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Home or House?
by Kathlyn Fauchon Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Psalm 127:1 Just now I went to hang a basket of washing in our brilliant Australian sunshine. As I walked to the clothesline Kookaburras suddenly let out a raucous laughing. Usually we hear them very early in the mornings. It is almost mid morning now. At the sound I stopped and looked up. Yes, they were in that big gum tree just behind us in the neighbouring street. Two flew out of the tree and soared in a circle. The others continued laughing from within the leafy branches. Two more flew out of the tree in the same circle but different directions. What's going on here, I thought, are they having an altercation? Eventually they settled two in one tree and two in another. I went back to my chore. My mind went into a train of thought as I focussed now on hanging the washing. Many people around the word probably use dryers for their washing. We are blessed to have plenty of sunshine too much for some people. I meditated on these things and thought how we have so many appliances to make work easier. I thought of the old days, of wood heated coppers, ringers (or mangles), starches, steam, huge baskets of heavy, wet laundry and all to be carried to a clothes line in the middle of and across the back yard. As a child my mother's clothes line was outside the back yard in the middle of a paddock. We lived in the country. I asked myself this question, who is happier? Are we happier with all our gadgets? I think not because we have to earn more money to pay for them and the fine houses we put them into. To earn more money both parents go out to work. When it comes to the weekends and a much needed rest we have to work hard to clean these fine houses of ours. Because of time factors we leave our children to be brought up by others in pre-school nurseries and after school care. More and more stressed grandparents are seen pushing prams around the shopping centres. There are other issues too, like the environment for instance. Every time we turn on an appliance we are putting pressure on nature, God's creation, and adding to global warming. In the "good old days" people honoured God. They were glad of the "rest day" He had prescribed for them. Today God is far out of the picture. He is even an embarrassment to many. Jesus said, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." [Luke 9:26] Father, help us to see that Your Kingdom, Your Heaven is the best treasure we could every own. Help us to work for treasures in heaven. Help us to live simply remembering that You are our provider and that You love and care for us better than we could ever care for ourselves. Amen. Kathlyn Fauchon lives in NSW Australia. She and her husband have retired to the coast. Kathlyn has written three children's books and for the past two years has been writing articles and devotionals. She has been published in many magazines and ezines. She writes for www.4Hime2U.com (an ezine). Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |