just as momma loves her plants

Bill traveled back to Springfield Missouri last week to continue his search for chaplains to minister at the Flying J Truck Stop.  I stayed at home to attend some school activities with my grandchildren. And since I am home, I am also getting to spend some extra time with my mother.  My 86 year old mom lives alone and for the most part is very independent.  However, there are a few tasks that she just cannot physically attend to anymore.  Therefore, she has to ask for help.  So this morning, she needed all of her many pot plants moved from her front porch, which she has set up as a green house, to her back porch so that she can enjoy them all spring and summer.
My brother, sister, and I carefully moved these plants for Momma.  But she was there to tell us exactly where she wanted each plant.  She remembered every plant that she had stored away last fall, and she knew exactly where each plant was to be placed.  She kept telling us that she knew she had too many plants and that she probably should get rid of some of them.  But then, she would say, “I just can’t stand to let them die, and nobody else wants them.”  We moved plants from place to place until we had them just the way Momma wanted them.  Then we watched as Momma, carefully and patiently, went to each plant, cut off all the dead leaves, and then gave each plant a refreshing drink of water.  As I observed, Momma taking care of her plants, I thought about how Jesus is our caregiver and how he feels the same way about his children.
Jesus wants us to be right there with him, in that perfect place that he has chosen for our life.  But even if we drift off, or get lost, for a little while, he doesn’t forget about us and he always wants us back.  To me, some of Momma’s plants were not worthy of being saved.  They had lost most of their leaves, and as far as I was concerned, they could have been thrown away.  But not to Momma, she knew she could revive them.  Once again, God is the same way.  He knows that it is never too late for one of his children.  No matter how ugly, damaged, or broken his children are never too far gone to be saved and brought back to life.  While no one else may think they are worthy and no one else may want to put forth the effort to revive them, God does.  God can help rid us of all our sins and then he can give us a drink from that everlasting fountain.  He can take that broken, damaged, ugly life and turn it into a beautiful child of God; just the same way that Momma takes those ugly, lifeless stems and turns them into strong, healthy, beautiful plants.
I Peter 2:24-25 says, “Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.  It is by his wounds that you have been healed.  You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls. “   God watches after us and protects us.  He will never forget about us. When we feel that we are not worthy or that no one cares about us, we need to remember that just as Momma loves and takes care of her plants; God will take care of us.