Adopted

I want you to meet what have become my children since my human children are all grown and have their own families. Don't worry Cesar. I know they are dogs.

As I was saying, this is one mostly happy family. The dog on the left is the matron of the group and she is my 14- year- old Boston Terrier named Sassy (She was a rescue from a puppy mill. That's why her front legs are so crooked. Malnutrition.). The middle dog is my 3-year- old Lab, Squirt, (Don't laugh...she came with that name) and on the right. my one-year-old Boston Terrier, Buddy.

However, it is Sassy I want to talk about. Now Sassy was an only dog until 3 years ago. It was then that we rescued Squirt to be my protection while my husband was out of town. Sassy immediately took Squirt and began to teach her the rules of the house. With a lot of work and a lot of time, Squirt became the calm, submissive dog that Sassy is. You see, she was better able to train Squirt than I was because she UNDERSTOOD Squirt better than I did...seeing as how she is a dog and all.

Two years later we bought Buddy from a reputable breeder. When we brought Buddy home, Sassy looked at us almost as if to say, "I canNOT believe that you have brought me another puppy when I am just finishing the training on this one!" Regardless of how she felt, she soon adopted Buddy even though she is completely blind, has no front teeth, and can barely move because of her arthritis. In fact, it amazes me that she would even TRY to show Buddy the rules since he is so hyper and she is so handicapped. But when she speaks, the other two listen. She adopted them and so now she is the mother and Squirt and Buddy are her puppies. And let me tell you, she runs a tight ship.

Even though Sassy never had puppies of her own, her natural instinct was to adopt the other two whether they looked like her (like Buddy) or not (like Squirt), just like our God adopts us no matter what we look like, how we act, or what we do. As long as we accept Jesus as the boss of our life, God becomes our father.

Now this "happy little dog family" does not always get along. In fact there is always some wrestling going on between Squirt and Buddy. But when it is enough, Sassy barks, calling someone to break it up. If one of them gets too rambuncious, she snarles and snaps at them to get them back in line.

Just because you are family doesn't mean you always get along. But BECAUSE you are a family, you are always loved. When we watch TV at night, Sassy is beside me, Buddy is in my lap, and Squirt is at my feet. Not so much because they want to be close to me. But because they want to be close to each other. They are close to their "mother" and they feel at home.

We are like Squirt and Buddy. No, we're not dogs. But we are adopted into God's family. God tell us so in Romans 8:15-17, "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children and if children also heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ." (HCSB).

Cool thing about all this adoption talk, when we are adopted, we are chosen. Sassy didn't HAVE to take in Squirt and Buddy. She CHOSE to do it. In the same way, God CHOOSES us to be His children and heirs to His kingdom. He understands us when we don't even understand ourself because we are created in His image. And THAT should make us feel loved.

The Pain of Neglect

"But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee:" (Luke 12:20a)

I never paid much attention to that verse until this past New Year's Eve when I received a phone call about 4 am telling me that my baby brother had passed away (I never have understood why people say "lost" when someone dies. They're not lost. You know exactly where they are. God merely issued a "change-of-address").

You see, we never visited each other or talked to each other very much- not just with my little brother, but my other siblings too. Oh, we saw each other on the obligatory family events and holidays, but we usually never saw or spoke to each other in between times. I don't know about my siblings, but I know I made a dozen excuses.

"I'll call (visit) when I'm not so busy."

"I'll do more calling (visiting) once I retire.

"We just can't get our schedules together."

"He works odd hours and I never know when to call (visit)"

There was always a "reason" why I stayed uninvolved in the lives of my brothers and sister. After all, there would always be tomorrow. We're all still young and will have plenty of time later.

Always later. Always tomorrow. Always waiting for the next holiday to "catch up."

I learned New Year's Eve what a fool I had been...how much I had lost. I discovered that while I knew a lot about Tommy as a teenager and a child, I knew little or nothing about the years after his marriage to my sister-in-law. I had to attend his funeral to learn that he had sold cars and cemetery plots. I am ashamed to say I didn't know that. As I listened to his best friend give the eulogy, I learned more about my brother than I had in the past 20 years. I had been so caught up in my own life, I never bothered to find out about his.

