Lent Day 18: Complicit sinners

"They're sleeping together," my friend said about her daughter and the boyfriend. She shrugged. "At least we know about it. I hope they're being careful."

My grandma would have marched over to her child or grandchild, pulled the two apart kicking and screaming (she and the couple, if necessary), and fallen on her face before God to fast and pray for the sinners.

My parents' generation would warn and pray, asking God to intervene. They would probably extend God's love to such a couple, and ask God to convict, knowing that all of us make our own choices with consequences.

My generation is so dulled by the adultery and bad marriages around us that we stay quiet and hope for the best. Most of us would not venture a judgment on the couple. "Well, everyone chooses their own path, even if they know better."

Our children's peers would likely shrug it off. "Well, it's their life. We don't have the right to tell anyone else what's right or wrong."

Does that make us complicit in their sins? We know we ourselves are so broken that it's hard to "cast the first stone," even before conviction strikes. Jesus said the person without sin was to begin the punishment on a woman found in adultery. I'm sinful, so I couldn't throw that first stone.

However, he never hesitated to say, "Go and sin no more." When am I willing to follow his example, and when do I look the other way, considering the price he paid to offer us new life?

Read more:

*The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; let the earth be moved! The LORD is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name — He is holy. Psalm 99:1-3 NKJV

*"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." Isaiah I:18 NET

*Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NIV

Flux and flow

A quick respite after moving furniture

Two sons came over this morning. They hefted the massage recliner to the front porch. Then they helped W muscle a 200-lb literature sorter to the entry where Craigslist buyers picked them up. The futon from the upstairs guest room? It's joined two already in the living room. Of course, the coffee table and Corbusier lounger had to be moved into the kitchen to make that happen. Later in the day, a lady buys the 8 French wheat-sheaf dining chairs.

Yup, my house is in turmoil. Stuff is everywhere. There's not a room that's "normal" and I'm starting to lose track of what's where. I had a good cry yesterday while culling my art supplies from a closet. (In future, our granddaughter's bedroom.) So I'm good to go for another coupla days.

Fuller and fuller ...
the family room morphs
and the French chairs disappear

I'm grateful for our kids' help. K, who's moved many times, comforts me over the phone. The boys heave and haul;  R helped me sort and scan hundreds of files.

M is packing up her own house to move over. T's starting to bring their stuff over and push it into recently vacated corners. Let us know if you need anything!

Read more:

*And Jerusalem shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. Jeremiah 33:9 NLT

*See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me. Malachi 3:1 NLT

*John the baptizer said, "One who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals." Luke 3:16 NLT

*Exalted to the right hand of God, Christ has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. Acts 2:33 (NIV)Moravian Prayer: Holy God, you sent your son to save us. You show us light where there is darkness. Move in our midst so we can see you, feel you, and hear you. Walk with us and be with us as we go forth in Jesus' name.  

God of goodness and grace, let us be your messengers of peace. Send us forth into the world in your name knowing that your presence is with us. Guide us as we prepare the way of the Lord. Amen.

Strange, wonderful aloneness

The last of our four children moved out yesterday. Our youngest son, who graduated university in December, packed up his room to live with two good friends.

Of course, the relocation wasn't without hiccups! The first two guys loaded their stuff into the UHaul and went to move it into the apartment. Then they learned they couldn't move in until the next day. So I came home to a UHaul parked at the top of the street - and three husky guys sitting on our LR sofa.

"Hi! I know Bob," I smiled at one of Jono's good friends. "But who are you guys?"

The two roommates introduced themselves. "We are essentially homeless until tomorrow, so Jono said we could sleep over. He's sleeping off his night shift in the guest room while we wait around." Of course, Jono's room had been disassembled. His bed and furniture, while not yet loaded into the truck, were packed up for a quick getaway.

I can't tell you the deep laughter inside this mother's heart. Oh, the resilience and flexibility of youth! We had a nice visit. Great guys. They made themselves coffee on W's espresso machine. (My coffee can be toxic since I'm not a coffee drinker.) I enjoyed my cup of tea.

Then I pointed to the sofa/futons, asked them to use sheets over the slipcovers, and bid them a fine stay before my husband and I headed out the door to an overnight event.

We came home last night to an empty house. The old bedroom is still chaotic. There are papers, a few bags of garbage, and some unsorted boxes left after their whirlwind of leaving. Hopefully Jono will clear it out this week. ("Ha ha, you optimist," I can hear my friends chortling.)

There's a strange wonder to this new season of parents-without-children as we become honeymooners. We're without kids for the first time in 32 years! Lots of people have come and gone at our house. More recently, Jono often had college friends sleep over.

I can tell I'm going to love the new privacy, of not running into young men headed up the stairs to the main bathroom's shower. We can wander into the kitchen in PJs and not find some stranger frying bacon or scrambling eggs at the stove. The sink and bathrooms will stay as clean as we make them. How cool is that!

My new mantra: "Empty nest is not a syndrome. It's a vacation!" Luckily our almost-2-year-old granddaughter disassembles the house one day a week, so I have toys and measuring cups to retrieve and replace in their cupboards.

I bet God loves the seasons of His children's maturity. He holds us when we're youngsters, disciplines us as spiritual "teens," and assigns us difficult and rigorous work as mature believers.

How did you feel, moving out of your childhood home? How about when your kids left?

Do you appreciate the seasons of spiritual maturity as God sees you through life?

Read more:
*In God's hand is the life of every living thing. Job 12:10 NLT

*My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom's ways and lead you in straight paths. When you walk, you won't be held back; when you run, you won't stumble. Take hold of my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. Proverbs 4:10–13 NLT

*The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11 NIV

*God is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:27-28 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Tending God, you give life and then you draw near to your creation. When we face difficulties, remind us that you are holding us all in your powerful hand and are by our side through it all. Amen. 

How did you feel when you left home? When your kids moved out?