Lone sheep

In Luke 15, Jesus tells a parable.  He poses the scenario of a shepherd and his flock of 100.  The shepherd loses 1 sheep, and Jesus asks the crowd to consider how they as shepherds would respond.  Will the shepherd remain in the field with the 99, or go search for the 1?  As readers today, we think this through, and in my course of personal decision-making, I realize my heart rushing to the lost sheep.  My head conjures an image of an animal panicked and prone to self-harm.  So readily do I identify with this sheep that I know my answer to Christ’s question has to be to leave the 99.  I know firsthand this sheep’s mental anguish.  Imagining it drifting toward danger and baa-ing to plead its desperation, I sympathize with its emotional exhaustion, for clearly I have wandered my own treacherous field.  It’s really the both of us needing a shepherd.  And Jesus proceeds to describe a shepherd who searches to the point of finding his sheep and lovingly putting it on his shoulders to carry home.  So now my perspective shifts from the sheep to the shepherd, and I'm humbled by a flood of introspective questions.  How well do I care for the sheep that the Lord entrusts to me?  Do I comfort those who appear nervous?  Do I take time to search out those missing?  Am I willing to sacrifice myself for their sake?  These opening verses inspire many lessons, and ultimately our Shepherd calls us to seek Him, to pray, to follow.  I’m so thankful to be in Christ's flock. 

Girls Like Us

How do you respond when something peculiar happens?  Do you slough it off and say “Oh, well”?  Do you just move on?  Or do you smirk and get mad and beleaguer the circumstances because they just don’t make sense?  In my case, I kind of shook my head and wondered.  I never imagined 4 years ago how the Lord would use a book I read.  My friend handed me Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale.  I read it and took notes, pondering later, “Why did I do that?  I set out to read, not write.  Why did I spend extra time taking notes as if I were going to teach this book?”  I couldn’t remember consciously making the decision, yet it happened, and then over years I forgot about it.  Fast forward to 2017, and I’m praying for the Lord to guide the selection of a new teaching resource for a class.  So far no book titles seem to fit.  None seems to bring peace to my heart, until I sort through my teaching bag another time and find Girls Like Us.  And there my old notes call out, “Yes, teach!”  Of course, the Lord in His omniscience knew 4 years ago that I’d be working today with precious women who have endured abuse.  He in His infinite wisdom had prepared me while I was unaware.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”  And yet as I've seen Him provide for my future repeatedly, I'm amazed each time.  We pray to be in His will and follow Him for the day, yet a day can affect unto years.