He Never Stops Watching The Road

 You know, they don't tell you in childbirth class that when your baby is born, a piece of your heart goes with him and forever walks in a place where you have very little control. Will it keep beating? Is it happy? Does it feel pain? When it strays, will it come back home?

Such was the life of the father in the "parable of the lost son", a.k.a "the Prodigal Son". I never thought much about him until I became a parent. We mostly focus on the son, and the fact that he went out and squandered daddy's money, got himself into a real mess, then managed to turn it around in the end. Happily ever after, right?

What about the father? He's been dealing with this child for a while. You know how I can tell? Because he gave him what he wanted, and let him go. What parent hasn't reached the point where they have tried everything they know to bandage their broken offspring back together only to reach the point where there is nothing else to do but let them fall?

Off goes junior with dad's money and a backpack full of bad ideas, and then the story focuses on him for a few verses. What about the father? We don't get much of a glimpse into his life until later. I'll tell you what I see him doing in my mind's eye. He watched the back of that kid go down the road until he could no longer see him from his highest perch, and then he sobbed. Long, grief-filled, agonizing cries for that boy. Maybe it lasted for days before he could pull himself together enough to eat, or work. How much time went by? Who knows? But that dad never stops watching for his child. Never. Luke 15:12 says “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son..." He was looking for him every moment, every breath. Feed the cattle, check the road. Tally up the week's earnings, check the road.

Are you there? Are you spending sleepless nights on worn out knees pleading for your child's soul?

I want you to know you are not alone. God has never stopped watching the road.

Luke 15:11-32

The Prodigal Son Suite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3TYkAWRdU4

God Loves Me From My Head To-ma-toes

I have beautiful tomato plants ready for the garden, so today I took them out on the porch to start the whole hardening off process. I think I could hear them talking. "Oh, man, what is THIS?! Something's not right. It's cold. It's windy. TAKE ME BACK IN THE HOUSE!!!!"

Earlier this week I took twelve of the smaller tomato plants, who had also never seen the outdoors, and plopped them out on the porch thinking they'd love a little sunshine. Know what happened? They died.

Are you going through a really rough time right now? You can't understand what's happening, and it feels scary and unfair. Anxiety has wrapped around your insides, and you'd really like to yell "TAKE ME BACK IN THE HOUSE!". I know. Life was way better in the sun on the window sill. It's a rough world out there in the raised bed. It rains, storms rage, the wind blows, the temperatures change. You know what? This little time of uncertainty and growth on the back porch is strengthening my plants. Maybe it's doing the same for you. Maybe it's making you strong enough to bear fruit.

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.