Life in Lape Haven

Archive - October 2015

Josiah and Colossians

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - Josiah and Colossians. In teaching my children Bible verses, they reminded me that I also need to be remembering what God's Word says.

Over the summer, I began giving Elijah some Bible verses to memorize. I tried to have a new one picked out for him every Monday morning, and then we would go over it throughout the week. If he could say it by himself without help on Sunday, then he earned a dollar toward his King’s Island fund.

It only took the first couple of days of going over the first verse for me to realize that Josiah was not going to be left out of this. He wanted his turn to repeat the words after Mommy. That was fine with me. Whether he could really remember them or completely understand them, he would be learning God’s Word. I searched for the most kid-friendly translations, and we always talked about the verses as we learned them.

Elijah memorized them easily and eagerly, but Josiah’s determination to learn them really surprised and delighted me.

Some of the verses we studied were John 3:16 (of course), Proverbs 1:7, Philippians 2:14 & 4:13, Luke 6:31, and Colossians 3:20 & 3:23.

One day during breakfast, as we were going over our verse for that week, which was Colossians 3:20, I recorded Josiah working on his verse. Here it is:

For just over 2, he was doing a really great job, but did you hear what he said at the end?

“Now yours turn.”

Hmmm.

Most people probably equate Memory Verses with Sunday school or Children’s Church, and thus, children. However, we are reminded continually throughout scripture of the importance of knowing God’s Word, of having it before us, around us, and in us. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9, for example).

Josiah’s words challenged me. I was teaching scriptures to them and remembering those verses as I taught them, but when was the last time I had purposely set out to memorize God’s Word for myself?

Having been in church all my life and having attended a Christian school from 6th grade through 9th grade, I’ve had plenty of Memory Verses, whole chapters of Psalms, and even the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish (Thank you, Mrs. Bolds). Then, of course, teaching children for several years means that I’ve helped them learn many of the same verses I learned.

So, I know some scripture. But I definitely don’t know it all.

Now I understand that some people just aren’t good at memorizing. Some people can remember the words, but not always the reference (I’m there often).

However, having even a basic familiarity with what God has said makes it so much easier to find those Words when you need direction, encouragement, or even correction.

I don’t think God is looking so much for us to be able to perfectly recite the entire Bible, but He wants us to WANT to know it. To NEED to know it.

If we are serious to know His Word and do our best to study it, then He’ll help us recall what we need to when we need it.

Sometimes we just need a little reminder of all we need to remember.

 “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You.”  – Psalm 119:11


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Elijah and His Wife

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - Elijah and His Wife. Praying for your spouse before you even have one.

As a little girl, I remember my dad telling stories about how, as a young teenaged Christian, he had begun praying for God to bring him the right wife. Knowing that the answer to those prayers had been my mom and seeing how God had used their marriage to bless them and those around them, I was inspired in my childhood to begin praying for my future husband.

I had to pray a little longer than my dad did, though, because while my parents got married the summer after Mom graduated high school, it wasn’t until I was 26 that I even met the man who would be my hubby.

However, no matter how long we had to pray, praying for and following God’s leading to our spouse and continuing to pray for them and follow His leading throughout marriage has been crucial to the success of our unions. My parents have been married for 40 years, and Brad and I have been married for over 7 years.

A couple of years ago, when Elijah was only 3, he and I had a conversation that encouraged me to hope that our family’s legacy of trusting God to direct us to our spouse would continue into the next generation.

One night Elijah was talking about how he was getting bigger “like Daddy,” and he said, “I wonder who my wife will be when I’m bigger?”

Before I had a chance to reply, he continued, “Hmmm…I’ll have to ask Jesus about that.”

My extremely pleased and impressed answer was, “Yes. That’s a great idea.”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)


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My Boys and the Letter B

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - My Boys and the Letter B. Three amusing quotes from my boys that came from misunderstandings or miscommunication.

It’s Saturday, and time for another round of simply amusing quotes from my boys, Elijah and Josiah.

Today’s quotes are brought to you by the letter “B” and by the number “3.”

