Kids Club

On Wednesday nights I help out in Kids Club at our church. I’ve been doing this for sixteen years when we first started having AWANA at our church. Although it has often made for hectic evenings, and I can’t deny that Wednesday snow days are my favorite (no school= no Kids Club), I love teaching kids about the Bible.

Every week it’s my job to tell the Bible story. I love figuring out how to connect the story to real life. I love trying to make a story that many of the kids have heard over and over come alive. I love getting them to help me with the details so that they can share what they know.

But the best part of all is how God uses the stories so often to meet me where I am in my personal life and minister to me. In the last few weeks I have taught about being strong in God’s Spirit like Samson. (Teaching about Samson is challenging because he did so many things wrong, yet he is included in Hebrews 11 as an example of faith.) We sang a song with words from Joshua 1:9 which says “Be strong and courageous…” and the words nourished my heart.

We talked about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and how they believed the truth even when faced with the fiery furnace, and I was inspired by their words: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

We talked about Abraham and how he believed God would keep His promise even though it took many, many years for it to come to pass. It reminded me that God will keep His promises to me also. (I’m hanging onto this one tightly.)

I am blessed when you who have children in Kids Club tell me about the conversations that you have with your own children because of things we have talked about in class. God bless you for taking these teachable moments and running with them.

All the adults who have served so faithfully through all these years bless me too. Many of them have served as many years as I have. It is a privilege to share this ministry with them. And it has been great to provide a place for people to learn how to work with kids. We’ve trained a lot of people through this ministry.

I could go on, but you get the picture… I’m blessed.

There are a lot of needy kids who come to Kids Club. And there is nothing I can give them that is more valuable than the truth of God’s Word. I’m so thankful to be able to share.

Joy!

It’s been a while…

Things have been happening in my life. Lots of things. I told some friends I felt like they could use my life as the basis of a TV drama. I have enough plots and subplots going to provide hours of interesting viewing. It’s been a hard week.

But I am convicted by my Bible study this week. It was all about joy. You know what I’m talking about. Those pesky verses in James that say, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

Listen to them in The Message: “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, our faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”

As I was pondering a big blow yesterday I thought, “What’s it supposed to look like when a Christian goes through what I’m going through?” Today I remembered the answer: It’s supposed to look like pure joy.

Well, in this I have failed miserably for the past week.

Forgive me.

Today my Bible study questions said that if we are to be deliberate in our pursuit of joy, we need to identify the blessings that God has bestowed upon us. So here goes:

1. I am thankful for the good days I have had with my daughter this week. They have been better days than we have had together for a long time. They give me hope.
2. I am blessed to feel so loved by my husband. He has made his care and concern most evident. I know he will do anything he can to help me through all this.
3. The love and concern I have had from so many friends and relatives has been a tremendous blessing. Thanks to all of you!
4. I am excited about my future, even though I’m not sure what it holds.
5. Finally, I am so thankful for the truth of the Word. Staying in the Word and teaching it on Sundays and Wednesdays has helped bring stability to the chaos I feel. It has convicted me and given me great hope.

Let me end with the verses that really got me today…I Thes. 5:16-18.
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Working to make these my reality for the coming week.

Innoculation

My friend Jane recently shared about a pastor in Dallas whom she follows, Matt Chandler. After she referenced him I wanted to know more so I googled him and read some things about him, as well as watching several video clips on youtube. One of his recurring clips is called "Jesus wants the rose." Check it out if you have time. It's great!

But in another clip he put out an idea that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. His church is in Dallas, entrenched in the Bible belt. He said that many, many people in the Bible belt have been "inoculated" against the Gospel. This works just like the shots we get to protect us from many terrible diseases. When we get the vaccine, what we are getting is a small dose of the germs that cause this disease, in order to form an immunity to it. Now think about this in terms of the Gospel. Many people get just enough of the Gospel so that it has no real power over them. They are immune to it.

This is an amazing thought.

What it needs to cause us to do is to think. To consider. How do we reach people who have been "inoculated" from the Gospel? New methods, new approaches will have to be launched. We will have to use great creativity. It is a challenge.

Boom Boom Revolution

I have invited all my FaceBook friends to take part in the Boom Boom Revolution. I want to give a further explanation of what this is all about here.

