View From My Porch

Now that the weather has warmed up I can sit on my front porch in the morning. I love being there with my Bible, my prayer journal and a nice cup of coffee. (Note to self - tomorrow use an insulated cup for the coffee.)

On the porch I enjoy the fresh air, the greening of the trees and shrubs and the chance to watch the birds and animals. But even more than that, I enjoy watching people walking, running, riding or driving by. A few are regulars and we exchange greetings. Others are strangers. But all are interesting.

A young mother stops her car at the curb two houses down and gets her toddler out of a car seat. The neighbor runs a small daycare and I enjoy watching the kids come and go. They are cute and curious. They are excited to see their daycare mom in the morning and excited to see their parents at the end of the day.

But I wonder about the parents - especially the moms. Maybe I'm imagining things, but it seems to me that it costs them something more than money to leave these little ones to go off to work. There is a reluctance - a sadness in their morning routine as I glimpse it through the rhododendron.

Another woman walks by every morning - I imagine that she is going to catch the bus to go to work. I also wonder if she might be fighting an illness. Her hair is very short, she walks very erect and with slow deliberation. She has also been losing weight over the past year. I feel like asking her if she is ok - but we just say, "hi."

Bob from down the street often walks by with his aging shelty. We may talk for a few minutes about neighborhood events or lawn care or dogs or almost anything.

This morning, lost in my prayer time, I looked up just in time to see an obviously pregnant woman walking by to the west, dressed for exercise. She must have been watching me as she approached because she waved a greeting and I waved back. I had such a brief glimpse of her that I wouldn't recognize her if I met her again.

Others come and go. Children on the way to the school bus stop. People walking dogs and/or children. Adults returning from Walmart with a few bags of grocery items. A mexican friend of mine on his bike - going to the restaurant where he works. Neighbors going to the house across the street to make final preparations for the auction to be held there tomorrow afternoon.

I like people. I'm interested in people. But above everything else, I am concerned that people need the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives. They need to know Jesus because he is their Creator and the Judge of all the earth. They need to know him because he is the only Savior and the key to eternal life. They need Jesus because they need the true meaning and purpose that he alone can give to life.

People need the Lord!