14 Miles of Woms

The Cost of Parenting
Yesterday I was given a generous slice of birthday cake.  It was Jud's second birthday and the air was filled with the noise of children and parents having fun next door.  Covid-19 restrictions having been eased, some relatives were able to come and join in the fun.  All kinds of items such as miniature tractors, footballs, goal posts, balloons, and much, much more were scattered over the lawn.  If I had hoped for a quiet afternoon, I was obviously going to be disappointed.

This got me wondering about just how much it costs to bring up a child - not in monetary terms, though that's pretty scary - but all that time and energy demanded of a parent.  The average cost of raising a child in the UK is calculated at £230,000 or around £12,000 per year.  Add to that all the sweat and tears and the cost of parenting is demanding.  The birds that frequent my garden face a similar challenge.  Each young robin requires around 14ft of earthworms during its nest life, and earth worms are not its main food.Parental responsibilities should not be taken lightly. Watching over children as they are growing up, caring for them through illness, helping them reach their potential, comforting them when they are sad.  The list goes on and on.

We have a heavenly Father, with an incredibly large family, who watches over each of his children every day, guarding them from harm, supplying their needs, listening to their prayers.  Each one is loved far more than they will ever know.  Many forget to say thank you, but he goes on loving and caring for them just the same. His fatherly love and care is not limited to twenty years; it lasts a lifetime. Aren't you thankful?

Blasts From The Past
I was fortunate to grow up in an age when Sunday Schools were the norm - though I did not think so at the time. The weekly afternoon hour of singing hymns, choruses and Bible teaching was supplemented by 30 minutes of a church service on Sunday mornings , and the annual terror of the National Sunday School Union exams.  Yes! We used to get examined to see how much we had learned.  The free church Sunday Schools in the town competed for a prize for the best results.  But, looking, back, I am grateful for the loving and faithful teachers who willingly gave their time for or benefit.  It was in this context that I learned about Jesus dying for my salvation, and came to love the Bible stories, and was inspired by visits from missionaries home on furlough, and the missionary story books that we were given as prizes.  I wonder now whether any of those teachers had hopes and dreams that what they were sowing would bring such a harvest in and through my life.

This Sunday I will be leading the Online Sunday Service (click the link above) and drawing on some of that early knowledge, presenting "An Unlikely Host" which is the latest in a series on God's unusual choices.  As I was preparing and thinking about appropriate hymns and songs I remembered a favourite from my Sunday School days.  I plan to use it and have searched the internet for a good recording that included all the verses.There are six verses in "It is a Thing Most Wonderful". Sadly, the verse most recordings omitted goes as follows:]

I sometimes think about the cross,
And shut my eyes and try to see
The cruel nails and crown of thorns,
And Jesus crucified for me

You see, that is precisely what I did.  And it is what I still do today, indeed did just now.  It is the vision that has inspired and driven my life for most of my 74 years.  But William Walsham How included another verse;

But even could I see him die,
I would but see a little part
Of that great love, which like a fire
Is always burning in his heart

How profound is that!  The love that caused Jesus to come into this world and enabled him to give his life as a sacrifice to set me free, that love - that sacrificial love - is what is constant in time and eternity. Every day "it is new every morning".  When I slip up and mess up, it's still that same wonderful ocean filling love. And it's for me! And it's for you!  Did I hear a "hallelujah"?  How,an evangelical Anglican priest and bishop includes the words "His love must be most wonderful, if he could die my love to win".

Any way, that's enough for me for now.  I have a service to prepare and I want all that good stuff that my Sunday School teachers patiently pored into me, and all the wonderful words from Walsham How, to overflow in blessing those who connect to the internet from their homes to morrow at 9.00.  I had better get on preparing.

Thank you for taking time to read.  Thank you for your prayers, and your love and partnership as we seek to spread the good news to others within the 10,000,000 people who live in rural UK.

Stay safe, and stay blessed,

Rev Barry Osborne
CEO,Rural Mission Solutions
411h July 2020