Through The Eyes of A Child

As I'm sure you may have noticed (if you come here often), I have been less than present in the blogosphere of late. With my new semi single parent status as a result of Dan working two jobs, I've found much less time for writing. I have made peace with that in some ways. I suppose that sometimes you have to focus on living life now and writing about it later. Well, now is later, at least tonight.

Last Friday we went to Brenham for the day. That's where they make Blue Bell ice cream, and that alone could cause the trip to be worthwhile. However, we went to see the bluebonnets and take our annual wildflower photos.

As we drove across the Washington county line we were greeted by fields of gorgeous wildflowers. Of course, there were acres of bluebonnets, but there were also Indian paintbrushes and beautiful fields of yellow wildflowers. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and I was once again amazed at the handiwork of our Father.

As we all piled out of the car to stretch our legs after the 2 hour trip, the kids took off running through the fields. We took some good pictures and made some wonderful memories. More than that, I was reminded at how the simple joys are really still the best.

Avari and her cousins all ran around so happy and carefree. It made me wish for that kind of abandon. Then I remembered that our Father calls us to be just like those children. You don't believe me? Jesus says this in Matthew 18:3-4:

³Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

We, as God's children, have the freedom to come and turn our every care over to Him. I fail miserably at this on a near daily basis. Thankfully, His love never fails and His mercies are new every morning.

Isn't it just astounding that if we choose to be, we can live our lives basking in our dependence upon Him instead of struggling with our own ineptitudes? He doesn't love us more or less based on our accomplishments or accolades. Papa simply wants us to rely on Him and allow Him to lead as we follow.

I want to be like a child. That's the lesson I learned in the bluebonnets this week.

Blessings!

You Can Lead A Horse To Water

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink, or so the saying goes. I ran into this problem recently with my 3 year-old daughter. I decided it would be a good idea for her to spend the night with my parents. We tried to dazzle her with the prospect of pancakes on Saturday morning, a surprise from Mommy, sleeping in a "tent," etc., etc. Of course, the more we tried to entice her, the more adamant she became that she wasn't going to spend the night.

We left our meeting that Friday night and called to check in with my parents only to find out that Avari had refused to go into the back of the house where her room and the bathroom are. In fact, she refused to even let MiMi brush her teeth for fear that it would lead to her spending the night.

I led her to the water, but as I tried to force her to drink, my beautiful daughter turned into a 3 year-old mule! I have to admit that following this morning's service, I was feeling a little mulish myself.

We had a special speaker this morning. He began his time by regaling the congregation with stories about his last two meetings where people filled the altars from "here" to "there."

He spoke on holiness and godliness. These are admirable topics, and I wholly agree that we should pursue both qualities in our lives. However, he didn't give one concrete, real-life example of how we should seek to become holy or godly.

Oh, he read loads of scriptures with the words "holy," "godly," "holiness," and godliness" in them. But he never got down to the root of what it means to be holy or godly. How are those inexperienced, undiscipled listeners supposed to know what all this means without a little explanation and real life application?

Maybe it's my Homiletics teacher's fault. He drilled into me that the best way to preach a sermon is E. I. A. A. Oh. This translates to Explain, Illustrate, Argue and Apply. If you do this, your congregation will say, "Oh." This puts a "handle" on the suitcase that is your sermon so people can carry it with them as they leave the sanctuary. It works too in case you were wondering.

Beyond the fact that I didn't cotton to his homiletic style, there was the altar call. I found out how he filled those altars in his previous meetings. He forced everyone out of their seats and into the altar area. Seriously, he kept talking until every little old lady and her walker were down front. Then he had us place our hands over our hearts, raise our left hands and "pray this prayer after me."

I suppose our service will be his testimony at the next meeting about how the altars were filled with praying people. Never mind that there was a cattle prod moving us down there.

After we were herded down to the altar like so many head of cattle, we were lectured about how if we really love God we would come back to his other two services tonight and tomorrow night. Some of his words were, "if you really want to go to heaven, you need to be here tonight."

Last time I checked, Sunday night services were not a prerequisite for entering heaven. I could be mistaken. Those verses may have been accidentally left out of my Bible. In any case, I've never read the 11th commandment that states, "Thou shalt not miss Sunday night services or thou wilt spend the whole of eternity burning in everlasting fires."

So, instead of leaving our Sunday morning service feeling energized and ready to face the world, I left feeling bullied and peeved. Maybe it was just me. Perhaps I wasn't searching hard enough for the good in all of it. But as I looked around I saw several others who looked just as disturbed about the whole thing as I was.

I'm just saying that people question why the younger generation is fleeing the churches. This is an example of why. In my opinion, there wasn't much genuine about what happened. Our speaker may have had good intentions, but you cannot manipulate and bully people into the altars and expect a "repeat after me" prayer to stick.

Instead, why can't we follow the example of some of the preachers of old. I never read about Paul forcing people into the altars to pray. He allowed the Holy Spirit to do His job. As ministers, we are responsible for giving the word, but the Holy Spirit draws people. Forcing them into the altars does not a conversion or revival experience make. We have to remember that God is God, and He is fully capable of moving upon the hearts of men and women without manipulation or bullying.

So, it may not be as catchy a saying, but I think the thing that describes my feelings about this morning is "you can lead a horse to water, but if you nearly drown him in the pursuit of getting him to drink, he may turn mulish."

Blessings!

Hide & Seek

Our daughter is 3 years old now. She is very bright for her age, and I don't just say that as a biased mom. She leaves people with their mouths hanging open at some of the things she knows and says. Her Sunday school teacher got really excited a few weeks ago because Avari actually didn't already know the story they were studying that day.

Seriously, the kid has a good number of her books memorized. I don't mean just a little bit. She can quote them word for word. So, a few weeks ago we decided that it was a good time to start helping her memorize scripture. She took to it like a fish to water.

So far, in the past 4 weeks she's memorized John 3:16, I John 1:9, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalms 23:1-6 and Jeremiah 29:11-13. She can say them all flawlessly without any prompting. It makes my heart proud to hear her as she's playing just begin to quote the word of God.

Now, I know full well that she does not completely grasp the meaning of the words she is quoting. We explain the scriptures to her as we work on memorizing them so they won't just be words. But I know it will be years before she is able to fathom what she's learned. So, what's the point, right?

Well, there's a scripture that I have memorized. It is Psalm 119:11. It says, "I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." I believe that the more of Papa's words I can plant in my heart the better. And I believe that the benefits go even beyond not sinning against Him. His words comfort me when I am struggling. I find wisdom and insight into situations based on the scriptures. The list could go on and on.

My plan is to pass that gift along to my daughter. When she grows older and begins to feel she is unworthy, she can remember that in John 3:16 the scripture tells her our Father loves her so much He sent His only son to save us. When she feels that she is mired in her own sins and faults, she will know that she is promised purity from all unrighteousness when she confesses her sin to Papa. If she should question her direction in life, Proverbs 3:5-6 will remind her that she can place her trust in Him and He will guide her. Psalm 23 can provide her the assurance that her Father watches over and protects her, guides her and keeps her. And Jeremiah 29:11-13 will remind her that there is a God-ordained purpose for her life that none can question.

Is it too early to have her hide His words in her heart? I think not. If she has them hidden firmly, she will not have to seek them too earnestly before she finds them. They will be there to wrap her in the love and grace of her Father, our Father. May we all hide His words in our hearts!

Blessings!