What's in a Name?

My new children's Bible study started in February. I led one last year for my then-fifth grader, and she has now been ushered into the middle school/high school study shepherded by a dear neighbor. Now it's Little Sister's turn. There is something so special about studying the Bible with kids. It never fails to give me new insight into how we are created to relate to God....before we are broken and hardened by the world. Before we are cynical. Before we are led astray by a parade of people playing devil's advocate. Before we start questioning ourselves.

The girls and I are studying from the same book being used by my women's study, called The Names of God by Ann Spangler. Did you know there are (at least) 52 different names used for God in the Bible? Names had great significance in the ancient world, and it was believed that to know a person's name was to know something about his character. The thinking goes that studying the names that God calls himself will reveal his character more fully to us.

For our first meeting, we learned the meanings of the girls' names and the story behind why their parents lovingly chose those names for them. We made plaques for their rooms featuring their names. Then we learned what I believe is one of the most accessible names of God for children: Abba Father. We learned that Jesus called God "Daddy," and we talked about the qualities of a good Daddy - he is trustworthy, he loves us dearly, he is our ultimate protector and caregiver. We learned that the Israelites were afraid to even speak the name of God because He was so holy, so out-of-this world perfect, but because of Jesus, we are invited to call him Father...Daddy.

What a personal and loving Father we have!

What Can I Say?

It's difficult to know how to respond or what to think or feel when something like the Sandy Hook shooting takes place. It felt like Sept. 11 again, except then, all I could think was, "Where is God?" Then, I did not have children to whom I must somehow explain evil that I myself could not understand.

Last Friday was different. I knew where God was. He was in that school, in the courage of the principal and her staff. He was in the words "I love you," from a terrified young teacher who wanted her students' last moments on earth to be about love, not terror. He was in the hearts of the first responders, manifested as bravery and compassion. He was there welcoming 20 precious children, one by one, into His waiting arms. He is, even now, at the hospital, in the hands of doctors and nurses caring for the wounded. He is in the churches, offering comfort to anyone who will come. He is in the homes of grieving families, His Holy Spirit upon them as the Comforter, crying out on their behalf to the Father, even when they have no words. He is in every mother's heart, including mine, saying "Come to me, and teach your children to come to me. I love you so much, and this is not what I want for your lives."

The only words I had for my daughter? I told her that, above all, we must cling to our relationship with Jesus. It's all we have. No one can take it away from us, not even Satan. And beyond that, we must share Him with others. Why? Because He is our only hope in a sick and broken world. Where else can we go?

Jesus told us plainly that we would suffer in this world, but He promised never to leave us. He also said He has overcome the world. Satan won a battle on Friday - for a young man's soul as well as for those who will now turn away from God in their grief and dismay - but the enemy cannot win the war. Evil will never trump Love. It can't. Christ ensured that with his own blood.

What would the world be like if Christ had not come into it as a baby so many years ago? It would be a string of December fourteenths...death, destruction and pain would be our only experience on this earth. God rescued us from such condemnation.

Thank God.

On Friday night, my daughter and I joined a bunch of kids from her neighborhood Bible study in Christmas caroling. One precious neighbor, recently widowed, stood at her front door with a cell phone held up to capture the kids' voices for her friend, living in a nursing home in another state.
It was a small, simple gesture, but God was there, too. We took back December 14, and we defiantly celebrated the birth of Jesus, our Rescuer. Love cannot be stopped.

How are you talking to your children about this?

Please remember the families of Newtown in your prayers daily. Let us be His hands and feet in their lives and in the lives of the people around us who suffer. Talk to someone about his or her spiritual walk, especially the children He has placed in your life.

Adding to my Bucket List

http://www.pinecove.com/retreats/

Family camp sounds glorious. Why should the kids have all the fun?

For Love or Money

The lady behind the counter knows us by name. She knows my husband's name and asks after our kids. In our brief, ordinary interaction, she tells stories of her life... the story of a wayward daughter who is constantly fighting with her and publicly unkind to her on Facebook. Mom says she knows they could be closer now if only she'd been a "different" kind of mother.

But she knows how to turn her daughter around...just ask her what she wants for Christmas.

To hear this precious mother's description of how her daughter's eyes "lit up" at the prospect of getting the new big screen TV she desired (all is forgiven, Mom!) was painful. Especially after she'd also shared how she was scraping her pennies together to buy her other kids school supplies and a single new pair of jeans.

I saw a commercial today. It depicted a mother congratulating herself for being the best mom in the world and making her teenage son oh-so-happy. Why? Because she bought him the "right" pair of shoes.

