Category - Faith

Elijah and the Dream Job

October 21, 2015

You know when you’re little, and someone asks you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Most kids give a pretty standard answer, “A policeman,” or “A ballerina,” or “Superman,” and they stop there.

Not my child. And I bet, if you’ve been reading faithfully over these past 20 days or so of the Write 31 Days (or if you just read the title of today’s post), you can guess which one.

Oh, Elijah. My bright, imaginative, curious, optimistic dreamer.

Do you know what HIS standard answer is when he’s asked what he wants to be when he’s older?

“Everything.”

I’m serious.

He tells people that he wants to be “everything.” And this has been his standard answer for the past 2 years, at least.

Of course with that answer, he always expounds a bit, clarifying his “everything,” in case anyone wonders what that means exactly.

He says something like this, “I’m going to be everything. I’m going to be an astronaut, a firefighter, a preacher, a farmer, a zookeeper, and a daddy. I’m going to be everything.”

These are just some of the occupations that he says fairly often, but it is by no means a definitive list. He adds new ideas regularly to his “everything” dream job.

As a mom, I’m both amused and amazed.

He could totally be a lot of those things at once. In fact I know someone who has been a daddy, a preacher, a firefighter, and somewhat of a farmer, all at the same time, so it’s possible.

But to shepherd a heart that dreams so big is kind of intimidating. All I can do is pray that God leads his steps and gives Brad and me wisdom as we raise him. Pray that we lay the foundations solidly for his own relationship with God so he can follow God’s leading closely. Pray that we notice his talents, giftings, and strengths so we encourage them and pinpoint his weaknesses and challenges so we can help him overcome them. Pray that he does his best to reach his full potential and fulfill all the plans that God has for him, even if they differ from Elijah’s own ideas or ours.

Of course, that’s really the same thing I’d be doing if he only had one answer instead of every answer.

Parenting is all about doing your best, learning, and growing while you depend desperately on God for guidance and discernment, trusting that He can still work through all the mistakes you make, and simply trusting that His love for your child is even greater than your love for that child, that His plans for your child are “to give him a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Trusting can be hard. But God has never failed me, and I’m choosing to trust Him with my boys. After all, He’s the One Who gave them to us and trusted Brad and me with them in the first place. (It reminds me of Hannah with her Samuel in 1 Samuel 1:27 & 28)

So while I work to embrace the overwhelming ambitions of my little visionary, I am also excited at the possibilities.

Sure he most likely won’t be an astronaut AND a zookeeper. But with that kind of expectation, confidence, and determination, it’s kind of fun to imagine what he really could be, to wonder at what God has in store for him.

As much as I want him to be my little boy forever, I’m also excited to see the “everything” he’ll be when he grows up.

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The Boy and the Backpack

October 20, 2015

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Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - The Boy and the Backpack. It was a beautiful shot, but a more beautiful moment to capture the joy of true thankfulness.

Every August our church hosts a backpack giveaway event at the local elementary school, providing new backpacks and school supplies to hundreds of children in the area and giving all the families an afternoon of free fun with a street fair, bounce houses, games, face painting, and food.

This year was the first time my hubby and I were able to take part in the ministry since the past few years we have been out of town or on vacation the weekend of the event.

I was truly anticipating getting to be involved and even more so when I was asked to serve that day as the event photographer. Not only did I take that as a compliment (I am not a professional photographer at all), but that meant that I got to be everywhere throughout the afternoon and really see all that was taking place.

Had I been working a game or swirling the cotton candy onto a stick, it would have been wonderful, too, but I would have missed out on all the little moments of interactions between our church volunteers and the children they served. I might not have seen the adorable little smiles sticky with fresh cotton candy devoured before they had cleared the line. I’d have missed the opportunity to coax a snarl out of one of the little boys who’d gotten his face painted like a wolf. I wouldn’t have been near the backpack distribution tables to see the delight on a little girl’s face when she received the brand-new pink butterfly backpack that she wanted.

I also wouldn’t have been beside those same tables to witness one of the most genuine displays of gratitude of the day from a young boy whom I hope to always remember.

