Category Archives: Life of Jesus

Good job!

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Emerald spends time with me whenever her mommy is attending university classes. And while Birgitta is learning, I am too.

Pop popA week ago Emerald and I opened a package together that came in the mail. Inside was a generous supply of bubble wrap protecting the contents, and I wondered if she might be ready to pop the bubbles.

As I squeezed a few for her, her eyebrows went up with surprise, and I could see this was a match made in heaven. Because of her love of bubble-blowing, bubble wrap was sure to become a close second.

Pressing my big finger atop her tiny one, I showed her how hard she’d have to press to get a pop, and doubted she had the strength. But in tandem we popped one after another, and she was hooked. When she tried it by herself, at first her finger wiggled and wobbled as she pressed, but eventually one bubble did pop. She threw her hands in the air and shouted, “Good job, bubble!”

And there was my lesson for the day.

PopAs self-centered as most toddlers naturally are, this time Emerald focused on the performance of someone (something) other than herself. I was about to say, “Good job, Emerald!” but she beat me to it with her good-job-bubble, as if she was proud of the bubble and its pop.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with congratulating a toddler on learning something new. But there’s something unusual about a toddler (who is normally quite self-focused) seeing anything at all from a viewpoint other than her own.

God had me in class on bubble-wrap-day and was reminding me that thinking self-first is something I do too much of. And when I think like that, I might as well be a toddler acting in character (rather than a toddler acting out of character as Emerald did that day). I’ve lived too long not to know better.

A few days later, I got the same lesson again.

Living and learningThe two of us were out on the deck blowing soap bubbles when it began to rain. Emerald asked for her mini-umbrella (which sounded much like asking for her “ebola”), and I wondered if she might be able to open and close it herself. She badly wanted to do it.

When we came in the house, we tried it a few times with my hand over hers, showing her how. And sure enough, she finally got it. When she did, her response was, “Good job, ‘ebola’!” And I got the lesson again.

Now my homework is to learn how to think of others not just intentionally but automatically. It’s hard to establish a new habit, but at least God taught the lesson in a truly charming way. And if I need a reminder, I can pull out the bubble wrap.

“We must not just please ourselves…  For even Christ didn’t live to please himself.” (Romans 15:1,3)

Praising and Praying with Mary

You’ll hear from me on Sunday night’s blog, bringing you up to date.

It wasn’t easy.

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Some men go through life without having children, and some have only boys. In both cases, they’ve been spared one of life’s more difficult moments. They’ll never have to “give away” a daughter on her wedding day.

Nate and LinneaLittle girls idolize their daddies. That’s the way it should be, since Daddy is their first reference for what God is like. In a best-case scenario, fathers evidence God-like characteristics toward their daughters: patience, kindness, love, goodness. If a daughter grows up in a relationship with this kind of daddy, it’s easy for her to later relate to God as her loving heavenly Father.

Most fathers are fiercely protective of their daughters. Heaven help the person who intentionally harms them! This is what’s behind a father’s mistrust of adolescent boys who come calling during the dating years. Fathers see themselves as earth’s best security force for their little girls, no matter how big they get.

Margaret and her DadThen comes the greatest of all fatherly challenges, a daughter’s wedding day. Even if a man approves of his potential son-in-law, that walk down a church aisle to place his daughter’s hand in that of a young man can weaken even the strongest knees.

I remember my own wedding-walk down the long aisle of Moody Church. Clutching my dad’s arm gave me a sense of security, and I knew if I got wobbly, he’d stabilize me. But what was he thinking? I never asked.

Linnea and Nate

I did ask Nate, though, about his similar experience. He walked our Linnea down the aisle wearing an expression that said, “This is hard!” When we talked about it later, he said, “It was much harder than I thought it would be.”

And that’s the way it is for fathers who love their daughters.

But even in cases of poor fathering, no one needs to be without a perfect Father. God invites us to be his children, an offer that didn’t come without a “giving away.” Unlike earthly fathers who give away their daughters on a happy wedding day, God gave away his Son to an awful fate, a wrenching death he didn’t deserve. There is no greater sacrifice. Surely that day was excruciating for the Father, and yet he followed through.

Today we are able to reap the benefits of being children of that perfect Father. He is devoted beyond human capability and will never make the wrong call on our behalf. And if we wobble, he will stabilize us.

Although I was eager to have Dad give me away on my wedding day, I don’t ever want God to give me away. And happily, he has promised he never will.

“To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)

Getting to Know You

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Dad's writingToday while cleaning out an old file cabinet I came across a piece of aged cardboard with a bit of my dad’s familiar script on it. It was a list of two items, both crossed off as if completed. Seeing his hand- writing sent a ripple of warmth through me, because as I saw his words, I saw him.

We can tell all kinds of things from a person’s writing. Actually, there are analysts who call themselves graphologists who say they can give details about whether or not someone was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he/she did the writing, what their mental state was at the time, and what their personality characteristics are. Some dispute this, but even detectives confess to using graphologists in their efforts to solve crimes.

But those things aren’t what I saw in my dad’s writing. Instead I saw these:

  • DadDad was a serious person.
  • He embraced responsibility.
  • He thought in legal terms.
  • He wrote legibly.
  • He didn’t waste words.
  • He didn’t waste paper, choosing the back of a tablet for his list.

Also, since it looks like he penned a slow line under each item, I wondered if he might have been on the phone at the time, doodling a bit. Was he using his list as a prompt during the conversation?

I think about the words God has written for us to read, though we’ve never seen his actual handwriting. People have called the Bible a love letter, the word of truth, the law, the Good Book, The Holy Writ, the Scriptures, and The Word of God. We can tell an awful lot about the Main Character of the book by reading the inspired words we find there.

This is especially important because God is currently invisible, which makes “seeing” him in the pages of Scripture extremely valuable. Jesus even told us that’s how we should get to know him, by reading and studying the Bible.

One of my desires for 2015 is to get to know Jesus better. That was my goal for 2014, too, and though it did happen to a certain extent, there’s always more to discover. Actually, I don’t think we will ever, even through eternity, learn all there is to know about the Lord. Because of that, getting to know him better is probably a good goal for every year.

I’m looking forward to someday seeing the face of Jesus and also to hearing his voice. And maybe I’ll even get to study a writing sample. The only problem is, it’ll probably be in Aramaic.

”The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God.” (Hebrews 1:3)