* A Legitimate Question

I still plan to blog about our schedule at some point, although I am restraining from going on and on about how someone cut her hair again right in the middle of her forehead because her "part looked weird." Seemingly in response to my statement that his sister was hogging the stage my son spoke up.

Having a daily Bible time is a constant goal of ours, one we hardly ever live up to to our satisfaction. In a renewed effort the kids and myself sat down the other day to go over the day's God Time Card. The previous day's card talked about creation, etc so we had read the opening of Genesis in a bible story book we had received as a gift at some point in the past. The next day the talk was supposed to center around John 3:16. This topic held no interest for my son because it was not in order. So we quickly went through the concept in order to return to Genesis for the next story in the book. We discussed Adam and Eve's poor choice of fruit. This just happened to be the story from the previous Sunday so clearly the ideas had been percolating in his head.

(Might I say that having children and teaching them about God is quite the faith stretching exercise. You think that teaching adults would be the most challenging in the faith arena but I would challenge that assumption. Answering a child's question can be amazingly difficult.)

After talking about following God's rules and the concept of obedience in general, my son asks...

"Why didn't God just not put that tree in the garden?"

A legitimate question.

No tree. No disobedience. No fall. No banishment.

Similar logic to my daughter from previously - if I had not put the scissors in reach she would not have cut her hair, so clearly her disobedience was my fault. If God had not put the tree there, they would not have eaten, so clearly....

I am interested in your thoughts. How to explain that God wasn't just setting them up.

This was my response to my son.

"Could God make us follow all the rules?" - Mom

"Yes" - son

"You're right, he could. But he wants us to follow him on our own. He wants us to choose to do the right thing. He will always give us a choice. We can choose to make the wise choice. We can choose to make a bad choice. Adam and Eve needed to have a choice too."

I am not sure how much sinks in. I am sure there is a better answer, but those questions come at you without any preparation. What thrills me is the insight into his thinking process. My little man is getting so big. That question took abstract reasoning, and it was a very legitimate question.

* Quirky Quotes

It seems to be that my daughter is continuing to take the stage - not that my son is silent. It is just that he is more cautious with his words (at least when I am present) and a seven year old blurts less than a four year old. He is doing great stuff - reading to himself, playing baseball (with a much improved batting average from last year), independently cleaning his room! My daughter does read to herself, but no actual words match the page. She"cleans" her room but mostly it consists of piles, some on the chair, some behind the chair.

I will do a later post on our daily schedule, but today I am again struck by my daughters flair for drama and an "aptly spoken word."

The other day she said that the ladies tea we had attended was "lovely"

This morning she told her brother that "you ruined my life!!!" (all because he took a functioning water bottle from her while she was happily hosing down the playroom - I believe he actually saved her life - a fact I explained to the princess - at which point she told me I ruined her life.)

My current favorite occurred recently during a visit with friends. They came for the holiday weekend and much fun was had by all. They have four boys so the princess had a much larger court than usual and much more willing subjects. Her brother being quite content to let others be bossed around. Being boys however they did not always stick to girl stuff. A favorite activity - setting up tiny little men in rows to "battle." One boy had her dollhouse covered in battalions of little men. Upon noticing the unusual placement and use of her dollhouse she asked...

"Why is my dollhouse over here?"

"It makes a good fort."

Pause

"It makes a good dollhouse" (Emphasis entirely hers :) )

Silly boy.

* An Unexpected Cut

Today we are cleaning the house. Something I seem to do a lot but yet continue to need to do. The kids are helping, "in theory." Right now my daughter is picking up tiny pieces of paper, etc on the playroom floor, for which I will pay 5 cents per item. This is preparation for sweeping the dirt back out on the deck and since she is the person most likely to have dropped the tiny pieces of paper it is only fair she participate. She loves to cut things to pieces. She has her own supplies: bag, paper, scissors. She sits happily cutting the paper into bits , an activity she calls "scrap booking" She has a scrapbook full of pages with little bits dropped randomly into sleeves. It is of course beautiful as is everything else the princess does. At 5 cents a piece she has earned $2.20 so far.

Did I mention that she loves to cut things?

And that she has beautiful hair?

Oh well.

Chalk that up for one thing the princess has done that is NOT beautiful.

After many tears on both sides she has recovered enough to tell me that "you should have put the scissors up high where I couldn't reach them."

!!!!!!!!!!

Last night was our senior banquet. Every year our congregation hosts a dinner for the graduating seniors. We do our best to provide the food they like, the entertainment they like, and have "parting words" that are geared towards the particular ones graduating. This year's thought came from the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. This passage is probably one of my favorite bible stories. It has relevance on so many levels.

Below, are a couple of points from this amazing story.

1) Its OK to work "in the world". Just don't give up your convictions of serving the one true God.
2) Appreciate what life God has created for you. Don't focus on mistakes, missed opportunities, bad misfortune, etc. Keep God the center focus, and it will all be OK.
3) God will always be with you, no matter what. People may turn their back on you: parents, friends, pastors, sisters, brothers, etc, but God will never turn His back on you.

For me, the most amazing phrase that these 3 teens give is when they are facing the roaring furnace, they look to the king and state, "....even if our God doesn't save we will not bow to you." I have a tendency to see God, when he "blesses" me with a bonus check I was expecting, hitting every green light on the way to work, getting the test results I was looking for from the doctor's exam, or even watching those rain clouds "float around" my son's game on Saturday.

