Category Archives: Children

A Shiny Example

Posted on by

Havin' funIf Mom was still living, we’d be celebrating her 101st birthday about now. She didn’t make it that far, but packed a-lotta-livin’ into the 92 years she had. Her #1 life-interest was Jesus Christ, but her #2 was definitely people (and a chimp or two). My siblings and I still hear reports of her influence.

Recently, for example, I received an email from a summer neighbor, Karen, who took time to write out her youthful impressions of Mom:

I remember liking to come over to your cottage, knowing we were always welcome to drop in. Your mom made time to sit and play games with us, never minding if we got sand on her floor. And we could always use your big inner-tubes at the beach, even if you weren’t going.

Mom and more kidsYour mom took us to the State Park where we climbed [the giant dune] “Pike’s Peak” together and ran down the back side of it. On another occasion she let us “help” paint your cottage. Once I fell and was knocked unconscious, but your mom took care of me.

What I remember most, though, is that your home seemed filled with love, acceptance, fun, and joy. Your mom was the best example of God’s love shining through someone that I’ve ever known. His joy radiated from her, and I was blessed to have her in my life.

*               *               *               *               *               *               *               *

I’m still trying to learn from Mom’s example, and it’s interesting that the many “kids” in the multiple generations she impacted always mention the same things: that she had time for them and accepted them as they were.

As parents, we spend 20 years molding and shaping our children, trying to grow them into responsible adults. Sometimes we lift up standards that are so high they’re impossible to meet, and then we push, push, push, forgetting to take time to have fun with them and joyfully accept who they are. And what about taking time to do the same with other people’s children?

Shortly after I heard about Mom from Karen, I also heard from one of her other “kids”. Judi wrote:

Your mother was an angel on earth. Her unique attributes continue to be present through the legacy she passed on to her many “children”. What a privilege to have been one of them.

Between those lines I hear God’s opinion shining through. Mom pleased him by passing along the blessing she had received herself, giving God the credit for everything. She didn’t just share her games, her inner-tubes, and her time. She also shared the faith that meant more to her than anything else. But not by preaching it.

Children “caught it” not from listening to her recite Bible passages or teach Sunday school but by seeing the Lord shine out of her (as Karen wrote) by way of “love, acceptance, fun, and joy.”

Happy Birthday!Happy 101st, Mom!

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

To the Extreme

Posted on by

Extreme TVThe latest TV craze is focused on the word “extreme”: Extreme Sports, Extreme Makeover, Extreme Weight Loss, Extreme Cheapskates, Extreme Games, Extreme Chef, and so on. The word “extreme” implies intensity, excess, even severity. People are no longer happy just watching “normal” or “regular.” Abnormal is better, even if it means people might be harmed or humiliated.

This new trend, however, has nothing on young children. They’ve always done everything to the extreme.

TissueTPTake Emerald, for example. Pulling one tissue out of the box isn’t enough. She wants them all, and not just to set them aside, but to crumple them. And toilet paper? If rolling out a little is fun, doing the whole roll is even better.

But children aren’t the only ones. We adults often forsake the middle ground for the extremes, too. As a first year elementary school teacher in Chicago, I remember giving up healthy lunches to eat cookies instead. They partnered well with coffee and satisfied my sweet tooth. But 2 or 3 didn’t satisfy, so I usually ate half a bagful and saw nothing wrong with that. Surely that was extreme.

It’s probable that once we’re settled in at one extreme or the other, we can get comfortable there, which is the reason our culture needs so many Twelve Step programs. We become so used to living in max-mode that we need help learning how to do it a different way.

So, what is God’s point of view on all this? Is he against living in the extremes?

No. He actually wants an extreme commitment from us, a commitment to worship him, bow down to him, humble ourselves before him, forsake all other gods in favor of him. Since this sounds like too much of a good thing, something we could never accomplish, he gave us a model: his Son Jesus.

When Jesus was asked what motivated him to do the things he did, he said, “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” (John 5:19) Now that’s extreme. And though we can’t do it to perfection like he did (especially the part about never sinning), if we pursue extreme devotion to him, the result will be a more upright life along with lots of inner peace.

WonderAnd getting back to the way children often take things too far, there is an up side. When it comes to Christmas time, little ones oooh and aaah over every decoration and string of lights. Their mouths drop open and their extreme pleasure comes out in gasps or squeals.

Wouldn’t God be pleased if our amazement over him was just that extreme?

Jesus said, “I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” (John 5:30)

As I see it…

Posted on by

When the parents of my grandchildren text me the unusual comments their little ones make, it’s total entertainment. Their creative thinking is often “way out there,” but we get a wide-open window into what’s on their minds.

Simply Micah.This weekend Linnea wrote from Florida about what was on the mind of 3-year-old Micah:

“We were all cuddled up on the bed reading the Children’s Bible, the story of Jesus raising the little girl back to life. We were talking about how powerful Jesus is and that God is the only one who can do miracles. Micah looked up at me with a big smile and sweetly said, ‘Mommy, I want to be God’.”

Although Linnea began laughing, Micah was ready with his reason: “I just want to be in charge of everything.”

Linnea wrote, “He was very matter-of-fact about it, with his big blue eyes and freckly face.” The only thing she could do was accept his honesty at face value. He hadn’t made his assertion with a shred of pride or greed, just 3-year-old logic. Who wouldn’t want to have all the power and do all the miracles?

The sad truth is, 3-year-olds aren’t the only ones who want to be God, because oftentimes adults do, too. We wouldn’t come right out and say it like Micah did or even think it like that, but whenever we choose our own way over God’s, that’s what’s behind it.

Sometimes in our efforts to develop a spiritual side or to live biblically, we give ourselves credit for not wanting to be God, picturing ourselves bowed low in front of him, submitted and humbled. But then we turn and leave his presence with a passion to “do our own thing.” Suddenly we’ve put our agenda atop his, and there we are, playing God again.

The fact that we even have “our own thing” at all puts us in opposition to the Lord. “Our thing” ought only to be whatever “his thing” is for us, even though it may take a lifetime of roping ourselves in before we can fully cooperate with that.

DreamingThe more we learn about God, the greater the discrepancy between who he is and who we are. There’s no comparison, and it does a world of good for our relationship with him, if we remind ourselves of that now and then. Though 3-year-old Micah still innocently dreams of wanting to be God, my 68-year-old self just better not.

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’.” (Isaiah 46:9-10)