“B” starts such words as “bark,” “Band-Aid,” “bleed,” “bite,” “Brown,” “bid,” and “buy.”

They are average, every day words, right? Nothing bewildering or befuddling about them. However, in these next three quotes, you can see that those words are all mixed up in a few funny misunderstandings or miscommunications for our boys.

1. Josiah and “Bark”

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - My Boys and the Letter B. Three amusing quotes from my boys that came from misunderstandings or miscommunication.

Until Josiah was over a year old, he stayed in the main sanctuary at church on Sundays with Hubby, my parents, and me. It wasn’t that he couldn’t have gone to the nursery, but since he was still nursing, it just made it easier to keep him nearby.

One Sunday when he was about 10-months-old he was sitting happily with his head on my shoulder as we listened to the message. Suddenly Josiah got very excited, lifting his head, looking over my shoulder at something behind us, and saying, “Ba! Ba! Ba!”

“Ba” was a recent addition to his growing baby vocabulary, and I knew that it was his word/sound for “dog.” (He was basically trying to say, “Bark.”)

Since I doubted there were any dogs at the church, I glanced back to see what he saw. Sitting behind us, smiling and cooing at my son as he “barked” at her, was a lady wearing a brown fur-trimmed coat.

I quickly turned back around, trying to contain my laughter, thankful that the lady behind us had no idea my child was trying to say she was wearing a dog around her neck.

2. Elijah and the Band-Aid

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - My Boys and the Letter B. Three amusing quotes from my boys that came from misunderstandings or miscommunication.

One morning, around about the same time Josiah had confused fur coats with living animals, my boys were playing in our living room, doing what they did pretty much every day for me: emptying all the toys out of the toy box and scattering them around the room.

Since Josiah was still perfecting the art of standing and was flirting with the idea of walking, it was no surprise when he tripped over a toy. When he fell, somehow he cut his finger enough to make it bleed just a little.

Elijah suggested that we put a Band-Aid on Josiah’s finger (they always love a reason to break out the Band-Aids).

Considering that Josiah still liked to put everything in his mouth, I answered, “I don’t think he’d leave it alone. He’d probably bite it off.”

Elijah looked at me in horror and replied, “His FINGER!?!”

In case you’re wondering, I meant the bandage.

 

3. Elijah and Alton Brown

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - My Boys and the Letter B. Three amusing quotes from my boys that came from misunderstandings or miscommunication.

From the time Elijah was little, Food Network has been a channel staple in our home because it’s generally a bit more family friendly than other main stations, including some of the kids’ cartoon channels. It teaches us all how to cook (mostly with ingredients we’d never buy), so it’s educational. Plus a mom can only take so much Caillou before she wants to reach into the TV and slap some sense into both that whiny little kid and his parents (one episode will do that easily).

This means that Elijah and Josiah have grown up watching Good Eats, Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives, and one of our favorites, Cutthroat Kitchen.

For those unfamiliar with that show, Cutthroat Kitchen is a cooking competition hosted by our favorite Food Network guy, Alton Brown. During the three-round competition, chefs attempt to cook a specified dish within a given timeframe. To make things interesting, before and during their cooking time, Alton offers various cruel and unusual sabotages in an auction for the contestants to bid on to give out to their opponents, such as taking away the chef’s ability to taste the food he is cooking or having to use a child-sized kitchen as their kitchen.

Last summer, my grandparents’ church held a fundraising auction, and Elijah was surprisingly excited to attend his first auction. He was determined to take some of his own money with him to buy something.

Can you guess what he was planning to bid on?

When I asked him what he was going to do at the church auction, he told me, “I’m going to buy sabotages.”

So, too much Cutthroat Kitchen, maybe… sorry, Alton.


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Elijah and the Lullaby

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - Elijah and the Lullaby. Making time to share precious moments

Oh, the glorious, miraculous hour of the day that is bedtime. Isn’t it wonderful?

After the often chaotic, frequently frustrating flurry of brushing teeth, washing faces, and all the rest of the stuff that goes in to getting two little boys ready for bed, comes the beautiful, snuggly settling-down time of day where my cuddly, pajama-clad children nestle close to my hubby and me for a bedtime book, a Bible story, and family prayers. Then it’s time for goodnight kisses and hugs, whispers of, “Good night” and “I love you, Mommy,” and tucking in our little ninjas.

