Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? And if he finds it, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine others safe at home! Just so, it is not my Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.””
Matthew 18: 12-14 (TLB)
There it is.
Read that passage in Matthew one more time.
There you have it.
That is the way Christ is with each of us. You, and yes, even me.
Each of His precious children whom He loves, sees, watches over and protects, and walks with so they are never alone, encourages when afraid, and whom He will seek after and find when lost.
But those qualities are also what Christ wove into the hearts of those to whom He has entrusted with each of His children.
That is why we have always wanted our son, then daughter-in-law, now granddaughters and grandson, Godchildren, and others important to us, to see us to say goodbye and pray before they leave and let us know when they have arrived on one of their trips.
God wove that sacred responsibility into our hearts—my bride’s and mine.
Many understand that, and get it, embracing that responsibility seriously, and following Christ’s clear example.
Some do not. Instead, turning from the inherent responsibilities of caring, watching over and protecting, walking with, encouraging when fearful, seeking after when lost, all required with Christ’s gift of the sacred trust of each precious gift of a child.
And when they turn from that responsibility—through physical or emotional abandonment or abuse, or excuses of busyness or their children “just need to grow up sometime”—that sacred child, that sacred gift, begins to feel less, left out, lost, unloved and all alone.
And too often they look elsewhere to feel wanted, cared for, loved and never alone.
Or they begin to accept that they really are less, and, without the intervention of the grace of others providing love and the beginnings of healing, they may never become all they were created to be.
Mother—that is what we all called her—Lynda’s Mom, set the standard on earth for the example of Christ in that passage in Matthew, and how He wanted each of us to appreciate, treat and lift each sacred gift He entrusted to us. Lynda follows her model.
Mother was that for all of us, even for me—an “adopted son” as the young, nice but somewhat lost husband of her youngest daughter.
Along with her daughter, then my bride, Mother showered me with grace upon grace, helping me to overcome what had gone on before, and helping me to begin to see all who God saw in me, and who God created me to be.
When any family member was traveling, or going through something, Mother would not sleep until she got the call from that sacred family member, knowing we had arrived safely as planned, or were in a better place with whatever we were facing.
For those of us who never had that caring and loving expectation as a child, it sometimes was seen initially as overbearing. Actually, though, it was a latent desire of something we wish had been a part of our lives as a child.
Today, our own children, grandchildren, Godchildren, and others know of those same expectations we have for them.
Christ’s and Mother’s examples require no less of us.
No higher standards. No greater love.
For each one of God’s children entrusted to them.
Reminding us in the words of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” that with the love of those following Christ’s and Mother’s example, you will always be able to—
“Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
And you’ll never walk alone!
You’ll never walk alone.”
Did you call Mother? I will.
Christ’s love. Mother’s love.
Feeling lost. Afraid. All alone.
As the shepherd went out to find the one, Christ goes out to find you and me.
Never alone.
In His Name–Scott
Be encouraged and lifted as you watch this beautiful video and listen to the incredible Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
