Sunspots.
It must be tons of sunspots or something. Mannie's odd feelings began
about the time she was brushing her hair and getting on her school
clothes in a rush. It felt like some sort of gigantic magnet in the
clouds that kept grabbing her mind when she wasn't already stretching
it to the limits, starting her school day. It was her fault she
hadn't told her dad at supper last night that her bike chain had
broken, so she'd have to walk over to Jacob's and catch a ride to
school with them. “Oh well... life goes on”, the 15 year old thought.
So,
book bag over the left shoulder, breakfast bar and juice cup in one
hand, a kiss for mom and a 'see ya!' to a preteen brother, and out
the door she went. With a bit of a quick step, she munched on the
breakfast bar when that sunspot magnet, or whatever, pulled at her
thoughts. It was really annoying, not knowing why the pulling. She
had a Biology test second period and would need every bit of
brainpower, getting the chromosome definitions and other stuff
answered right.
Before
she got over to Jacob's to hitch a ride to school, she noticed the
new house being built. It now had its windows and doors, and was all
ready for a roof. What caught Mannie's eye, and brought her to a
stop, were the leftovers in the front yard. Over here was a stack of
30 or so boards the builders didn't need to nail up the house walls.
And nearby was a pile of leftover chunks of boards that had been
sawed off to make things fit.
Her
eyes and full attention fixed on the two piles of leftovers, almost
asking if they had the answer to these sunspot magnet feelings. No
answer. “I gotta scoot. I'll miss my ride and then I'll really be
in trouble,” she thought.
The
rest of the school day went reasonably well, but then the sunspot
thing came up at the supper table. In between bites, Mannie told her
mom and dad about those sunspot magnet feelings and the leftover
piles thoughts that were really beginning to bug her. The meal was
about finished, when her mom tapped the edge of her brother's plate
and said, “Eat your broccoli now or I'll put your leftovers in the
refrigerator and you can eat them cold tomorrow.” His comments
clearly indicated he didn't like either option.
Jack,
(that's Mannie's dad) said, “hey, those broccoli leftovers remind
me of some famous leftovers in the Bible. I think it'd be a great
idea for you two youngins to take a look at them, in your personal
Bible time, tonight. See if you can find them in Mark chapter 8.”
Mannie thought only a nerdy brother like mine would ask, “Dad! You
mean the Bible talks about leftover broccoli?” She thought, “How
can God say He loves us, and at the same time give us younger
brothers?”
Mannie's
cell phone was put to sleep, and her homework done. Her Bible was
opened up to the broccoli leftovers – I mean the Mark 8 leftovers.
She slowly read the two verses where Jesus quizzed His disciples
about the catering of the 5000+ and the 4000+. No, there were no
sunspot magnets around while she read about these leftovers of fish
and bread.
Wanting
so desperately to get to the bottom of all this leftover business,
Mannie closed her eyes and tried to envision Jesus quizzing her,
along with the disciples. In spite of the other powerful facts, Jesus
kept asking His pupils about the leftovers... how much was left? Did
anyone go hungry? Was Jesus putting special emphasis on leftovers or
some of His gifts to us, we don't give enough attention to? Hmmmmmm.
Then
the other thing Mattie noticed, was the two test questions were
worded almost the same. Food, fed, and then fragments(leftovers). And
the same sequence again. In an exciting way, she thought, “Hey!
That's just like a little database! God knows I love to make lists of
stuff, in my computer and then sort them different ways and make a
neat report about them. Wow! God gave us a computer manual that
starts out, 'In the beginning, God'.”
Now
if that wasn't enough about leftovers, God had saved the best for
last. At breakfast the next morning, Mannie was telling her mom
about the Mark 8 leftover database. Her mom put jam on the last slice
of toast and said, “When I visit at the nursing home, I see many
people who seem to be forgotten by their families, church, and our
community. I wonder if there is such a thing as leftover people –
ones I've chosen to neglect?”
Dear
God, draw my heart to leftover people, young and old, who your Son Jesus gave His
life on the Cross to save.
