of a shepherd with his sheep. It reminds us of Mark 6:34; "When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things" “For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding” (2 Cor. 10:12). Hey Gang, I don’t know about you but I am up to my armpits with the billions of words that are meant to do one thing – put your opponent down and make me look like a shining star.  Paul said folks who constantly rag on others “are without understanding”. A number of years ago, while working at a California detention center for juveniles, there was a youngster,Tad, who reeked with ability.  Whatever he set out to do, he did with near perfection.  If there was ever an odd ball among the broken lives that surrounded him, it was he. Often at night after we locked the section down, I would bring a boy or two boys out of their rooms to do mundane things and prepare for the next shift, but my ulterior motive was to learn more about the young folks that were darkening our doorstep.   When I ask Tad why a talented young man like he choose to spend time in a place like this, his response was one that I heard many times in my tenure in the juvenile justice business. He said, "My dad is an alcoholic and when he comes home drunk he beats up the family.  I do things that I know will not get me sent into long term care, just things bad enough to get out of the house and recoup.  Here I get food, a bed to sleep in, safety from abuse and I get to do things that I cannot do at home, like sports. But the most important reason I like to come here is you guys seem to like me and give me a lot of warm fuzzies." As I talked with Tad, Paul’s words in Philippians 1:6 seemed to ring my bell, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus”.   For all intents and purposes one would say that Tad was on the wrong track, but I believe he was “with understanding” and would one day realize that God had a purpose for his life. Soooo, my young warriors, let me share a lesson I learned many years ago and has served me well: when I am talking I am not learning, but when I am in the listening mode, I can learn all kinds of new and neat things.  When I began my work with children I was an uneducated novice. On my first day I shared that piece of news with the kids and said, “You will have to teach me what I need to know about how to serve you best”.   Dangerous?  No, they taught me well! Blessings,   Gramps