SHALL WE GATHER?

This week I took one of my granddaughter's out to lunch and with me to the grocery store.  It is a part of my "Reconnection and Save Grandma Some Steps" summer program.  As we were hauling the groceries into the house, her comment to me was:  "Wow, grandma, this is some workout!"   I wanted to say to her, "Welcome to the sisterhood of "The Great Gatherers" my dear."  (Not to be confused with the "Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants", whatever that is!)  I  truly wanted to grab a wooden spoon and knight her on the head as part of this initiation process, but I thought she might think I had completely gone cuckoo cuckoo!

We women ARE gatherers, are we not?  We gather up the laundry to wash it.  We gather up coupons so we can gather the groceries at the store.  We gather up all the ingredients to make a recipe.  We gather up the kids to head out the door for school, games, events, and even church on Sunday.  We gather up the bills to be paid.  We gather up the items left on counters, floors, and car seats.  And last but not least, at the end of the day, we try to gather the little remaining sanity and thoughts we have together!  Whew!  No wonder I need a grandchild to help after all these years.  My gatherer is completely wore out!

God is a gatherer.  He really is!   The big difference is: God does not grow weary in His gathering.

Genesis 1:9-10, NIV "And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear."  And it was so.  God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas."  And God saw that it was good.

Psalm 33:7, NIV  "He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses."

Isaiah 40:11, NIV  "He tends his flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."

Luke 13:34, NIV  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

Matthew 24:30-31, NIV  "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.  They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."

Gathering is an important task that we women do. We may not think so at the time, because we just get one load of laundry done and it's time to gather another one.  But I am encouraging you as an older woman today, that you not grow weary in your gathering skills. Your family needs you!  If you continue on...then someday you might have the added blessing of a grandchild to help you with your gathering and this whole cycle of "The Great Gatherers" will continue on.


With all this talk about gathering, I suddenly want to break out and sing, "Shall We Gather At The River!"  Hmmm...maybe I am going cuckoo, cuckoo!