I know this sounds like a Tabloid, but it is true. I was in my room having my quiet time and Jeb was in his room having his quiet time and Cay was asleep. It was a dreamy moment. Then, I hear a squeal followed by some footsteps. Yes, he comes running in claiming, "My Bible Cut Me." I was like...what did you say? Please explain. Apparently, he was thumbing through his favorite Bible (100 Ways to Know God Loves Me) and listening to the accompanying CD when the corner fell on his skinny foot and cut him. Yes, he was hurt by his Bible. I just laughed. Only my child could find a way to be injured by a book.
We had a fun weekend with cousins this weekend. Lib and her family were here and Ky. turned 3 and had a Monster Jam party.
We have had the joy of sharing our baby goats with lots of friends this past week. It is always fun to have friends over to play. Also, we have had cousins in and out during the week and I love Meg's smiles (see pics).
Cay has had to be in time out a few times lately. He has really taken to mauling his brother and head-butting. He will headbutt me, concrete, stairs, wooden floors and toys. It is odd. I am hoping he will figure out that it creates more pain than it helps.
There have been quite a few things that I have been thinking about lately or reading that really struck me. Maybe they will you too.
I have been so heartbroken over so many of my students' stories and often unimaginably horrid situations. I really sometimes wonder how some of these kids can go through so much and even half-way function. I try to share my faith as much as legally possible as their instructor...but it is a really tough balancing act. I have been impressed by both their strong faith in God and their utter hopelessness when they don't know Him.
C.S. Lewis once said, "The sources of unbelief among young people today do not lie in those young people...This very obvious fact--that each generation is taught by an earlier generation--must be kept very firmly in mind...Nothing which is not in the teachers can flow from them into the pupils." I am praying my walk will be close and steady with God so that my children/students can SEE and experience the pleasures of knowing God in a tumultuous world.
I was reading Homelife Magazine and preparing for my classes this week. I am sharing an article called "Moms Who Do Too Much" about helicopter parents as we begin our unit on writing argument papers. So, I read this article, "The Relief of Imperfection" by Joan Webb (based on her book by that title)and I thought about how I always had a believing professor at Mizzou who said, "Perfection is an enemy." ...
"Many of us play God in subtle ways. We ma have trouble conceiving than there is an equal option or goal other than ours, or that God is at work in the painful circumstances we're so determined to avoid. Matt 16:21-23 : I want you to know that in a few days I'm going to be killed, said Jesus...Peter says...there is not way we can let this happen to you. Jesus says--Peter you think you're helping, but you're really hindering Me. MY Father is doing something here. Stop trying to be bigger than God. Since we want to choose (and want everyone around us to choose) to follow Jesus and want God's purposes fulfilled, we may attempt to step in and figure out a perfect, protective solution to preventing hurt, or (in our opinion) a disastrous situation. We may actually be hindering God's strategy for insight and growth in another's life or in our church. We cannot know God's agenda for another's spiritual growth or HOW GOD PURPOSES TO SHOW HIS POWER." Wow...what a relief. Now, I do think there are times (many times) when we as believers are to "speak the truth in love " see 1 John, but then there are those times when it is best to step back and let those we care about experience the consequences of their own decisions. Both are tough and knowing when to do which really is a matter of prayer.
One more totally unrelated thing I read:
"Kids need to see their families and churches caring for the least of these." Soren Kierkegaard once told of visiting a wealthy cathedral: "The minister dressed in a velvet robe opened the golden gilded Bible, marked it with a silk bookmark and said, "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, sell what he has, give it to the poor, and follow me." He said he started laughing at the irony of the church, but no one else seemed to notice it. I used to be sad that our church looked like a barn (BTW--it does look better now with our new addition--praise be to God for that!) but now I find comfort in its pragmatic metal self! After all, Jesus himself was born in a barn. Now, if they would stop spending so much money on lights and Hollywood effects (no church is perfect)--hee hee. Oh well, still, I do think money is spent sharing the gospel and not on showing off bricks and chandeliers.
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