Now, granted not every night is that idyllic. Some nights the boys are still hyped up from the day and don’t want to settle down, wiggling around and jumping off the bed to grab toys from around the room. Other nights they are over-tired, cranky, and fighting with each other over who gets to sit with Daddy or Mommy.

When we only had Elijah, bedtime was similar, with the exception of one thing. Every night right before we tucked him in, I sang to him. It was a carryover from when he was really little, and I sang to him while I nursed him.

With the arrival of Josiah, our bedtime routine got shifted around a bit. We’d read our book and Bible story, say our prayers, and tuck Elijah in, and then I would go feed Josiah before putting him to bed. Even after Josiah was weaned, the routine stayed the same.

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - Elijah and the Lullaby. Making time to share precious moments

Mommy and Elijah

Then one night last winter, as I was telling Elijah good night and tucking him in, he asked me, “Can you come back in and sing to me after you put Josiah in his bed?”

I realized in that moment that while I sang to Josiah once I took him into the nursery, I hadn’t sung to Elijah for quite a while. It made me a little sad to admit it.

So, I promised him I’d be back in as soon as Josiah was down.

That night I climbed up in his bed beside him, and he asked me to sing “Jesus Loves Me,” I think because he’d overheard me singing it to Josiah. Then after I sang, we talked, just a little, about our day. Then I kissed him good night, and left a very contented big boy cozy in his bed.

From then on, it became our thing. Every night, without fail, he would ask me, “Will you sing to me?” and I would come back in, cuddle up and sing him a lullaby of his choice. Some of his most requested songs were “Jesus Loves Me,” “Skinamarinky Dinky Dink,” “A Bushel and a Peck,” and “O Holy Night.” (Yes, singing a Christmas carol in the middle of July). He also liked when I made up songs about him, Josiah, and their cousins.

Always after I would sing, he wanted to talk. So we talked about all kinds of things. It’s where we talked about what it meant to be baptized, after he saw the story of John the Baptist and Jesus on the Kids Bible App. It’s where we talked about him starting kindergarten in the fall and all the fears and excitement and questions he was facing.

With all the transitions we’d gone through after bringing Josiah home, I hadn’t really been able to find much for Mommy and Elijah time, and clearly it was something that he was desperately craving. I remember telling him when I was pregnant with Josiah, that if he ever felt like he needed Mommy, all he needed to do was ask me for a hug or come sit with me if I were nursing Josiah. And he did do that, often. However, what we didn’t have was time to share with each other without the distractions of the house, dinner, or his daredevil little brother getting in to things.

Our new nighttime routine gave him his mommy back in a very special way.

Since he’s started school, we don’t get to have our Mommy/Elijah talks every night, just due to the fact that he HAS to go to sleep. On the nights we can’t, I sing to both the boys before we give hugs and kisses and tucks-in. However, on those days when we can, they are some of the most precious minutes of my day.

Oh, the glorious, miraculous hour of the day that is bedtime. Isn’t it wonderful?


 

Remember, you can enter to win a $500 Shopping Spree, thanks to DaySpring.com!

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Elijah and the Sermon

Elijah & the Sermon: The Good News of the Gospel is pretty simple, so simple that even my 4-year-old could preach it. From my Write 31 Days series, "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

When my boys are together, they are always playing pretend. Well, I guess that’s not 100-percent true. Sometimes they play with LEGOS, or color and make crafts, or fight. But a lot of the time, even their other play involves some kind of pretending.

Since Elijah is the oldest, he tends to direct what they’ll be imagining about that day. Lately there have been many sessions of “school” where Elijah is the teacher and Josiah is the student. It’s really cute to listen to, until Josiah doesn’t do exactly what Elijah wants him to, and they go from playing to fighting. (It happens so quickly, doesn’t it?)

One of the cutest pretend plays they have done, at least that I’ve overheard or seen, was the day Elijah decided to play “preacher.” I really wish I could have recorded their “service.”

