Looks fine to me.

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Having 12 grandchildren is an ongoing blessing, and I’m grateful for this set of little people (ages 9 and under) whose approach to life is always fresh.

Jesus and childrenWhenever I read about the relationship Jesus had with children, I’m impressed with how strong his admiration was. As a 30-something man who never had children of his own, he showed more interest in little ones than most men of his demographic. But there was a good reason.

Jesus touted children as being able to teach adults a thing or two and urged his followers to humble themselves enough to learn from them. I get that, because my grands have frequently taught me things – like not to jump to negative conclusions when things aren’t going well.

Happy girlEmerald, age 5, recently became my teacher. She lives in Iowa, and her “curriculum” arrived as an unexpected gift in the mail. The real gift, though, wasn’t in the box but was in her words.

Confident of my love for her, Emerald decided to make a necklace for me as a reminder of the relationship we enjoy. She used my favorite color, red, and strung 7 special beads in the middle that spelled out her name.

 

NecklaceHer mom, Birgitta, admired the necklace when it was finished but noticed that one bead had been strung incorrectly. “Do you want to fix the ‘L’ since it’s upside-down?”

Emerald studied the necklace for a minute and then said, “No. It looks fine to me.”

Birgitta, wanting the gift to be just right had started to coax a bit when Emerald said, “Mommy, everything’s not always perfect, but everything is always great.”

 

As I read this in the note Birgitta had included with the gift, the light of truth blinked on for me. That’s exactly how the Bible tells us to think. It says we’re to “always give thanks to God for everything,” (Ephesians 5:20) implying that everything has a great-factor buried in it.

In other words, no matter how flawed or difficult life becomes, our first thought ought to be that there’s something great hidden in it… because God is the One orchestrating (or permitting) the circumstances.

The hard part is learning to spot the great within the not-so-great. Jesus wants us to focus on what God might be doing behind the scenes rather than just on what we see up close, and then dwelling on that. Thanking him for that.

Emerald's signature at 5Emerald’s gift (to MeeMee) hangs with my most valuable necklaces. And as I wear it and hear comments about the upside-down “L”, I get to pass along the wisdom she taught me – something more valuable than the priciest jewelry.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15)

These boots are made for walkin’ .

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Our son Hans, living in England with his British wife Katy, has a big family — eight in all. This gives me cause for great joy, because six of them are my grandchildren.

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Having all these youngsters, ages nine and under, demands tremendous organization. I’ve been repeatedly thankful that Katy has a knack for keeping their lives in order. That goes for shoes and boots, too.

BootsSince this family lives in north England, rain is plentiful, along with a steady need for boots. They call them “wellies” after Britain’s Wellington boots, popular in the UK since the early 1800’s — for farming, hunting, and, in this case, puddle-jumping. Of course as the children grow, there’s a need for wellies in virtually every size.

Little Jonathan, 15 months old, had just come into his first pair of wellies when I was there recently. Though the boots were still a bit big on him, he wanted to be like his older siblings and wear them out to play.

Every so often, though, his foot would slip half way out of a boot, causing his next step to be a big stumble. An ankle-fold-over was the inevitable result, along with a plunge to the pavement, accompanied by some level of damage – skinned forehead, chin, cheek, or nose, and sometimes all of them. This was especially true when he was trying to walk his wellies on bumpy pavement.

His wobbly walking reminded me of the Bible verse that says if we fully trust in God’s wisdom rather than our own, he’ll make our paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) But it also reminded me of another verse that says the Lord can keep us from stumbling.

JonathanBeing new on his feet and new in his wellies, Jonathan sometimes did more stumbling than walking, suffering injuries and the tears that went with them.

How nice for us to know that if we do things God’s way, we won’t have to stumble through life but can walk on the straight path he promises to make for us. That’s not to say we won’t experience hardship, but we won’t have to suffer self-inflicted injuries or the tears that accompany them when we stumble spiritually, falling away from God’s straight path.

It won’t take long for Jonathan to grow into his wellies, and if we’re smart, we’ll waste no time letting God have his way in our lives. After that, our stumbling and the tears that come with it will be kept to a minimum.

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy… be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Jude 1:24-25)

One Quick Question

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A few days ago, I returned from two lively weeks with son Hans, his wife Katy, and their six children, in England. They home educate these children and are doing their best to raise them to know and love the Lord.

British Nymans

Every evening, after baths/showers and just before bedtime, Katy finds her way to the piano bench and begins playing their “hymn of the week,” the signal to gather for family worship. The children are each given a paper copy of the hymn, even those too young to read, and by the end of each week, they’ve all got it memorized.

Jonathan and LizzieAfterwards, Katy removes the two youngest, ages 15 months (Jonathan) and 3 (Lizzie), taking them upstairs for a children’s Bible story. The others stay with Hans for a more advanced study time, taking turns reading verses out loud. Then Hans gives a 15 minute commentary on the Scripture, leads in prayer, and it’s off to bed.

The evening before I returned home, I was happily anticipating our worship time with Hans and the older set, eagerly looking forward to hearing his thoughts and sharing in the discussion.

Though the children (ages 9, 8, 8, and 4) were supposed to wait till after Hans had explained the passage before asking their many questions, on this night Evelyn shot up her hand.

“Please, Daddy, just one little, tiny, quick question before I read the verses.”

“OK,” he said. “One quick one.”

“What’s prostitution?”

I caught Hans’ eye and we read each other’s thoughts. “Little… tiny… quick?” But Evelyn had asked with sincerity and was quietly waiting for an answer. Thankfully she’d already been told about the birds and the bees, so Hans started there.

“Well… you know what we talked about between a man and a woman… when they’re married. And prostitution is when someone pays money for sex.”

Before he could fully explain, though, Evelyn put up her hand.

“Who pays the money?”

Hans forged ahead. “The man,” he said.

At that moment he decided to try a diversion, going back to the Garden of Eden to detail God’s plan for marriage.

 

EvelynBut Evelyn (at right) pressed her point. “So, is it not right to have sex if you have to pay?”

“That’s right,” he said, searching for a way to end this “quick” discussion.

“But,” Evelyn said, “why would a man pay a woman to have sex?”

Drawing a deep breath he said, “Because it’s fun.”

As Evelyn took in this new information, she repeated it, half to herself. “It’s fun?”

“You know what?” Hans said. “Your little, tiny, quick question has used up most of our Bible time, and we’re going to finish this discussion later. Right now, it’s time for prayer.”

“OK, Daddy,” she said, “but I’ve been reading in Song of Solomon that…”

At this point Hans interrupted her with a simple statement. “Let’s pray.” And that was that.

“Listen to your father, who gave you life.” (Proverbs 23:22)