It's heartbreaking that we are still, even in these times of tough economic lessons, chasing material things in an attempt to make our kids happy. To make us, in turn, feel loved and respected as their parent. Paul -- Paul McCartney that is -- knew it, at least he did when he wrote this song. (Sounds like he may have forgotten the lesson later in life. :-))

The only love, the only worth that is lasting -- is the worth found in Christ. How empty and misleading it is for us to teach our kids to find their worth anyplace else. The things we buy for them are meaningless, fleeting and give them (and us) a distorted and grotesque picture of true love. They deserve so much better, and so do we as their moms.

The "other" Paul said it wonderfully in Romans 8. :-)

Who then can ever keep Christ's love from us? When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it becaus he doesn't love us anymore? And if we are hungry, or penniless, or in danger, or threatened with death, has God deserted us? No, for the Scriptures tell us that for his sake we must be ready to face death at every moment of he day -- we are like sheep awaiting slaughter; but despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who LOVED US ENOUGH TO DIE FOR US. Nothing can ever separate us from his love.

Do you ever feel inadequate because you cannot buy your child the "thing," the lessons, the fabulous vacation that you see your neighbors buying for their kids? Did your parents communicate love to you this way?

Your comments are always welcome.

Water, please

There is no doubt that some times are "desert times." You hate to admit it, but you start really being able to relate to those Jewish guys wandering aimlessly for 40 years. Wasn't the Promised Land just over that next hill and yet God knew they weren't yet ready to go there. They still had a lot of refinement to go through. Sometimes I read that story and get so impatient with the Jews... I think, geez guys get it together! The God of the Universe just delivered you from Hell on Earth with a series of perfectly formed supernatual miracles, and all you can do is whine? Other times, I feel for them. There is nothing worse than feeling aimless and lost, never knowing what's next or why, facing obstacles at every turn, knowing the Promised Land has to be just over there.

I would whine, too.

It happens so quickly, that trip out to the desert. You're just going along, minding your own business, and here comes a sandstorm. It feels wrong and piteous to whine, because you know how blessed you actually are, but whining just comes. Restless, aimless, discouraged and disappointed. I know my children go through it and so do I. Some days, it's not so easy to just dust yourself off and go forward with a smile on your face. It -- life -- just gets to you. But when you have kids, you can't hang around in the desert for long (like you'd want to!). You have to get with the program or they start asking you, "Mama, are you mad at me?" Now there's a real desert moment.

We talked about bad thoughts recently and how sometimes bad thoughts are just the devil whispering lies in your ear. So wisely, Little Sister observed: "But you don't have to listen."

Amen.

What do you do when you're in a desert time?

Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Childlike faith

Take a moment to read this wonderful blog post by Andrew Huang, who recently visited Kenya and returned with a new outlook on what it means to possess childlike faith.

http://mtbethel.org/children-in-kenya-childlike-faith/

Do you know someone with childlike faith? How can we instill in our children (and in ourselves!) Andrew's three ingredients of such a faith?

Let the Children Lead

I heard another great "kids-leading-parents" example at church on Sunday. We watched a video testimony from a young guy in another country. He was raised in the faith of his culture, but he attended Vacation Bible School as a child -- he liked the stories and the snacks. :-) Competitive academically with the other kids, he memorized more than 100 Bible verses, but promptly forgot them as soon as VBS was over. Years later, he seriously injured his hand at a most inopportune time - he was about to take a weeklong battery of important, life-altering examinations. His mother sent a prayer request to a group of local Christians, asking them to pray that God would allow him to take his exams. From out of the blue, the young man's mind produced a long-forgotten verse: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. On the day of exams, he and his mother stood before the gates of the testing place and noticed what looked like a cross. They asked Christ to give him strength and allow him to finish his exams, which he did, pain-free. Soon after, the young man accepted Christ into his life. He said he was the only believer in his family for a long time and suffered persecution for his decision. However, in time, his entire family came to Christ. He pleaded with us to continue our commitment to his country's VBS programs, which had planted a seed of faith in him that blossomed ino a life of following Christ.

As a person who recently finished a week of leading 4-year-olds at VBS and lived to tell about it, I love the encouragement this guy provided me. No matter how small your contribution feels, no matter how little you may think they absorbed of Christ's message... you just never know what God's going to do with that little seed of faith you helped plant. It's kind of cool to think we could have been part of someone's story of faith last week!

Do you have a story about a child leading her family to the Gospel?

Tell me! Comments are always welcome and appreciated!