My niece, Lindsey--Lisa's daughter--is coming, with her husband Sam, to spend the week.  Sam is in the military, and they are being transferred to the area.  They bought a house, but it hasn't closed.

I only met Sam for one second--when I was going through the receiving line at their wedding years ago.  And the last time I spent any real time with Lindsey was when she was a little girl.  I bet they are wondering what I am going to be like.  Will I be picky?  Will I be hard to get along with?  Will I act like the old woman that I am?  Will they feel like they are imposing?  I hope they are pleasantly surprised.  I hope they feel right at home and just move right in and feel completely welcome.  Which they are.  I certainly have the space for them.  If there is one thing that I know a lot about, it is what it is like to be in the middle of a transfer in the military.

I went to teacher's meeting Wednesday night to go over the lesson for Sunday--it was on the second coming of Christ.  Basically, the scripture compared His coming to the days of Noah, before the flood.  Everyone was going about their business as usual, even though Noah warned them that a flood was coming.  The people made fun of Noah for building an ark in the middle of dry land.  And didn't listen to his warnings that they better get ready to meet the judgement of God.

The teacher's quarterly basically said that:  1.  Christ is coming.  2.  Nobody, not even Jesus Himself, knows when.  3.  You need to be ready.  So that is what I told my class in less than a minute.  But I always try to make two points every Sunday with whatever scripture we have.  So we talked about what it means to "be ready to meet Christ."

First, you personally need to make sure that you have repented of sin, and given Him your life.  That you have trusted Him with all that you are, and all that you have.  And second, you should, as a result,  possess an inner desire to live a life that is pleasing to him.  Which includes knowing that you are responsible to share the good news with those you come in contact with.  One way you know you are a Christian is that you feel the Holy Spirit within you urging you to share your hope with others.  (And I don't mean hitting them over the head with a Bible.)  (If you have no desire to share, check whether you have taken the first step.)  "...always be prepared to give an answer to anyone that asks a reason for the hope that is in you..." 1Peter 3:15  It should be something you want to do, and are willing to do.  Hope is a good thing.