Beer Bottles and Cigarettes, Part 3

I've blogged in the past about my neighbors, who have a little girl Marissa's age, named Samantha (they are the ones with the picture of Satan above their fireplace).

Well, today we went to a birthday party at their house. It was our first time in the house and we were nervous. My other neighbor had told me about the picture of Satan, but we hadn't seen it ourselves. Marissa was curious and scared about it, but I told her to play it cool.

The picture was way worse than I ever imagined. It's one of those pictures where if you look at it from far away it looks like Satan smoking a cigar, but if you look at it closely you see that the picture is actually made up of drawings of naked women drinking alcohol. There were also swords with skulls on them all over the walls.

I sat next to a woman who used the "F" word continually, while her little daughter sat next to her. She talked about how her husband visited a whore house when he was overseas. She talked about how she couldn't keep a job and how she hated living in Virginia.

I made it a point to talk to every adult at the party. They were a colorful group, to say the least. I was uncomfortable. You wouldn't have known it, though. I tried to fit in as best as I could, and I smiled a lot.

Do you think if Jesus were alive He would have gone to the party? Would he have politely declined the invitation or would he have been excited about going? The more I read about Jesus' life, the more convinced I am that he would have been there and he would have been excited.

I can't tell you how glad I am that I went. I got into a really deep conversation with Samantha's mom. She struggles with depression, like me. She has fears about her kids, like me. She struggles at times with her husband, like me. She wants to be a better mom, like me.

Maybe we're not so different after all. Maybe God has put me in her life for a reason. Maybe God has put her in my life for a reason.

As we left I told Marissa how proud I was of her for having a good attitude and sticking it out. I told her that if Jesus were alive today he would have been at the party. I told her how important it is for us to live life with people far from God. We need to interact and have relationships with the lost, no matter how uncomfortable we feel. I'm praying that she understood and soaked it all in. I'm praying that she becomes a woman who, like Jesus, reaches out to the lost. The best way I know to teach her is to lead by example.

We have an amazing opportunity to teach our children how to live the Christian life. Pray this week that you are showing them how to really love God and love people, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you.

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