This happened a few months ago so please allow me to digress.
It is every mother's dream for their children to grow up to be independent and hear from God. When this happens you know that they will be OK because the choices that they make are based on obedience to what God has said. You just never expect really to hear the words "God told me" to come out of the mouth of a kindergartner. I don't know why it comes as a surprise really. I mean we pray that they will know God at a young age, that God will use them, but when a six year old comes home saying God has spoken to them we doubt the authenticity of this. Why? I guess sometimes we doubt the power of our prayers. Now the following story is completely true, but weather or not Grace really heard from God... I guess only time will tell.
It was late spring when Grace came home from school full of excitement. "How was you day?" I asked as I picked her up from school. "Good," she replied. I could tell she had something to say so I pressed her farther. "Soooo, what happened to day?" That's when she spilled the beans.
"God spoke to me today!" she blurted out.
"Really?! What did he say?"
"Well, I was laying on my mat at nap time and God told me who I was going to marry."
"Really?"
"Yep, I was looking at John Tyler and God said, 'Grace you are going to marry John Tyler'."
"God, Told you that?"
"Yes."
"How do you know that it was God?"
" Because I heard him in my thoughts .... and I just knew it was him."
"OK, well you have a LONG time before you have to worry about that. So lets keep praying about it and wait and see."
"OK, but I know what God told me."
Thankfully she is only six so I don't have to worry about wedding bells anytime soon. But it really thought me something about myself. If I pray that my children will hear God and obey him...then I should expect to hear them tell me that they have heard from Him. Now I'm not saying that God told her who she was going to marry, but I'm not saying he didn't. Only she knows if she did. And if in 20 years she does marry him then I know she did hear from Him. I just have to keep praying that they will hear and obey, and that all other voices will be silenced.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Preachers Wear Ties
Olivia is my four year old and she is one of those kids that just "gets" people. She also has this great knack for drawing people in, so when she bops into the sanctuary at church all the people just love to talk to her and pat her head. Usually she is to "busy" in the nursery to come and greet everyone after church, but this particular day she had decided to grace us with her presence. She had come in and made a bee line to the back door where my husband stood shaking hands with everyone as they left. Olivia smiled and stood close to Jason as everyone said their good byes. When most of the church had emptied she came over to me. I was talking to a couple and didn't really pay much attention to her. But I could tell she was very interested in something about the man that I was chatting with.
Now you have to realize that our church is a church were you come as you are. We don't have a lot of people that really dress up for church. My husband doesn't even wear a tie when he is preaching. The couple that I was talking with was more dressed up than they usually are and the husband (Jeff) was wearing a tie that morning. Olivia marched over to Jeff and with one hand on her hip she stood and pointed at his tie. "Are you a preacher?" She demanded. " Well no, I'm not. Your daddy is though." Jeff replied. She paused and looked at him really thoughtfully. "Well, then why are you wearing that?" she asked as she pointed to his tie. The couple burst into laughter. " I guess most preachers do wear ties don't they?"
Now you have to realize that our church is a church were you come as you are. We don't have a lot of people that really dress up for church. My husband doesn't even wear a tie when he is preaching. The couple that I was talking with was more dressed up than they usually are and the husband (Jeff) was wearing a tie that morning. Olivia marched over to Jeff and with one hand on her hip she stood and pointed at his tie. "Are you a preacher?" She demanded. " Well no, I'm not. Your daddy is though." Jeff replied. She paused and looked at him really thoughtfully. "Well, then why are you wearing that?" she asked as she pointed to his tie. The couple burst into laughter. " I guess most preachers do wear ties don't they?"
Monday, July 26, 2010
How you are suppose to be in church
Have you ever noticed how kids seem to "express" themselves so much more in public? Mine do and the stories of their self proclamation are endless. Being in ministry seems to make these episodes so much more rich and story worthy. I thought I would share some from time to time. Maybe...in the hopes of... not being alone in this never ending struggle of letting your kids be themselves and acting "right" in front of others(especially in church). My husband has been the senior pastor for eight months now at our church, and the things my three kids decide to do at church... God bless us all.
My oldest is Grace and she is a warm and loving kid, but she is one that tends to be brutally honest. You never really know what she is going to say. So when she gets to talking, look out! Our children's pastor came to us last week to tell Jason and I how much he and his wife Lisa just love Grace. Feeling so pleased with the complement I began to chat with them about my darling's wonderful qualities. "Yes she is so smart and amazes me how much she understands for a six year old.... I know she really does enjoy to worship God... I agree it is the sweetest thing how she will raise her hands and turn her face to heaven as she sings... she really is such an honest person..." ( uh-oh the radar is now going off in my brain- what did she say?). At this point Pastor Jeff begins to fill me in on how Grace changed his perspective on Sunday morning Children's Church. You have to understand in her defense she has grown up in church and knows when someone is just going through the motions.
The story is as follows as it was repeated to me:
Pastor Jeff gets up to speak after the morning worship and since he was working the night shift the night before was very sleepy.
Grace: Pastor Jeff, what are you doing?
Pastor Jeff: I"m preaching.
Grace: No your not.
Pastor Jeff: Then what am I doing?
Grace: You are being BORING!!!!!!!!!
Pastor Jeff: Your right! This is not how you are suppose to preach! I am being boring. (He then apologizes to the crowd of children and gets up from where he was sitting and begins to preach his lesson with lots of excitement.)
Now I must note that he delayed in telling us this for several weeks because he did not want to get Grace in trouble. Pastor Jeff is telling me this story with deep love and affection for her because he says it changed how he views what he does. It doesn't matter how sleepy or unprepared he feels, it gave him a zeal or lit a fire under him as he puts it, he is going to preach with joy and strength from the Lord to the kids.
