GROWING SEEDS: “I AM The Good Shepherd"

"I AM Your Good Shepherd....I AM Food For Your Soul"                                               

When I was a small child, I would find myself on my Dad's lap with my head on his chest halfway through the church sermon, as he stroked my hair and placed my hand in his suit blazer so I could feel his heart beating.  The steady beat of his heart in my hand always lulled me to sleep....EVERY time.  I was safe....I was loved....by my Dad.

I had forgotten about those times so many years ago until I read the book, "Abba's Child" by Brennan Manning a few years ago.  I was touched to tears by what I felt was Brennan's pleading for me to understand how much my Good Shepherd loves me.....how much He longs for me to place my head on His chest and feel His heart beating.  To feel safe....to feel loved....by my Abba.  My God.

Do you realize that many of the little "lambs" here in Mt. Vernon who will be anxiously waiting at their doors these next few weeks as we deliver Lunches of Love to them, have never experienced that feeling of being safe and feeling loved that we take for granted?  Many, at no fault of their own, live in a home where their Good Shepherd is never mentioned, where food is scarce and the word "safe" isn't a feeling they know anything about.

It's our responsibility, folks, to place that child's hand on the heart of their Savior....to gently teach them to rest their head on His chest so they can feel the steady heartbeat and know they are safe, loved and fed.....both physically and spiritually....by their Father.  Their God.

And in the words of Brennan Manning, "Perhaps when the final curtain falls, you will have told the story to only one person.  God promises that one cup of living water drawn from the Fountain and passed on to another will not go unrewarded."

And in the words of Jesus, 

"What I want is MERCY, not SACRIFICE." (Matthew 9:13)