Her porch and yard are unavoidable each time we go in or out our own front door. Unruly plants in various stages of life and death. Broken planters, crushed boxes, miscellaneous trash, half-empty bags of soil, all strewn and crowding into marginal space for squeezing through to the entrance. Discarded food in the front grass. Just messy and unsightly all around. Not to mention the rule violations as set forth in the lease agreement all residents are required to sign.
My porch, though, is neat and tidy, minimal furniture, a single flower pot, open space to move about. Quite enjoyable really, except for the view… (remember this for later).
I’ve stopped counting the number of times I think I’m just gonna take some pictures and send them to property management and see what they say about it. Yep, that will fix it. Then MY vision won’t be cluttered any more with such unattractive disarray.
As I seriously consider “today’s the day I’m gonna do it”, I’m not able to follow through when I ask myself why, why are you doing this, and I think about Mary instead.
I’ve tried to be friendly and engage with her, but she’s a talker, not a listener. She likes her church, and pie with that really tall meringue, you know? Enjoys flowering plants and shopping online. Has an old scraggly dog who cries pitiful when left out too long. Oh also, due to health challenges, has a hard time walking even short distances and is raising the teenage son of her own son who died. Yeah, there’s that…
When I saw pizza crust and stale biscuits freshly nestled in her front lawn, I sighed big, then hopped outside myself for a minute and wondered how it might be if Mary was in her porch chair and Jesus walked up right then…
Hi Mary! I see you enjoy some of the plants I made; I knew you would appreciate the deep reds and warm yellows of those particular roses.
I like that name, Mary; it’s My mom’s name too, you know?
I noticed Taylor’s history book on the dash of your car; he’s graduating high school next month, right? Wow! What happens with the time?
Mary, I’m so pleased with how you have selflessly cared for him all these years, in your own grief and times of struggle; it hasn’t been easy, but you’ve been so faithful, day after day. Thank you for being love to him; it has made more of a difference than you know. I love him too!
Do you need help moving anything around here on the porch? No? Ok.
Mary. May I pray with you? …
Thank you for letting Me do that. May I just sit here with you for a while?
I think Jesus saw me peeking out my imaginary window as I watched Him with her…
This is how you enter in, Debra. This is how you love like Me. See? It’s not that hard, especially if you consider all the rule violations I’ve already covered for you both. The mess of Mary’s porch and the stark tidiness of your own are the same to Me. You both need Me, just different. Mary is not a problem to be solved. In My kingdom, she is your sister in our family for eternity.
May I sit with you for a while too?
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ~ Matthew 11:28
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image by lavi perchik on unsplash