Sweetwater Presbyterian

Small in size, Large in Faith and Love

Devotion for April 20, 2016

Greetings!!

It was a big weekend and as a result we had a lot of company in our house. We have a nice house, normally a good size for us, but anytime you start to have more people than you are use to, things get a little crowded. Not that that is bad but it does render one to think and work a little differently than usual. And, that is OK.
Now when your company consists of those younger than 3, the whole situation takes on a whole new different perspective. It is amazing how much more space a young child occupies than an adult. Perhaps it is because they are in constant motion or the fact that adults like to keep space around them so that they can run and save them from whatever harrowing problem they have found themselves in!
So company came. Now there were multiple toddlers and pets and various adults and we spent time together and we ate and we played cribbage between jumps up to retrieve toddlers. Before we knew it, the house began to look like there were extra people and various toddlers and pets traversing around. Seems the toddlers had found the daily the newspaper which now lay separate sheets all over the house; the toddlers had also found each and every available toy which no longer resided neatly on the shelves where they had been previously located. They had discovered the cabinet which held our ‘to go’ cups and these had been disassembled and strewn to various locations.
All of this, of course, in the span of a ver short time - much quicker than we ever thought possible.
It is then that we came to the realization that there were more friends coming to visit and it would probably be a good idea if we repair the chaos generated by these two wee ones as well as a bit of chaos created by the adults as well……
It was then that an amazing thing happened… the toddlers went to bed for their nap and everyone got busy. Without even any prompting, I headed to the bathroom and began to clean and my husband took out his floor cleaner and fired it up, the son-in-law began to pick up the plethora of items that were strewn about on floors and surfaces and everywhere, the daughters did dishes and swept and hung up clothes and scrubbed whatever had not been cleaned by something else…..
Within the span of quickness, before you would have even imagined, the previously paper strewn, toy strewn, cup strewn, and other object strewn, well used and well enjoyed happy home was now sparkling and shine and neat and clean and had taken on the appearance of a completely new place! And it was all due to the teamwork of a family who motivated by a common cause was able to work together and accomplish a task - even an impossible task of working to correct a couple hours of toddlers randomly exploring the world around them and the resulting havoc! Now we had a space that was truly ready to receive the company that was on their way…..
None of this could have been accomplished with such speed and completeness had there not been everyone working together. None of this could have been accomplished had there not been those willing to just pick up and do a task without cajoling or guilting or really even a little prompting. There was a need and it was met…. Even the impossible task of toddlers!
Is this not the picture of the church? We as a church have been gathered together by God. We are in our church for a common purpose; a common goal; a common bond of life in Jesus Christ. We aren’t a part of the church just to come and sit behind one another in the pews during worship, but a church who comes together so that we can accomplish the mission God has set before us to love and serve others. Each of us has a part to contribute; each of us has a ability to be a valuable part of the church; each of us is motivated by the love and example Jesus sets before us and as we pick up and heed the call and work together - think about what we can accomplish together!
God in his wisdom gave us this opportunity through the church to love one another, to care about one another and to work together. Think about how much we can accomplish together and what a feeling of accomplishment we will have together as we honor our Lord and Savior that as the church we simply pick up and together do what needs to be done! Amen