Lord, What About *Them*?

"When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”' ... from John 21

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Ahoy! Now there's a verse that can set you free this Christmastime.

What is it to me, to us, if people are doing Christmas all hurried, worried and scurried?

We must follow Jesus.

What is it to us if people spend too much money on gifts? If they start Christmas too early? What business is it of ours?

We must just follow Jesus.

When I wandered into Blogland in 2004, the homemaking blogs blew me away. I mean, I discovered all these peace-filled women who cared for their homes, their husbands, their children week after week, and without complaining (!)

Instead, they baked pies, sat down and read good books and hung laundry outside to dry. They made crafts, scooted their furniture around and painted walls-- all with a grateful heart, as though on no planet is there a more fulfilling way to live.

They didn't write scathing blog posts about women who choose to work outside the home nor criticized others who did Life differently. No, they just followed Jesus. And Grace and Light, also, from room to room, and they reaped the peace which comes only from personal, God-directed obedience.

Oh wow. Instant hero worship! They reminded me of all that is holy in home-keeping and I longed to be just like them, to grow stronger in that joyous lifestyle.

What I've learned? If I want to make a real difference in this insane world (I do! I do!) I must just live my life.

In obedience. In love.

In step with Jesus, walking room to room with Him, remaining within that incredible peaceful atmosphere He brings along with Him.

Yet that peace flickers, dims to dark when I criticize a world of people who are so lost and clueless and who do Christmas 'all wrong.' For Jesus came and died for all of them, us, because He loved us, because we could never, ever save our own sad, clueless selves.

So what remains is for me to love the clueless, too. To keep the peace of Presence strong, gleaming around me. And to just live my life, creating a thirst in others for the wonders that Presence brings.




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Loving the unsaved is tons easier when we stop expecting them to act like they are saved already.



"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands... " 1 Thessalonians 4:11


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The photo: Our first snowfall arrived today. So, alas, the view outside our kitchen window. (At least there'll be no more mowing of the lawn for a long time--woo hoo!)


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