To receive their backpacks, families started out by visiting the registration table, and then they made their way around the school to come in through the playground gates to the distribution tables. There the children had their pick of at least a dozen patterns and styles of backpacks. Once they had their bags, they are invited to enjoy the festivities and food with their families until the event was over.

That sounds simple enough until you consider that we gave away over 1,000 bags this year, which means hundreds of families waiting in line to register and pick out a bag. The line was wrapped around the block before the event even opened.

It was also in the afternoon, in August, which meant it was hot, very hot. Even with the snow cones, water bottles, and sprinkler systems set up, it was a long, hot wait in a very long line for these families, not because our people were inefficient – the organization was actually rather impressive- but because there were so many with a need.

So as I watched the children swarm the distribution tables once the event started, I felt honored to be a part of helping meet that need.

That’s when I noticed the boy in the bright green shirt. He was being very kind and patient as he waited for the type of bag he’d picked out. Looking through my lens, I was ready to capture the moment one of the volunteers handed it to him. Instead I was able to grab a different moment.

Glancing around him, he noticed other children opening their backpacks and checking out what pencils and other school supplies were inside them.

And he got excited, seriously excited.

He said, “There is stuff in it?!?”

When one of the workers confirmed that, yes, each bag comes with supplies, he exuberantly and genuinely said, “Oh, wow! Awesome! Thank you!”

And I caught THAT smile.

Honestly, I wish I’d had a video camera instead of just my regular camera at the time.

To think that he had waited in that tremendously long line on an extremely hot day without complaining, in the hopes of getting an empty, though new, backpack. That would have been an amazing enough gift for him.

He was so authentically grateful to receive more than he had expected, something that most of us would take for granted. Some pencils and paper, a box of tissues. He valued it and appreciated it, and he left a mark on my heart.

I know it is often said, in some way or another, that when you teach, you learn, or when you minister, you get ministered to.

I was doing one of the easiest, most fun jobs of the day (I even got in the bounce house for the sake of some cool pictures). It was truly a privilege to be a part of this wonderful ministry and serve with all the generous, hard-working, loving people who helped make it happen. That ministered to me, and it would have been enough of a gift for me.

But God, who always gives more than we expect, said, “Here you go. A beautiful shot, a more beautiful moment. Capture the joy of true thankfulness and remember it.”

Elijah and the Clean Water

How My Children Remind Me to Pray with Gratitude

How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids

Josiah and Colossians

October 19, 2015

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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 9^th 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

October 18, 2015

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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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Elijah and the Sermon

October 15, 2015

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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 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.

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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Jamie and the Candy

October 13, 2015

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Life in Lape Haven: Write 31 Days - Jamie and the Candy. We are to live our lives to please God, not the other way around.

For today’s “Quote from My Children,” I’m bending my meaning of “my children” a bit. I don’t have a child named Jamie, but several years ago, our church team and I taught a little boy named Jamie, along with dozens of other children who attended our “Sidewalk Sunday School” outreach. When I minister and teach, all the kids take a place in my heart as “my children.”

For most of high school, I spent my Saturday mornings on the basketball court of a rough low-income housing development, singing songs, playing games, and teaching children about Jesus and how much He loves them. It was just like children’s church on Sunday morning, except the kids weren’t all decked out and spit-shined. When they saw us arrive or heard the music start up, they would rush out of the apartments in whatever clothes they did (or did not) have on, hair all kinds of crazy, remnants of breakfast or last night’s dinner on their faces and hands, and some without shoes, so it was a good thing we’d swept up all the broken glass before the kids arrived.

They ran to us because they knew they were welcomed, cherished, and loved. They came every week, leaving Saturday morning cartoons behind, for a chance to have fun, laugh, hear about a God Who loved them, and get prizes and candy, in addition to hugs and kind words.

The “Quiet Seat” prize was always a big deal and great incentive for children to sit as still as they could, be quiet when they needed to be, and participate when the time came. Of course that prize of a giant candy bar, a small toy, bubbles, or something else exciting to a child was only for one boy and one girl who were extra special good that day. Other smaller prizes could be won by playing one of the games throughout the event.

