He was 10 years old. Â He liked to run and play in the mud. Â So many things to explore.
One day, as his Mama was cooking in the kitchen, he sat to watch her. Â Stir, stir, stir. Â A big pot of his favorite stew was on the stovetop.
“Can I have a taste?” Â he asked.
“You have to wait until it’s on the table. Â The stovetop gets very hot and you mustn’t come near it,” Mama said. Â She had said this to him many times and he had always obeyed.
So the little boy continued watching his Mama. Â When Mama went to the pantry to get some spices, he pulled his chair up close to the stovetop and leaned up against it.
“Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! Â The scream from the kitchen could be heard miles away.
The little boy had reached into the pot to taste the stew but instead the whole pot had fallen on him. Â With tears streaming down her face, Mama rushed the little boy to the hospital. Â “It will be okay,” she assured him.
Once there, the hospital staff took care of the burns that the little boy had. But he was never the same again. Â Even though Mama took care of him and reassured him that everything would be okay, the scars on his body were a reminder that he had disobeyed.
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How often we make mistakes in our lives. Â We want to be able to think for ourselves and say “this was my decision.” Â Good or bad. Â We don’t follow the direction of the One who loves us most. Â The One who knows that the cooktop is hot and we mustn’t go near it.
This morning’s devotional lesson in the book of Genesis reminds me how we came to be in our current state.
“The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’â€
“You will not certainly die,†the serpent said to the woman.  Genesis 3:2-4
And they died. Â Every day, a little at a time.
All around them, scars of their disobedience — nature, once a friend, now an enemy with thorns, earthquakes, floods. Â And people — dishonest, betraying, seeking their own, unloving.
But like Mama in the story, God sits and heals our wounds and tells us “it will be okay.”
“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,†for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.† Revelation 21:1-4
It will be okay. Â We are promised.
And the sun room, which is enclosed with windows, overlooks the trees and the marsh area.
This house has made it to our top two if the current offer we have on a house is not accepted.
