Christian Living

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When my family and I lived in Liberal, Kansas, we developed a neat little tradition with our neighbors, Don & Patty. When they moved in next door the girls and I made fruit pizza, cut it into slices, arranged it on a little plate and walked across our front yard to welcome them to the neighborhood.

A day or two later Patty returned the plate, but guess what? It wasn’t empty! In fact it was heaped full of delicious chocolate chip cookies! Sometime later we filled the same plate with sugar cookies and once again it was returned full of delicious treats (this time it was rice crispy squares.)

What began as a simple welcome to the neighborhood developed into a fun tradition between our two families. In fact, we looked forward to the exchange.

I find that a similar exchange takes place in my relationship with Christ. Of course what I offer Him isn’t always as delightful as the treats we shared with our neighbors. More often than not the plate I lay before the father is full of broken bits and pieces of life topped with a generous portion of sin. I wouldn’t blame Him if he just shook the plate over the garbage, handed it back to me empty and (with a hint of disgust in His voice) said, “Please do better this time.” But, thanks to grace, that never happens. Instead, He returns my plate heaped full of His love, forgiveness, and grace!

The tradition between my family and our neighbors ended when we moved to another area. How comforting it is to know that for the rest of my life no matter what I hand the father, I get a full plate in return!

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