A 2 Z 4 U and Me Meme

All right, folks. I really hate how texting has sped up the loss of our ability to use homonyms correctly (there, their, they're). And I really, really hate all the crazy abbrevations people use in their texting. If I wanted letters in my sentences, I would be an Algebra teacher.
  That said, I was following Patty Wysong's blog and she has a fun excercise called the A 2 Z 4 U and Me http://www.pattywysong.com/ . She gives the letter and we write a little bit about it. Since it's only 11:22 PM and I have a few hours before some baby or toddler or older kid wakes up (although nothing is for certain), I thought I'd participate!

 R is our letter...

  Last year I worked with a woman who had the craziest sense of humor. She would make odd sounds or put on an accent or give half a line of movie dialogue. And it just cracked me up. This letter makes me think of the way Lili would whisper, "Rage!" in a crazy, high-pitched voice, with a straight face, usually while getting up to help someone being too needy, or for a task that she'd done a hundred times already.
   It NEVER failed to make me laugh.

  And no matter how much I try to duplicate it, it's just not funny when I try.

  Anyway, that was a side note. Here's what I really wanted to say...

  It's raining.  And I can't help but think of one of my favorite Bible verses, Matthew 5:45.

            "He makes his sun rise on the evil and the good,
                 and sends RAIN on the just and the unjust."

 Last Sunday the Gospel reading was the parable of the vineyard owner who brings in workers, promising them 'a just day's wage'. Some worked from early morning, some came at noon, and some came just an hour before the day was done. He paid them all the same, beginning with the ones who came last. The workers who bore the brunt of the day's labor and the heat were angry and jealous, asking why they did not receive much more that those who had only worked an hour. And the vineyward owner replies that they recevied what was promised and should not be jealous of those who received the same for less work.

  What a beautiful parable that is! Even for those of us who have been Christian our entire adults lives, we delight in the promise that God waits for us ALL with open arms. Whether we come to the harvest in the morning light, at noon,  or at the end of the day, he welcomes and rewards every one who responds to his call. He sends the rain to fall on the just and the unjust, his mercies fall freely to any of us willing to open our hearts to him.