Thursday, April 3 ~ Family Connection in the Faith

~~Matthew 10:2-4
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

~~When I was a kid at North Middletown Elementary School, we had recess every single day. When it rained or was too cold, we had recess in the gym, or in the classroom, playing games like Thumbs Up Seven Up at our desks. We struggled to be quiet on those inside days because learning had to go on up and down the venerable hallways. 
But on the days when we got to play outside … it was an out-and-out energy expending fest! We ran and laughed and played and released all those pent-up study fidgets.
I preferred those games where everyone could play. I disliked the games, however, where we had to choose teams. Those kinds of games made me sad. Someone was going to be left out – usually based on popularity, intelligence, social status … I didn’t want to be the kid who was left out, and I didn’t want to see any others left out.
I believe God was preparing my tender heart for an early life of hippie, inclusionary, Jesus-love.
Red Rover. Basketball. Four square. Tag. Duck, Duck, Goose.
To be the child who never got picked. Wow.
But to be the child who Jesus picks. Wow. But on a bigger scale. 
You see, when Jesus walked the dusty roads, or sank his toes into sea-side sand, and called out, “Hey, come be on my team”, he meant it for eternity, not just for recess. And he meant it for all, not just for the fisherman who could throw his net the farthest, or the tax collector who was more honest, or the better looking brother. Jesus wanted the goody-two-shoes brother and the brother who struggled. He wanted the athlete and the nerd. He wanted the willing and the zealous and the one who sometimes forgot to pack courage for the stormy seas.
Even now, he picks me and he picks you and he brings us together and he puts us in boats and cubicles and classrooms and behind computers and at the wheel of forklifts. He says “come be on my team.” We are never the children not picked.
And to this … how do we respond?
Kristy H.