Fridays Are Missionary Days, Too!

   

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; H leads me beside quiet waters.  He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psa. 23:1-4).

Hey Gang, TGIF!  Do you feel that way?  In my working days I was involved in three occupations: I was an air traffic controller for seven years, worked as a counselor in a detention home for three years and was developer and president of a child care residential program for twenty-even years. 

Nary a one of none of these jobs were five-day a week, nine to five, and off on weekends and holidays.  Did it bother me?  Yes, to a degree, but there was the joy of knowing that one of my fellow employees was home enjoying his family that day, and I would be able to do the same tomorrow. 

We certainly live in a world that spins faster with each passing day.  The bride-of-my-youth often says “When you live in a world filled with alligators up to your arm pits, it takes a week to come down and begin to relax and a week to gear up in preparation for returning to the pressure cooker.” That folks, does not leave much time for truly letting it all hang out and relaxing.

I found this neat little ditty in Chuck Swindoll’s book Ultimate Book of Illustrations and it makes a great deal of sense.  I wish I would have had it when I was up to my armpits in alligators.  It goes like this:

“Slow me down Lord, Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.  Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.  Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.  Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory. 

 Teach me the art of taking minute- vacations – of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to smile at a child, to read a few lines from a good book.  Slow me down, Lord. and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s ending values, that I may grow toward my greater destiny.  Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing its speed.  Let me look upward to the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.”

So, my young buckaroos, when it seems the alligators are nipping at your rear and the sun is having a hard time peeking through the dark clouds, take a moment or two and smell the posies.  Then call someone that is worse off then you and tell them you really, really, really care about them.  Is that not the reason for the season?  Keep in mind, my young friends, God cannot bless seeds that you do not plant.

Blessings,

Gramps