I am going to leave my pup this weekend for his first real sleep over. I do not know which one will be affected the most.. JD, Meghan or me. I know, who are we kiddin here, it will probably be me. I struggle leaving my fish behind, but I know he will be in good hands. Meg is part of the family as well. She and I survived MH together, every drug test(by that I mean chugged lots of water because the thought of someone staring at us while we peed? Urinated? I mean I don’t know what to say there, was a little ok a lot a bit awkward that our bladder had to be so full to produce a small amount to be tested. TMI, I know. It is the struggle, though. We always passed, by the way.), every cooking breakfast meal, every alliance trip being dropped off and abandoned to fend for ourselves, and every new person who came into our world. She definitely has the cutest kid who could trip anyone up about dinosaurs. I tried to compete once until he started telling me what, yeah I can not even say the name, and what it eats and how it walks and on and on. The kid is awesome, ok?
She is someone I would leave my fish with. This is true. I thought that I and another lady were the most amazed about the fish world, but I have found my match. We discuss our anxiety’s, and concerns on a regular basis. There is a lot of fish drama between the two of us, but I know it is always going to be good when the message starts out with, “You’ll never guess what happened with Saul today…” She is right, I never can guess what he did. I have been doing a lot of research this past week, no not on fish, I have so much piled in my brain. I also am running, ok well I say running, but really I mean walking at a slow pace on hours of sleep. Possibly, you should be aware of what is coming next, because I do not really have a clue. I think I may be in stage two of the sleep deprivation cycle. I probably just made that up as well.
I mean, I came here to talk about a leper. See, I am already off to a weird start, but that is the real truth. Ok, I will let you in my cerebrum for a bit. One thing I should let you know is my research has nothing to do with leporsy.. just disease. Don’t ask. We do not have time for that explanation! One day, maybe, it will all make sense. So, anyway, I was reading about the leper man who approached Jesus and said to Him, “I know you can heal me if you are willing” and Jesus says, “I am willing”. Immediately he is healed. That is the story. Yes it is like two or three verses, but I did not come for the story on the page. I came for the one we can not see. I searched the gospels for this particular one, and in Luke’s it says a man covered with leporsy. Covered. Leporsy from the research I have done is a slow growing disease which probably means he has had this “get away from me, do not touch me” sickness for awhile. He waited a long time for healing, and he did not even know healing was on its way. Is that not cool?! I somehow got stuck on this, because to really feel what this man was feeling I needed to know what it was like to be in his shoes… ok, feet. That is just how I am.
“Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!””
Mark 1:41
Back in the Bible days, to have this disease meant you were unclean therefore an outcast. Yeah. True. I for some reason am strangely emotional talking about this man, because I can just see him watching from a distance this fella who he has heard stories of. This man they call Jesus. The one who heals, and I wonder if in those I don’t know two or three minutes while he mustered up the courage to take the steps to meet his Saving Grace did he hesitate. Or was he just desperate enough to push back the crowd, get past the lies, weird looks, and death stares to get to Jesus. It says and suddenly he approached Him. He left it behind. He walked up to Jesus probably full of shame because he did not belong there, he was to be outside the city you know in his isolation. But He was trading his uncleanliness in with the One who washes it all clean. No matter what it looked like, and no matter what it took. That took courage. That took steps. That took determination. The outcome, though? I’d say it was worth it! What you figure?
Ok, I am kickin you out of my brain now, and just going to drink my coffee because it is super early. I do not know if the chickens are awake… I know dad is.
Grace upon Grace 