This statement from these 3 Jewish teens really smacks me in the face. Will I still praise God, knowing that He may not "save" me from what ever it is I am struggling with? It could be a deadbeat job ("God, please bless me with another job that provides meaning to my life!"), or it could be living a life of complete mediocrity (I can do that! Why didn't they ask me to do that?!?! I could have done it so much better, if they had only asked me!!). We all have our own personal struggles, and I think that is where this statement of, "worship Him, even if He doesn't save us" applies to us all.

Or maybe look at it from this angle: There is something in each of our lives that we will die for. For me, its quite simply my family. If I knew that giving up my life, literally, would save the life of any member of my family, I would not hesitate to give it up. I think we all are like that. But there are also other things as well. For some its honor, pride for our country, a belief or cause for something so big that we can't see any other option. We all have this.

For Christians, we have to believe that our life on this planet has meaning and purpose for God's direction, and God's alone. Sure, He gives us responsibilities and causes to stand up for. He gives us the ability to choose what we want to get involved in, what we see as important. If we are not careful, we will get distracted and say that something, "must get done, or its the end of the world!"

So here is the question: Are you still going to worship God, even when life is throwing everything it has at you?

* Quirky Quotes

My daughter, my constant companion is sleeping peacefully. I am so thankful that she still takes a nap. A couple of hours without my shadow is a nice break. This generally means my son hovers for two hours unless he is outside. Today - hovering. Such is my life :)

A few days ago my daughter walks up very excited about something

"MOM!" Pause "I can hear something in my tummy!" hehehehehe

Then she proceeds to jump up and down - A LOT - apparently she downed her entire serving of milk in one gulp. The jumping was then followed by...

"I don't feel very good"

* Light at the End of the Tunnel

I have not posted in such a long time I can not say how long it has been. This lack of knowledge is odd since numbers are my thing. Rest assured that after I hit post I will scroll back and look at the elapsed time. I picked on a friend of mine once for delaying his blog posts and in the way of things I am now doing the same I griped about. My brain is now returning to a level where it can think of random bloggable things. For the past month I could think of little else beside the facts that Judah was in China, my dad potentially had some very nasty health issues, and my son's yearbook was due.

Now however "I can see clearly now..." because Judah returned home last night, my dad's tests took an unexpected happy outcome last week, and I picked up the first printing of the yearbook today. My brain is also flowing easier due to the cleanliness of my home, which I spent two days working on prior to Judah's arrival home. There were no dirty clothes AT ALL until he dumped his suitcase out. No dirty dishes, except for the plate I passed on my way in today from Judah being at home this morning. It is easier to think when the laundry is done. There is no lurking little chore in the back of my mind screaming to be done. Perfect time for a nap. Naps are best taken when there is nothing else to do, nothing looming on the horizon for the moment you awake.

I am breathing much deeper and even the amazing fullness on my calendar can not depress me today.

Power of Positive Thinking

Today's podcast came from Philippians 4: 8 and 9 - "... Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you." (NLT)

I don't know if you are like me, but I tend to read the bible, one book at a time. Unless I am studying for a class or lecture, I tend to "read" through the books. I'll be honest: I have read through Philippians numerous times. Its a short read, so I feel good when I read it. But even with all those readings, I have looked over the power of these two verses. I liked this sermon today, because he took two verses, and really showed what Paul is trying to say about it is simply the way to be Christian.

We get frustrated when things don't go our way when we don't focus on the right things. We focus on things that really, are just not important. We "major in the minors". "Why didn't I get that job promotion?" "Why am I fat?" "Why did she marry him, and not me?" "Why don't we sing these songs, instead of those songs?"

If we focus on the right things (pure, honorable, lovely, etc.) and do the right things (live the way Jesus did) then we will be blessed. However, when we get fixated on things that just don't matter, and start acting in ways that are not Christ like, we won't be blessed. In short, when we focus on thoughts and ideas from God, and act the way He has called us to be, our lives will be much calmer and at peace. We will "tend" to not make mistakes that lead to anxiety. Will our lives be perfect? No. Will God give us everything we ask for? Of course not. He will provide for our needs, and our lives will be blessed because we will not worry about this life. God is in control.

I am reminded of one of my favorite bible stories: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3). These three boys face a fiery furnace, because they will not bow down and worship a statue. Right before they are thrown in the boys reply, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, your majesty. But even if He doesn't, your majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up." I love that.

God doesn't bless with worldly possession, just because. He blesses us with lives that are at peace in the World, because we have accepted His plan. We have peace, therefore, we are not worried about decisions we make. When we worry or are anxious, we tend to make irrational decisions. Our lives start to feel like we are not blessed. When we think clearly, we are able to make more rational decisions. our lives begin to feel blessed.

When we don't focus on things that are true, noble, or lovely, we tend to start looking at the world as if it owes us something. We start focusing on the little things. "I deserve better than that". "I can't believe she said that about me". "This church doesn't satisfy my needs". We also begin to take in images, sounds, and feelings from our surroundings that have no positive impact in our life as a way of release. Our life is not blessed. There is no peace. We must do something to "get a way."

Its quite simple really: If its not good, pure, honorable, lovely, peaceful, etc. then don't watch it. don't read it it. Don't surf to it. Don't say it. Don't do it. If you do, your life won't be blessed. Doing these things might be a release. They might let you "get away" for a while". But your life will not be blessed the way it was intended.

Think on things that are true, pure, and lovely. Do the things that Jesus calls us to do, and your life will be less stressed. With less stress, you are more likely to make smarter decisions about the tasks that have been laid before you.