BALANCE...DOES IT EVER COME?...This morning I was taking some time to read some blogs and came across some new ones that I enjoyed. One theme that I often wrestle with as I read many of them, which came through clearly in one (that I don't want to reference because I don't want to pick on the person) is a "me and mine" thinking that seems to permeate many of the blogs I read. Let me explain. For some reason, many blogs that are written by people who have something to say, are often written by homeschooling mothers...of every stripe you can imagine. Many of very solid, Biblical people who desire to grow in their faith and obey Christ in their lifestyle no matter what it demands of them. I very much admire many for what they do because if involves a lot of sacrifice on their part. Some are into the self-sufficient grow your own food/ get land for you and your children/have as many children as you can school of thought which I think is fine as an option but not as a requirement for all christians. Of course, they range all the way to people living in cities with middle class jobs and lifestyles making the homeschooling decision one year at a time (and everything in between.)

Without going into the variety of schools of thought among the varying bloggers...and there are many, one thing seems to come out that concerns me. There seems to be a lack of interest...at least in the comments that get made...about mission...to those who are different, to those who are unlike themselves, to those who are less fortunate in some way. One blog I read today was a comment re a boy in the neighborhood from a family with a lot of problems, who likes to come over to play with the son of the family. The mother feels that it is ok to let him play with the son as long as she is able to be aware of all that is going on. The problem came when he asked to go to the bathroom in the house. Evidently, a younger sister's babyseat was on the toilet and he wasn't able to figure out how to remove it in time to avoid having an accident. His accident resulted in a puddle on the floor of the bathroom and in other parts of the bathroom. Of course, this caused quite a bit of cleanup for the mother. The story was humorous...with an edge.

All the comments to the blog were at best sympathetic to the mother of the family (as I would be) and many said things like...I have a family like that in my neightborhood and won't let my children play with them at all... I find these attitudes to be very sad. What did Jesus mean when He said, "When you did it to the least of these, you did it to Me?" For those of you who know me, you know that I was unable to not send a comment to that blog. I tried to be tactful and kind, because this mother was wise in what she did (to supervise the situation) but the attitudes after that were echoed by so many are not those we are to have toward those God places in our sphere of influence. The people God places in our lives that need ministry are never convenient or neat. But what is our priority--a clean, neat house/life (something i've always wanted, but never been able to accomplish) or do we have an eternal view toward our friendships and interactions with others including those in our neighborhood?

I confess, for the sake of honesty, that I have failed more often than succeeded in this area in my life in terms of having people in to the house for hospitality, but there have been times when I have had to make decisions re children that were difficult to have over because of the mess they caused, when I knew that ultimately the kingdom was more important than how much I had to clean up after them. I wish I had had more kids in more often when my kids were older, but that is another story for another blog. More and more today, a healthy christian family is a rarety. Children and teens are attracted to it and want to be a part of it. Are we going to be short-sighted and push them away because all we can be consumed with is our neat house or a tidy life? May God grant us grace to know how to be obedient to Him as we minister to the people around us who need His life-changing grace in their lives.