Tuesday, June 15, 2010

thou shalt not steal

It has happened again. Someone has stolen from the church. You know we were losing a few small things inside the building and security cameras put an end to that. A few years ago someone dug up and carried off one of our hostas. Around the same time, someone used a loader of some sort to pick up and haul off a rock the size of a washing machine.

The latest thievery involves a butterfly bush. The bush is about two feet tall and has pretty blue or purple flowers. I guess that someone saw it and decided that they needed it more at their house than the church did.

I am tempted to do a little drive around and see if I can see it in the neighborhood nearby. But you have to ask yourself, who would be able to enjoy a bush that they stole from a church? And so we pray for them:

"Lord, please bless the person that took the butterfly bush. May the bush flourish on their property. May the beauty of the shrub cause them to consider your glory. May you use that piece of creation to speak to their heart about who you are and your great love for all people. Bring them to a place where they want to tell others about your beauty. Bring them to a place where they want to provide that joy and celebration to others. So bless them and do your work in their life. In Jesus name, Amen."

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

3 comments:

Donna Jones said...

Jeff, that is a beautiful and gracious prayer. I have to ask....did it spring from your lips immediately upon discovering the theft or did you have to work through conversations with God to come to a place of contentment with placing the event in His hands? Thanks for setting a great example!

Sharon said...

Once again--you are so good. I would love to be as eloquent and right on as you are with your prayers.

I'm basically like, "God is great, God is Good, to steal our bush was just so rude". See, I can't even rhyme that well. ; )

H4EO said...

You are getting good at this prayer thing.

Thanks