All perked up

First...what a difference a week (and some great advice) makes! This is my Mom's African Violet that I shared with you last week. Pretty sad...

And here it is this week!

Thank you, friends, for your advice on last Tuesday's post. Veronica, I moved the violet into my bathroom (have it sitting right by the shower and the window where it gets indirect light), and it loves it in there! And I'm thrilled! There's something special about seeing this little plant come back to life and thrive.

I heard something in relation to a particular verse this weekend that I'd not heard before. Matthew 10:29-31 reads, "What is the price of two sparrows––one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows."

Whenever I'd read "fall to the ground" in the past, I'd thought it referred to the sparrow dying. So I've thought, "Okay, if 240,000 sparrows died today, God knows where each one died, how they died, etc..."

Not so.

In this verse, the meaning behind the Greek word that's translated into English as "fall" actually means "to light upon." Well that changes everything. So what God is saying in his Word here is that every time a sparrow lights on the earth, touches their little feet to the ground, every time, no matter how briefly, He sees. He's aware. The 3, 978,428 times, each and every day, that all the sparrows in the world light upon the earth, He knows. Amazing!

What's even more amazing is how much more He loves you and me. How much more valuable we are to him than flocks of sparrows. And how he sees all the little details of our lives, and moves and works in them to encourage us, to speak to us. Our sermon this past Sunday really touched me. We're in Genesis right now and these familiar passages are coming alive for me in ways they haven't before. God's Word truly is living and active.

So when you see a sparrow "touch down" today, whether you're in the Wal-Mart parking lot or out for a walk, or as you're driving for the carpool or knitting in your sunroom, know that you're not the only one watching them. And that the One watching them, is also watching you, loving you, working in the tiniest details of your life...more than you might realize.

Tammy