Can You Have Your Cake And Eat It Too?

I have come to believe that...

living without God is like...

trying to separate and take back your ingredients of the cake...

After it's baked...

I Picture God That Way

Sunburned face and weathered Hands,
He stretches out the nets again;
Steps among the twisted life’s,
works them out in His good time.

Sometimes I picture of God that way,
untangling all the mess I've made,
Unraveling my line so I can fish again one day.

Sometimes I think of God that way.

One day I will fish again…

Song by Jamie Slocum

Children and Spirituality

Children and Spirituality

Child Psychologists tell us that even very young children ask the kind of questions that can only be called spiritual.

I have witnessed this first hand when our own son was five years-old and did what he did / does best. He started his rapid-fire questions. On this particular day, he wanted to know about Heaven. “Well, mom how will you know me when I die and we get to Heaven, will we look the same? (How come I didn’t think of that?) And what if I die first? (Things a parent definitely does not want to discuss) Who will be there to meet me if I die first? But our son was such at peace with that discussion.

Fast forward a few more years, that innocence begins to wane. The child needs a little more proof of God. So they grab a hold of the tangible or abstract and embrace what represents their faith. That is why the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) or PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens) bracelets are so popular. It gives them / us something to hold onto; which reminds me of the story of the little boy and his father.

“So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.” (John 1:14)

I heard the story of a little boy who was frightened one night during a big thunderstorm. Terrified, he called out from his room, “Daddy, I am scared!”
His father, not wanting to get out of bed, called back, “Don’t worry, Son. God loves you and will take care of you.”

There was a moment of silence. The little boy said, “I know God loves me, but right now, I need somebody who has skin on.”

Soon the older child becomes an adult, they focus more on Jesus Himself. What happens to us as adults that we lose the innocence and simplistic relationship with our Savior? We get into a role of rituals, expectations and performance.

And the stories continue:

Sometimes, our great and awesome God seems almost untouchable. But Jesus came. He was God with skin on, walking among us and showing us what God is like.

I think C. S. Lewis put it well: “The Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God.”

(Proverbs 22:6) “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it”

Where does church fit in for the child? In the young child, the parents are the soul (I meant soul) role models. What are mom and dad doing? As the child grows older, their peers become their models. Good or bad! What is going on in the church for the youth? Are the people of the church helping raise and mold the young? Children are very pliable at this age and into their teens. Are we more focused on their appearance than their worth? Or do we love them right where they are?

In a sad state, my daughter is away at college. She worked fast food for some time. The day came when she told me that she did not like to work Sunday afternoon’s. I asked why of course. Hoping / praying she was going to say she needed to be in church! She said, “The people coming in from church are the rudest.” At an age where my daughter needs to be ministered to, I am heartbroken that this is the message she is receiving. For God is Love! (John 4) Are our children seeing “Church building love” only, in a world of hurt and brokenness? Does our mission end at the doors of the Church?

We are all looking for something, some proof, some hope, and some kind of tangible way to embrace our Savior, whether we are children, teens or adults. For, we are all His little children.

I thought about so many different areas of children and spirituality. I know that my daily encounters are extremely powerful as I deal with the dying. I try to describe it as standing at the doors of Heaven, handing someone over to God. It is beautiful mostly but painful when the journey is over for the families and yes, the children. And what happens with the children.

The children that may be dying and the child watching a parent go. Children do much better with death than adults. And children know when death is near! So many times as adults we try to protect the child. But the children have this connection with God that is so intimate because they just believe (that childlike faith). So, it is best to just be honest with them on their terms.

Children that are dying are at peace. They are well taken care of by the unseen (Heb 11:1). How do I know? Because, of the adults that tell me about the Angels with them, and the children have shared the same. Recently a close friend that recently passed on asked me not to sit in a particular chair. I asked why, and she looked at me as if I was crazy. “Well, because he is sitting there.” “Who”, I asked. “The Angel,” she replied.

If there is a child with a parent that is dying, I let the family decide how to broach the subject with their children but I do suggest honesty. For this situation will stay with the child for the remainder of their life. If not dealt with correctly, children will express their pain in different manifestations.

One more thing and the most important, children lives are very rich with questions and thoughts about God. They are like little sponges. It is our job to help culture, mold and make those lives as rich as possible inside and outside the church. We never know who we are ministering to. But one thing for sure, they are / we are His children.

We are all looking for the same thing…Jesus.

He Loves Me

We had a big discussion in Sunday School Sunday... what do we as "Christians" say when others ask us something we don't have the answer to....

Well... This is what I have come up with...

1. Whatever I say... I will ALWAYS come short of what God's Truth really is

2. All I know is I was blind and now I see

3. God loves me

And with that... nothing else matters

The Last Good King

2 Kings 23:25 “Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

Struggles…

we all have them. People, situations, lack of things, too much of a good thing…Life.

What do we do? We pray, “God, help me make those that have hurt us see…” We expect victory because we have the Victorious Lord on our side. We have read the end of the book, we win.

Right?

So we continue to battle on…and we get frustrated when things aren’t going our way. Of course we do. We are partly human after all. Ah!

Josiah, grandson of Manasseh, took the throne. But this young man knew the Lord unlike his predecessors. He was told by a prophet that God’s wrath would rain down because the people had turned away from God. So what is a king to do when he knows he will lose anyway? He followed his Lord without looking back, totally abandoned.

Jesus came as a baby. He lived the trials of life as we did... Actually more than we did.

He came to lose!

He would not win this battle or so it seems to those around Him. “For My ways are not your ways.” It looks as though these kings have lost in the bitter end, but have they?

I thought about how many situations in my own life I feel needs a positive outcome. And when these situations aren’t going the way “I” think they should, I see it as total failure. And the truth be told, I actually want vengeance with people that have hurt me…kind of sort of… but then, how many people have I hurt. And for that, I want God’s mercy. Hmm?

The other day, I read about Joseph’s faithfulness to his brothers. Even after all the pain they caused, he continued to pray and forgive. How many of us have people like Joseph's brothers in our life? We want revenge, don’t we? But this is a battle we are to lose. For we will win, in His eyes. (Matt 16:24-25)

And there stands the Last Good King in all His Glory…

And the day will come when we stand with Him…

IN THE FINAL BATTLE...

She's Home

Celeste went Home today... to her Heavenly Father... She is finally healed...

Not in the way I would have liked.. or her husband Dale.. but I'm sure by now...she is so happy and wouldn't come back...

For My ways are not your ways...

she didn't make it to her 40th birthday, which is tomorrow, but I'm sure the celebration she will have will be far grander than anything we could dream up...



God Bless the life you lived...and for touching mine.

Celeste Jenks

When You Are Down... Looking Up

Today my sister and I went to visit Celeste at a Hospice facility. As usual for the typical Celeste style, she lifted us up and made us smile and laugh.

She made fun of her drainage tubes, her IV's and her frailties. Then she tried to gross us out by showing us that the food she just sucked down was now traveling into the tubes but she forgot I am a nurse so it takes a lot. And I never heard my sister fall out and hit the floor so she must have hung in there.

Then the conversation turned more serious and she talked of the inevitable. "Please take care of Dale."

I couldn't help but share with her what she had meant to me and what a wonderful example of God's love I saw shine through her. I felt blessed to even have been a part of her life.

She looked up and around the room. She smiled. "All this love. I have been so blessed. God is beautiful."

On our way out, Dale said, "Her life was not in vain, for I have come to know our God intimately. I wouldn't trade that."

Saying "Good-bye" when you know the next visit together will be in the eternal...leaves us with emotions of bittersweetness.

God Bless you Celeste and your life... We love you...