Since his death, I am trying harder to keep in touch with my siblings. We all have facebook pages and we try to keep up that way. Even my nieces, nephews, my children and their families have home pages. That helps some. And I always talk to Mom at least once a week.

We just never know about these things. A wise man once said to plan like you'll live forever and live like there is no tomorrow. That is what God said in this verse. That's the point I missed in my piety about not storing up treasures in this world and jokes about no U-Hauls behind hearses.

I got the message too late for Tommy. Life doesn't give "do-overs". It does, however, allow second chances. Don't miss our second chance to say the things we always wanted to say to our loved ones or to become as familiar with their life as we are with the lives of people on reality TV shows.

I only had one baby brother and I missed his life. Please don't make my mistake.

The Parable of the Birds

Sitting on the wire, a hummingbird, a house wren, a swallow, and a killdeer were discussing the housing industry.

The hummingbird bragged, “My nest is one of the smallest built by any bird. It is small, compact, and very neat if I do say so myself. And I can build it almost anywhere.”

To which the swallow replied, “Yours is definitely a small work of art and I have never understood how you can weave that grass so tightly, but I assure you a swallow’s nest is much better than a hummingbird nest. You nest in the trees and your nest may be blown down by a strong wind. Now MY nest is made in the sheltered corners of the humans’ buildings and with the use of mud to hold it together, it is always there when we come back the next year.”

“You definitely build too close to the humans. I have seen many of them knocking down the nest once you leave for the year,” replied the hummingbird.

“You both make much too much over a nest!” screamed the house wren. I build THREE nests and the little woman gets to choose which one she wants when she shows up….”

“You call that mess a nest?” screeched the hummingbird and swallow. “Surely you must be joking!” they laughed.

“My nest is sufficient to lay eggs in and raise children” pouted the house wren.

“Yeah, if it doesn’t fall apart or blow away,” snorted the other two.

About that time the killdeer decided it was time for another point of view and said, “I don’t build a nest at all,” he cackled. “I lay my eggs on the gravel that the humans leave lying around and if anyone or anything comes too close, I have the perfect plan. Instead of “dive bombing” them like the 3 of you, I merely make a lot of noise, act like I have a broken wing and lead the intruder away from my eggs. Once they chase me far enough, I simply fly away. There, no fuss, no bother.”

The argument then became very loud and very heated as each defended his own way of doing things.
They made so much noise that a dove flew up from the meadow to see what all the fuss was about. He listened carefully as each one made his case. Then, scratching his head thoughtfully, he replied, “Now let me make sure I understand everything I have heard. You all have nests, right?”

All four nodded their heads in agreement.

“And all the nests are capable of holding the eggs and the children until they are old enough to go out on their own, right?

Again, more nodding.

“And I think we can all agree that we are all birds and share many things, the most important of which is birthing and growing more children for otherwise we birds will all die out, right?

“Yes”

“Well then what are you arguing about? Just because one of you likes a small nest, another a mud nest, yet another a messy nest and a fourth no nest at all, doesn’t change the fact that we are birds and the Creator told us at the beginning to be fruitful and multiply. No matter how much we argue, we cannot deny that there is only one Creator, one command, and one result. All we need to do is be obedient and love one another.”

The four birds hung their collective heads in shame. Here they had been arguing over outward appearances when all that really matter was the command of the one and only Creator and being obedient to Him. How could they have been so silly?

All the birds decided it was time to check in at home and help care for the children. As they flew away, they thanked the Creator for the good news the dove had shared with them. Now, they see how silly all their petty bickering about their differences was.

In fact, I believe I saw the swallow holding the feeder so the hummingbird could drink the nectar. And later that morning I know I saw the house wren, the swallow and the killdeer taking turns and helping one another at the bird feeder.

Funny how we humans also argue over the things that don’t really matter. The only thing that matters is that there is One Creator, God, and He sent His Son so that we would have good news to share with each other, our families and the entire world. And best of all we have His love to share with one another.

Next time you see a bunch of birds chattering away on a wire, remember that their differences are not as obvious as the love they share with each other.

“Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God”, Romans 15:7