In a moment like this you never know weather you should be mortified and explain "how you are suppose to be in church" or thank God that she had the gumption to speak the truth in love.
My oldest is Grace and she is a warm and loving kid, but she is one that tends to be brutally honest. You never really know what she is going to say. So when she gets to talking, look out! Our children's pastor came to us last week to tell Jason and I how much he and his wife Lisa just love Grace. Feeling so pleased with the complement I began to chat with them about my darling's wonderful qualities. "Yes she is so smart and amazes me how much she understands for a six year old.... I know she really does enjoy to worship God... I agree it is the sweetest thing how she will raise her hands and turn her face to heaven as she sings... she really is such an honest person..." ( uh-oh the radar is now going off in my brain- what did she say?). At this point Pastor Jeff begins to fill me in on how Grace changed his perspective on Sunday morning Children's Church. You have to understand in her defense she has grown up in church and knows when someone is just going through the motions.
The story is as follows as it was repeated to me:
Pastor Jeff gets up to speak after the morning worship and since he was working the night shift the night before was very sleepy.
Grace: Pastor Jeff, what are you doing?
Pastor Jeff: I"m preaching.
Grace: No your not.
Pastor Jeff: Then what am I doing?
Grace: You are being BORING!!!!!!!!!
Pastor Jeff: Your right! This is not how you are suppose to preach! I am being boring. (He then apologizes to the crowd of children and gets up from where he was sitting and begins to preach his lesson with lots of excitement.)
Now I must note that he delayed in telling us this for several weeks because he did not want to get Grace in trouble. Pastor Jeff is telling me this story with deep love and affection for her because he says it changed how he views what he does. It doesn't matter how sleepy or unprepared he feels, it gave him a zeal or lit a fire under him as he puts it, he is going to preach with joy and strength from the Lord to the kids.
In a moment like this you never know weather you should be mortified and explain "how you are suppose to be in church" or thank God that she had the gumption to speak the truth in love.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
My Mom always said...
As I sit here I have to laugh at myself. Every day that something crazy happens or a well planned trip totally fails I hear the words of my mother... " when you have one you can have fun on the run. When you have two you just have to make due. But when you have three...you stay where you be." Now I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that is really bad english but humor me.
Thinking back to just this past week, little lone the past two years, I can see how her words are so true. With every little addition, with every bundle of joy that came into our home our lives and the way we did things changed. I don't think anything could have really prepared me for being a stay at home mom of three small children.
My children are all two years a part so they some times get in a pack mode and try to over throw the well balanced and orderly home that I try to keep everyday. Here is a sliver of life in my house (and this is just one example from the past 7 days).
My husband and I are ministers and had planned on having some guest speakers and singers come to our church for the weekend. So like any good house wife I commited myself to cleaning the entire house. I mean it was so spotless you could have eaten off the bathroom floors. Then I started bathing the childern and putting them all to bed. (My husband was out doing pastor things.) Grace my oldest can give herself a shower (can I here a hallalujha from the choir) so she was already in and out. I put Olivia in and started helping her wash her hair when Noah (my 2 year old) comes in the bathroom. He really wanted to get in, but I told him several times to wait his turn. Finally getting the message (at least that is what I thought) he walks out of the bathroom.
A few minutes later Grace calls my name and says," You better see what Noah is doing!" Now that is every mother of a two year old signal that there is trouble on the horizon. So I braced myself and followed Grace to the other bathroom. There I find that my son has taken the bathing thing upon himself. He has stripped down to his underware and rubbed the foaming handsoap all over his body from head to toe and was climbing into the sink to wash himself off. That foam soap was not invented my someone with a do-it-yourself kid in the very middle of the terrible two's! There was foam blobs of soap everywhere. It was on the floor, sink, toliet, and walls. By the time I got the soap out of his hands it had covered me and was making its way out into the hall. I guess he really hadn't gotten the message that it wasn't his turn yet. So much for eating in the bathroom.
Thinking back to just this past week, little lone the past two years, I can see how her words are so true. With every little addition, with every bundle of joy that came into our home our lives and the way we did things changed. I don't think anything could have really prepared me for being a stay at home mom of three small children.
My children are all two years a part so they some times get in a pack mode and try to over throw the well balanced and orderly home that I try to keep everyday. Here is a sliver of life in my house (and this is just one example from the past 7 days).
My husband and I are ministers and had planned on having some guest speakers and singers come to our church for the weekend. So like any good house wife I commited myself to cleaning the entire house. I mean it was so spotless you could have eaten off the bathroom floors. Then I started bathing the childern and putting them all to bed. (My husband was out doing pastor things.) Grace my oldest can give herself a shower (can I here a hallalujha from the choir) so she was already in and out. I put Olivia in and started helping her wash her hair when Noah (my 2 year old) comes in the bathroom. He really wanted to get in, but I told him several times to wait his turn. Finally getting the message (at least that is what I thought) he walks out of the bathroom.
A few minutes later Grace calls my name and says," You better see what Noah is doing!" Now that is every mother of a two year old signal that there is trouble on the horizon. So I braced myself and followed Grace to the other bathroom. There I find that my son has taken the bathing thing upon himself. He has stripped down to his underware and rubbed the foaming handsoap all over his body from head to toe and was climbing into the sink to wash himself off. That foam soap was not invented my someone with a do-it-yourself kid in the very middle of the terrible two's! There was foam blobs of soap everywhere. It was on the floor, sink, toliet, and walls. By the time I got the soap out of his hands it had covered me and was making its way out into the hall. I guess he really hadn't gotten the message that it wasn't his turn yet. So much for eating in the bathroom.
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