While kids worked really hard to earn the Quiet Seat prize or win a game, they were consoled by the fact that everyone who came, sat, listened, and participated would get a small bag of candy at the end. Once the songs, games, memory verse, lesson, and prayer were done, our team would make our way through the 40 or so kids gathered to pass out candy to each one. We always reminded them that Jesus loved them.

Jamie was one of our regular attenders, a boy of about 8 or 9. He lived in the complex and came pretty much every week. We knew his siblings and his grandma. And we ALL knew Jamie.

He was a bit of a handful – obstinate, loud, fidgety, and prone to arguing with the other kids. Since we had the kids sit girls on one side with female team members and boys on the other with the men on the team, Jamie drove some of my youth group guy friends CRAZY!!!

Then one day as we were passing out candy, somehow Jamie got overlooked. I think it was an accident. 🙂

Suddenly we hear Jamie complaining, “Jesus don’t love ME ‘cause I didn’t get any caaandy!” (Really wish I could type it as it sounded – a little southern boy with LOTS of attitude…who didn’t get any caaandy.)

Of course we remedied the situation quickly and gave him his candy, but he continued to make a big deal about how he hadn’t gotten any initially because…well, that was Jamie.

His quote became a quotable to me because of the way he said it and because of what was behind what he said.

He could have easily just said, “I didn’t get any candy,” and we would have gotten him a bag. But he took what he KNEW we wanted him to know – that Jesus loves him – and made his lack of candy into a lack of love from Jesus.

Because, you know, WE didn’t let him down. Jesus did.

I honestly don’t think he thought that; I think he was just trying to be somewhat manipulative and get extra attention, bless his heart.

But there are SOOO many people who do this and believe it.

If Jesus loved them, He would make them happy.

If Jesus loved them, He would solve their problems.

If Jesus loved them, He would give them what they want.

If Jesus loved them, people wouldn’t let them down.

If Jesus loved them, their loved one would be well.

If Jesus loved them, nothing bad would ever happen to them.

I’m not sure when Jesus became equated with a genie in a bottle or Santa Claus, but that is not how it works. The Gospel isn’t that Jesus is here to jump up at your every beck and call to please you. It’s actually kind of the opposite.

He loved us before we even knew Him, died for us when we REALLY didn’t deserve it, and He offers us forgiveness and eternal life that He paid for. In return, we offer Him all of us because this is the only thing we have, and even that doesn’t match all He’s done for us. We are to live our lives to please Him, not the other way around.

Does He bless us? Yes. Do we deserve it? No. Does He want us to have an abundant life? In John 10:10, Jesus says that’s why He came, but make sure your definition matches His.

People who decide to follow Jesus so they can be “happy” end up a bit disappointed. They seem to skip over verses such as John 16:33 where Jesus promises trouble. (Thanks, Jesus.) But really, He says, “In this world you WILL have tribulation…” So, no. Not always a happy, no problems ride.

However, in that same verse, He also tells us, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.” and “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” He wants us to have peace and good cheer, but it’s not from a lack of trouble. We can have peace and joy even in the midst of trouble because we are rooted in Him.

God is so good to us. We never deserve it. He always loves us. We don’t deserve that either. He sent His Son to us to be mistreated, beaten, despised, and killed – for us. And we have the nerve to snap our fingers, and say, “Garçon.”

If we loved Jesus, we would live our lives to make Him happy and bring Him joy.

If we loved Jesus, we would walk in obedience, patience, and trust, asking for His wisdom, which would probably prevent or solve at least some of our problems.

If we loved Jesus, we would make what He wants and asks of us our top priority.

If we loved Jesus, we would forgive those who have hurt us and let us down.

If we loved Jesus, we would trust His plan and believe He is in control.

If we loved Jesus, we could face the bad, knowing that He is with us and that He works all things “for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

If we loved Jesus, we’d know that He loves us, and be content in that, even when we don’t get any candy.

Category - Faith

Elijah and the Dream Job

The Boy and the Backpack

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