You’ve heard of Random Acts of Kindness. Well, the premise behind Boom Boom Cards is that we should be doing intentional acts of kindness. So each of the cards has a task to be completed, some good deed. Some of the deeds will cost something, but many of them won’t cost a thing. You can choose to do all the tasks or pick the ones that work for you. It won’t matter if you aren’t able to do a particular task on the day it is posted either. Just do it when it works for you. The main idea is to plan to do something.

I’ve been thinking of doing this for a long time. But there are principles behind the reasons for doing these small, simple acts. One of my favorite quotes comes from Helen Keller. She said, “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” I love this idea because it works to squelch the pride I battle in my life often.

Another quote comes from President Obama. During his speech for the memorial service for the Arizona victims this week he said that we all need “a continuously widening circle of concern.” It will only widen as we stretch ourselves to reach beyond those we comfortably reach out to regularly.

Hebrews 10:24 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” So that’s my goal, to spur you on.

For those of you who have young children, I hope you will involve them and engage them in conversations about the good deeds that are all around us, just waiting for us to have eyes to see. Train them in this kind of thinking.

So, beginning February 1 I will be posting a task each day. If you decide to play along I would love to have you post on the event wall what you do and any thoughts you have about what we’re doing. I’m excited about the possibilities.

The Tapestry of My Life

One of the reasons I wanted to come to Indianapolis this week was to see Robin. Robin and I were best friends in high school. I was Maid of Honor at her wedding. I don’t have a great memory for things that happened long ago but I do remember a time I spent the night with her. We could not stop giggling, and Robin’s mom had to come in repeatedly to tell us to be quiet. For whatever reason we were crazy about Mark S. and this was the source of our giggling. How silly we were!

We kept in touch somewhat during college years, but then our lives took us in very different directions. We didn’t talk for over 25 years. Then last year she found me on Facebook. We got together during spring break for our first visit, and now we have had our second. She had a letter that I had written her in 1978 saying that it didn’t matter how long we had been apart, that we were always able to just pick back up with each other as if no time had passed. And that was true again today. I like her now for all the same reasons I liked her so long ago… she’s funny, she is insightful, we have great conversations… she’s just dear to me. I’m so glad she’s in my life again.

So I’m finding once again that life is like a tapestry, a picture/story that is being told thread by thread. Sometimes the threads are visible in the picture but other times they run underneath, only to resurface when they again become part of the picture. I have found this so true in my life over the past year. Former friends have resurfaced and have become active once again in my life, and they are such a blessing. I’m thankful the color and texture they bring to the tapestry of my life.

I love you, Robin!

Romans 8:28

In the previous post I talked about the tremendous attacks that I feel my family has been under. I wanted to add some further thoughts to this idea.

Sunday night Bro. Brian preached from one of the greatest and most comforting verses in the Bible, Romans 8:28. It says, “For we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

As I reflected on this verse and the many examples we find of this in the scriptures such as Joseph, Daniel, Paul and others, I came away with renewed assurance that my family will survive these trials. Every attack, every problem, that the Devil sends our way with the intention of destroying us, devouring us, God intends and allows for our good. No matter how impossible it may seem that anything good can come from these situations, I will take hold of this promise and run with it. I have complete confidence that I will be able to one day look back on all this and see the purpose of God fulfilled in bringing the best to all our lives.

This, too, is part of the fight.

The Roaring Lion

I believe in the devil and all the Bible says about him, but I've never been one to talk about him like others do. I hear people say things like, "The devil has been attacking me," or "I could feel the devil at work." I am often skeptical when I hear people talk like that because I don't think like that normally. But I have to say that today I became a believer.

I just got a clear picture in my mind of I Peter 5:7-9. It says, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

The devil is attacking my family. He is seeking to devour my children. It is real.

Now here is my next thought. If a lion were literally attacking my children, if the lion had one of them in its jaws and were dragging them off, I would not run away and hide, or stand there and cry. I would find myself a club or some kind of weapon and go after that lion. I would beat the lion and grab hold of my child and fight with all my might to take them from the jaws of the lion.

So I'm on the attack. I have my weapon, the Word of God. I will resist the devil with all my might, and the Word promises that the devil will flee. Pray for me. The battle is raging.