Ministry and Care

Once upon a time, a mechanic was removing a cylinder-head from an engine when a heart surgeon walked into the garage.  The mechanic shouted across to her, “Hey Doc!  Take a look at this!”  

A little surprised, the heart surgeon walked to where the mechanic was working.  The mechanic straightened up, wiped her hands on a rag and said, “Look at this engine.  I open its heart, take the valves out, repair the damage and put everything back together again.  When I’m finished it works just like new.  How come, then, I make fraction of what you make every year – yet you and I are basically doing the same kind of work?”  

The heart surgeon smiled and said softly, “Try doing it with the engine running.”  

It’s not only heart surgeons who do it with the engine running: so do parents!  

Every single human being is a complex mix of moods, personality, experiences, pre-occupations and varying degrees of wellness.  There are countless variables at play in any human interaction.  This makes the challenge of parenting children rather daunting.  There’s almost always a good deal else happening in their lives - and ours - that needs to somehow be acknowledged and negotiated before growth and insight can take place.

It’s also the thrill parenting.  Life can be random!  You never quite know ‘what you’re gonna get’ or how your day will unfold.  

All the more reason to rely upon the constancy of God – whose grace never changes and whose love for each of us knows no bounds.

“I am the Lord. I do not change.”  Malachi 3:6