I have always enjoyed the Parable of the Lost Coin from the book of Luke:
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” [Luke 15: 8-10]
I have always enjoyed the images of Angels celebrating every time someone enters the kingdom of heaven. Every time I hear a story of salvation or a baptism testimony, I get a mental picture of angels in heaven celebrating. The verse doesn’t say so, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Father, Son and Holy Spirit right there along with them celebrating right along with them. This Saturday night, that idea of celebration takes on a whole new meaning for me. This Saturday, at around 7:00 PM or so, my seven year old daughter will be baptized, and I can’t wait to celebrate along with the angels. Now, mind you, they’ve already had their big celebration, as did I on a Sunday afternoon in April. Here’s what I wrote about that day (April 18, 2010) previously:
On the way to church yesterday my 8 year old son (nine today – Happy Birthday Jacob), my seven year old daughter (Lyndsey) and I were talking about the gospel and being saved. My son (who is saved and has been baptized) asked how you know for sure that you’ve been saved (this was after a lesson last week on Thomas and how doubts are normal in the Christian life). So, we talked about the prayer of salvation and then we talked about how being saved is much more than just that prayer. We talked about the outward and inward signs of being saved like changes in attitudes, regretting when you do bad things not just because of the thing itself but because it is something God wouldn’t want you to do, etc., and we talked about how God changes us from the inside out. When we got in the truck to come home from church Lyndsey was kind of quiet then she told me, “I don’t think I’ve ever said that prayer.” I asked her if she wanted to, and she said she did but not until we got home and her brother wasn’t in the truck.
Summer is here, and if you ask my kids this is the most exciting time of the year. This year, they are off at the beach for several weeks while dear old Dad is left behind to work and continue the normal routine. That said, there are a number of things coming up soon which I am very excited about this coming summer. I’ve written about many of them here before, but I thought I would list them out again here in chronological order. God willing, these are the things I am looking forward to this weekend:
Last week there was a bug making its way through my house, and I don’t mean the kind with wings or umpteen gazillion legs or even beady little eyes. This bug was more of the stomach variety. My daughter was the first to show the symptoms on the weekend. I got hit on Monday going into Tuesday. Finally, on Wednesday, the bug finally won its battle and took out five people in one afternoon including my two year old. Still reeling and feeling nauseous myself, I spent a good portion of Wednesday cleaning vomit and such (sorry for the details, but they’re integral to the story). Anyhow, come Thursday I was sick (pun intended) of cleaning and disinfecting, so when my two year old son laid down with me in my bed to watch TV, I asked, “How’s your stomach feeling Nathan?” He replied, and I quote, “I’m fine. How’s your back doing?”
I haven’t written extensively about it here, but over the last ten weeks or so, I have been laid up with pain from a pinched nerve in my back. For the last two-and-a-half months, I have been virtually bed-ridden. I have missed church, missed work, missed birthdays, and missed normal day-to-day interaction outside of my immediate family. Through it all, God has proven himself gracious, sufficient and always in control. That, however, is a post for another day.
But, something happened this weekend that really struck me. I attend a fairly large church (around 2,000 people), and I was absolutely taken aback by the number of people who approached me to ask how I was doing and see if I was feeling better. What astounded me even more than that was the number of them that I didn’t even really know personally. Even more astounding yet were the number of kids (from Kindergarten through Fifth grade) who came up to me to tell me that they had missed me and that they were glad I was back. Many even asked how my back was doing. It really was heart warming for me to see and feel how God’s community works and cares for one another.
Inspired by Kenny Conley (as always), and his post “