School of experience

I have heard hundreds of sermons in my life. Christians are told: You love the sinner, you hate the sin. Many Christians have problems in this area. They "rate" sin... it is OK to befriend a person who does 'little' sins. But if they suddenly discover a 'friend' is involved with a "big" sin... it is time to gather up the stones. God doesn't rate sin. He hates a haughty spirit as much as He does murder.

Like a light switch, Off or On. God sees that something is either a sin, or it is not. There is no "little bit" On. One should not shun a person based on a "sin scale". The sinner should be reminded of God's love and forgiveness, based on repentance. Save shunning for the unrepentant.

Put down the stones.
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The last couple of weeks have been exhausting. I haven't been to bed before 1 in the morning until last night. Then I was back up by shortly after six every morning. One of my boys has been in ICU, from Tuesday until Saturday. He is now out of the hospital and recovering.
The family has spent a lot of time in the waiting room.

One of my grandsons was with us, as we had no sitter to leave him with. He is very observant... he saw people coming through the doors of the ICU crying, and other people would hug and comfort them. He got back to the house after a couple of days of this, and put on his saddest face, his fakest cry, and ran to hug his Mommy. He hugged and patted her for a minute, then ran off "all cheered up".

I have to praise the staff of the ICU at the hospital. Not only did they take great care of my son, but they went out of their way to make the family comfortable. Above and beyond their duties.
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Dan and Sam limped through their lessons last week as best they could. This week we are getting back on track- or trying to. We need a trip to the library, possibly the grocery store, and I think I am going to get me a new supply of Adult Beverage. (It has been a tough week!)
Where did August go? We are eight days until September!
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Our family has really pulled together this week, supporting one another. It is what families are SUPPOSED to do. My kids are really close-knit, and all of this has been hard on them. They nearly lost a brother. The ones who could come to the hospital came... and those who couldn't come didn't whine that they were being neglected. I think they realized that my attention was focused on the one who needed me most at the moment, and that if they ever need me as much, I will be there for them as well.