Elijah & the Sermon: The Good News of the Gospel is pretty simple, so simple that even my 4-year-old could preach it. From my Write 31 Days series, "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

Elijah pulled out a tall side table to be his podium, and he and Josiah took turns talking at the podium and sitting behind it in the rocking chair, which I guess was part of the platform.

Pastor Elijah began the service by introducing himself and taking attendance. (I’m not sure where he got the idea to take attendance, unless that’s something he saw in Sunday school.) Once he was warmed up, he led his imaginary congregation in singing both made-up and recognizable praise songs.

He spent some time writing stuff down, and when I asked him why he had to have the pencil and paper, he told me it was “because I’m the preacher.”

Elijah graciously stepped aside to allow Josiah to do their announcements. Of course, Josiah wasn’t as practiced at public speaking, so there weren’t very many announcements to be made.

Elijah & the Sermon: The Good News of the Gospel is pretty simple, so simple that even my 4-year-old could preach it. From my Write 31 Days series, "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

Once Elijah was back at the podium, he was ready to preach, and preach he did.

This was his message:

“Jesus died on the cross. He died because He didn’t want YOU to die.”

Then he closed in prayer.

That was his whole sermon – two sentences. Short, sweet, and simple.

But then it really is that simple. My then-4-year-old understood the Good News of Jesus better than a lot of adults, who like to make things way more difficult than they need to be.

It reminds me of the scene in Mary Poppins where Bert had drawn lots of beautiful chalk pictures on the pavement and is trying to show the Banks children how to “do a bit of magic” to get into the pictures.

His instructions are, “You think. You wink. You do a double blink. You close your eyes and jump.”

When nothing happens, Mary Poppins takes over, scolding Bert for overdoing it. “Why do you always complicate things that are really quite simple?”

She takes the children’s hands, and all it takes is, “1…2…” and they are all transported into the chalk pavement pictures for a “Jolly Holiday” that is “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

The Gospel isn’t “think, wink, double blink, and jump.” It’s more “1…2…”

It’s “Jesus died on the cross. He died because He didn’t want YOU to die.”

It was so encouraging and precious to listen in on their play and see their foundations in God being so firmly established.

It was kind of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

 

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Elijah and the Laser Eyes

Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - Elijah and the Laser Eyes, red lasers

A few months ago, I saw this video posted on Facebook, and being a sucker for videos of kids answering questions, anticipating the cute and unpredictable things they’ll say (ahem…my series is “Out of the Mouth of Babes: 31 Quotes from My Children”), I watched it.

In this video, they ask 50 people – adults and children – one question: “If you could change one thing about your body, what would it be?”

I loved the children’s responses. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so do yourself a favor, and watch the 4-minute video below before reading the rest of this post. I promise you’ll be encouraged. 🙂

Okay, so you watched it, right? Ok. So, how cute were those kids? I love the mermaid tail answer. Oh, and the cheetah legs. And the wings. Actually, all the kids had great answers.

Did you notice how the adults went from smiling and curious about the question, to slightly insecure when they heard it, and then to just plain sad as they answered?

Not so with the kids. They saw the question for all of its fun, positive possibilities and ran with it, while most of the adults went straight to their perceived imperfections.

All except for one. The older lady at the end was comfortable, confident, and content with herself. Her thoughts were, “I chose to stay this way because it just wouldn’t be me if I totally changed the way I look.”

She was joyful and just a delight because of it, and almost as cute as the children.

After I first saw this, I was curious about how Elijah might answer the same question, so I asked him what he would change, if he could change one thing about his body.

It didn’t take a lot of thinking on his part, and his reply didn’t disappoint: “I would change my eyes, so they can do like Superman’s, shooting lasers.”

Awesome. Just what we need around here – a 5-year-old with laser-shooting eyes.

I guess we’ve learned yet again that kids can teach us a lot about being confident in who God created you to be and also to be always looking to the positive possibilities.

So, always be yourself. Unless you can be yourself with a mermaid tail, or cheetah legs, or laser eyes. Then always be that you. 🙂