Chicken sacrifices

Yesterday, before we met for dinner, our Table Group met at our empty lot. As we waited for one family to show up, the kids pulled a soccer ball out of the car and started kicking it around in the cul-de-sac. My heart swelled, as did the tears in my eyes, as I realized THAT was the best thing about our new house. Our kids are going to be doing exactly that, maybe with those same kids, probably with the neighbors we haven't even met yet, in less than 6 months! Very exciting!
We had met at the lot so we could pray for God's blessings on the home to be built there, and for all the neighbors God will touch through it. The joke was that someone forgot the chicken/goat for the sacrifice. I'm sure the idea of 8 adults and 16 kids forming a circle and bowing their heads as they pray in the middle of an empty cul-de-sac evokes images of crazy rituals for some people. Some wouldn't have been shocked at all if we had crossed the line and pulled out the animals to slaughter. Or added the nearest lizard to a bubbling cauldron.
So to set the record straight, let me be clear that the sacrifice has already been paid, through Christ, with his death 2000 years ago. As Christ followers we believe that blood was sufficient for the entire world! And please know that we don't think that by standing over a peice of dirt and saying specific words we will somehow "protect it" from evil. We could have had that prayer 100, or 1000 miles away. But standing there, knowing that God gave us this opportunity, and if we let Him, He will use this new house to further His kingdom... made me almost want to take my shoes off so I didn't defile the Holy ground (see Exodus 3:4-5).
I love the people God has put in my life right now. And I can't wait to meet the people who will be my closest neighbors. I am so glad He brought us here over a year ago.