ezra 8
We've all heard the story of someone who left a kid somewhere. Maybe you've actually done it. I have! I'd had my sixth baby in September. In early December my sister came out to visit me. We were living in Wisconsin and it was as cold as you would expect. One day we had a babysitter come over and left all the older kids with her. We took the tiny one with us since he was still nursing and went to a sweet little make your own art place downtown. We parked a block away and walked down to the shop. We went in, decided on a project and picked a seat by the window. I wondered where we'd put the stroller. The stroller! I didn't have a stroller with me! I didn't have a baby with me! I panicked! I ran out of the store and back to the van. There he was, sound asleep. I got him out and walked back down the street and into the shop, with a baby in a stroller, that I clearly hadn't had with me before.
We regularly take attendance in the car. We pretend that we're making sure everyone is wearing a seatbelt, but really we're checking to see if everybody is there. Just recently we made it all the way into church before I realized I hadn't seen my 12 year old. Thankfully, he'd gotten into and out of the car under my radar and was in his class.
In chapter 8 of Ezra, everyone has gathered together at a river some distance outside of Babylon. They're making sure everyone is buckled up when they realize that they're missing someone. They don't have anyone from the tribe of Levi. So Ezra sends some of the other Israelites to go get some Levites. When the Levites arrive, the whole assembly fasts, praying and seeking God's protection over their journey, because Ezra had been too ashamed to ask the king for a protective detail for their journey.
Now they are ready to leave. They've got all the right people and they've sought the Lord's protection for the days ahead. But before they go, Ezra put twelve of the priests in charge of the offering, a large amount of gold and silver, that had been sent with them for the house of God in Jerusalem. He weighs out the entire offering, accounting for all of it, and charges them with getting it safely from Babylon to Jerusalem. And then they began their journey.
We're not told much about the journey, and in this case, no news is good news. Getting all those people, plus a large amount of treasure to Jerusalem probably should have looked more like a scene from National Treasure, but God had listened to their prayers and was faithful in protecting them. They arrived in Jerusalem, where they accounted for the offering that was sent from Babylon and then made an burnt offering to the Lord and aided the people and the house of God.
These guys knew how to take care of business! Their entire journey can be boiled down to 4 things.
- I love that they prepared, they did a headcount and got the right people in the car. Don't get ahead of yourself. Take the time to prepare and stop as needed to make corrections.
- When they were all there, they prayed and fasted. Recognize that your preparations are not the be all, end all. When you're preparing for Kingdom work, you're doing it at the pleasure of the King, in His timing, in His ways. Don't forget to talk to Him!
- They took care of and then accounted for what they'd been made responsible for. Do the things God has called you to do. Love your people well. Take care of whatever God has entrusted to you. And hold it all with open hands (that sounds nice, but it's really hard).
- Then they thanked God for what He had done. Always, always give God the glory!
tip:
In our house, weekend projects can lead to some intense weekend discussions. WonderHubs and I tend to approach big tasks differently and then we throw in 8 other people's worth of feelings and plans and ideas. It can get a tad stressful. We haven't perfected the weekend project, but we have learned a few things.
Weekend projects always start during the week. Preparation is key and step one is communication and that starts best with prayer. Then you'll want to discuss things like, what is the goal? Who will do what? Where will the kids be? How will you do the project? What supplies will you need? Will you need extra people? Write stuff down! Gather your supplies before Saturday morning, so that you're ready to start.
Once you start, stick to what you are supposed to do. Unless you've been made the overseer of the job, don't try to micromanage someone else. From personal experience, telling your husband he's cleaning the garage wrong, is probably not going to result in a clean garage.
Once you've finished what you were responsible for, see if you can help someone else.
Be super flexible and ready to dish out grace!
tool:
The Get It Done Contest. Split your family into teams. Pick out team names and make a team cheer. Split the chores or project up as evenly as possible an see who can get theirs done first. The winners get to pick out a favorite dessert to share with the whole family.
