Down Mulberry Lane

Making preparations...

We had a New Year's Eve party last night.  Five from our church showed up.  One youth and 4 adults.  I'm not sure why the decline.  In past years, we've had quite the full house.  However having only 5 guests... and 5 home from my family (Dh was on a transfer for work) caused us to focus more on just each other than perhaps when we have a full house and everyone is running around. 

The pastor played a game of ping pong with my daughter and a friend.  And a couple others played mario cart on the Wii.  I made supper which consisted of hot dogs, baked beans and potato chips... so I really didn't cook... just warmed up what needed warming.  After we ate, we played Apples to Apples.  The Pastor's family really enjoyed this game.  About this time, the one youth that came over started feeling sick and got a fever.  She spent the night, but spent most the night curled up in a blanket on the couch or curled up by the fire.  We played a couple rounds of scattergories, but by 9pm the guests were ready to leave. 

At about that time, a friend who lives almost 2 hours away showed up for the party and the girls were so happy to see him.  (He's the son of a previous pastor).   They all stayed up to see the new year in.  Steve finally got home about 12:30 AM and talked with the kids for about an hour and then all went to bed... I went to bed around 11:30 PM with little Paige. 

Anyways, I noticed something... the disappointment of so little showing up for the New Years party really bothered the girls.  They've enjoyed hosting this party every year for several years now and this year was quite low in numbers.  It got me to thinking about other church events... when we show up... we're 5 in number usually, so when we don't show up, it's a small crowd.  I'm sure many others have spent many hours preparing for guests, only to be disappointed that so few or none at all showed up. 

Oh what a lesson for our hearts!  Jesus is preparing for us to come home!  He is making preparations and is so excited and wants all of us to come.   Yet we linger, find something else to do instead of making our own preparations for the trip home.  We find something better to do rather than attending a celebration that we are invited to.  While we were happy for the few guests that came, we also felt for those that didn't come.  I am almost sure that Jesus will do the same.    Oh the disappointment of those that choose not to come, yet eager anticipation over those that are planning to come and the joy to see them when they arrive. 

Something to think about.  I want to be sure I am ready for Jesus to come take me home... and my family, too. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Untitled Comment

5:31 PM, January 1, 2009 .. Posted by DEANMAMA5

Sorry to hear about the disappointment, and for the teen getting sick.
What a great Bible lesson to think about, though. Thanks for sharing.

God Bless,

Angela

Untitled Comment

1:16 AM, January 2, 2009 .. Posted by mamato8

In reply to your comment on my xanga page:
Melissa you can just comment this way for now but later on I might set the settings to xanga users only and them you'd need an xanga accnt. I'll give ya plenty of warning though:)

One reason it might be good if you had an xanga accnt though is sometimes I like to share more pictures of all my kids and I'll do those "protected". That means only people I add to my "protected" list will be able to view it. I thinkI can only add xanga users to that list.

Happy new year!

great thoughts!

10:40 AM, January 3, 2009 .. Posted by SuperHorseSteader

I sure havent thought about it like that, and it is something to ponder! I look forward to the return of the Savior and I think it will happen very soon!

Thank you for sharing some of your Jewish history! I enjoyed reading it! :)
Prayers and Blessings,
Miss Amanda
http://superangelsblog.com