I just filled a cup with Door County Caramel Apple Coffee and it is just what I needed. I have a touch of a head cold that I am fighting off and sleep has escaped me a little.. So it's time to coffee up!
As a young boy I would receive model kits of airplanes, cars, battleships, or movie props as gifts. It would take hours, if not days to construct these things, then paint them and add decals to make them look real. They were scaled down replicas that would sit on a shelf or dresser just waiting to collect dust and then be cleaned. It was fine if you were the person dusting them off. They were very delicate and just glued together. If not handled correctly they would break. I constructed a replica of the USS Missouri a famous World War Two battleship. When it was completed I tried floating it in the kitchen sink it turned on it's side and sunk. The models were very nice to look at, but they didn't do anything. They were plastic and glue. When they were completed people would say "Oh what a nice job you did". Really?? There were explicit instructions in every box, piece by piece blueprints designed for a 10 year old to follow. At that time in my life these models weren't made to move yet. Small airplane models were just then receiving engines so they could fly, tethered to a wire. The Jetsons were on television then so they only drones we knew of was George's flying car. "Radio Controlled" back then meant the teenager with the AM transistor radio held tight to his or her ear waling down the street.
These models were just models. They were made to occupy the time of young kids or those older folks who built them as a hobby. Except to be looked at later, dusted off or brought to school for show and tell they really were kind of useless. A lot of hard work went into these things and when completed correctly they were something to see but still really could not be used.
Matthew 25:35-40
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
Where am I going with all this babble about my child hood? Well here we go. We were all created by God and each of us has our own physical and mental differences. We are wonderfully made and have a purpose in life. We may not be equally physically as capable as everyone, but we have a purpose and we are to perform it. For instance.
Joni Eareckson Tada, the Founder and CEO of Joni and Friends International Disability Center, is an international advocate for people with disabilities. A diving accident in 1967 left Joni Eareckson, then 17, a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, without the use of her hands. After two years of rehabilitation, she emerged with new skills and a fresh determination to help others in similar situations.
During her rehabilitation, Joni spent long months learning how to paint with a brush between her teeth. Her high-detail fine art paintings and prints are sought-after and collected.
She also has a radio show where she gives Godly advice and inspiration to others. I for one listen to that show. She helps others and serves the Lord despite her disability.
Many people who are very capable have glued their joints and mouths together and have become "Shelf Models". Nice to look at but useless. As long as we are here on this Earth we have a commandment to love one another. To love one another also means to make sacrifices by doing things for others. Being kind is an action. Love is an action. Service requires action. Respect is an action. Are you on your own shelf? Some people only come off of the shelf for those they know very, very well. That's nice, but we are to love all. Do you jump in to serve a stranger or do you shelf yourself with others in "Holy Huddles" just serving those you know?
It's time to come off of the shelf and get into the game. I do not have even one of those old models. I outgrew the need for them when I started a phase where model rockets came about and they could be launched and manned by mice. my King Kong model became a target for my BB gun. If we sit too long we might not ever be used by God to help, inspire and love others. What a waste of life.
Don't be a shelf sitter. Dust yourself off. God gave you life. Use it for others. Try working in a soup kitchen and feeding others. Let God show you what to do. You will never run out od services to do.
Marty
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