Good Soil
… other seed fell on good soil…. Matthew 13:8
I’m all the soils.
Sometimes I’m so flat and dull
that the seed of God’s word to me
becomes bird food. A flutter
of distracting feathers
and everything’s gone.
Other times I’m rocky and full of
thorns.
Prickly, temperamental,
and entirely entitled.
I block the sun.
Only you can turn me
into good soil, Lord.
Little by little
soften my heart.
Render it tender
and open.
Give me eyes that see
and ears that hear.
Able to abide in you
and bear fruit
for the world.
Don’t Cry
When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her…. Luke 7:13
When my daughter was just a few weeks old
and cried, her three-year-old brother
would urge me to there-there Kristin,
there-there being the natural
thing to say while patting
a crying baby’s back.
When Jesus encountered
the weeping widow accompanying
the corpse of her only son,
my version of the Scriptures records
him telling her, Don’t cry.
In the vernacular he well
could have put a hand on her shoulder
and said There-there.
My baby girl grew up.
She no longer cries for her supper.
The widow, too, stopped crying
when Jesus restored her son.
And I hear the God of all comfort
sometimes telling me, There-there.
… [the] enemy came and sowed weeks among the wheat…. Matthew 13:25
Please, Lord,
deliver me from the arrogance
of judging which of my acquaintances
is wheat and which is a weed.
You get to decide that.
Traveling Light
Take nothing for the journey except a staff. Mark 6:8
When we left for a term of missionary service,
we counted two suitcases per person,
plus carry-ons and travel bags.
We shipped the crates separately.
I would calculate the kids’ ages
three years in advance and purchase
appropriate clothes and toys.
And books! Can’t forget our resources!
Their weight drove up the shipping costs
but aren’t missionaries supposed to be poor?
Being prepared was crucial
and making sure our kids
(who were not called) were well provided for.
We never even bothered to pack a staff.
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