Memorial Stones for Remembering

Thank you for your indulgence as I have been in inspiration overload from VBS this week. The end of Day 5 brought mixed emotions: “Aw! We Made it!” and “Oh no! It’s Over!” The latter are my words as this joy-filled week is over and I return to my quiet and peaceful home. The former are words the volunteers (most of who are parents of the children and they’re worn out). I was amused at them yesterday. Most of those mamas who were volunteering have young and teenage children and their lives carry on each day after VBS is over. They aren’t afforded my sweet spot of R&R.

Yesterday was the big finale of our Israelites wandering 40 years in the desert. They wound up at the Jordan River, where, on just the other side was their Promised Land. It was precious to see a re-enactment of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant up to the edge of the Jordan by kindergartners. When their feet touched the water, the waters parted and they went across on dry ground. Our teen volunteers pulled back the “plastic” waters where there were stones that would be the memorial stones that marked bringing God’s people into the Promised Land. How appropriate for the conclusion of this week. The entire week was a “memorial” indelibly imprinted in their minds and mine. I won’t forget those little faces of wonder and awe.

It may be now, or it may be years down the road, but those memories and memorials that we create in our children DO have an impact on those bright-eyed faces. God Bless you, VBS leaders, crews and volunteers for the eternal investment you are making in the lives of these precious children!

While VBS is a summer staple for families every year, it’s certainly not the end-all. This scripture describes what I see in the labor of love that these families and volunteers provide – way more than just this one week: “You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Let these words that I’m commanding you today be always on your heart. Teach them repeatedly to your children. Talk about them while sitting in your house or walking on the road, and as you lie down or get up. Tie them as reminders on your forearm, bind them on your forehead, and write them on the door frames of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) That panoramic view is much more descriptive of an endless process of training our children in the way they should go – not just for a week – but every day of the year.

The lessons I learned early on, the scriptures I memorized, and the stories of faith and trust in God carried on into my life today. The stories and scriptures are what sustained and strengthened me in my toughest times and have given me joy and peace in my faith journey. I promise you, teaching your children about God and His Word, will carry them through to adulthood and even beyond to the families they will have some day. When you see them teaching their children one day, you'll be ever grateful for the seeds you planted. That's how I felt this week when I witnessed these children shouting out answers to questions in our Faith Station – that came from more than a week at VBS. Those little eyes and ears were watching and listening this week. They also watch and listen in your homes. Keep laying the foundation that will keep them standing strong. That’s a constant, never-changing message to continue sharing and one that I’m willing to stake my life upon! How about you?

The Curiosity and Wonder of a Child

The Curiosity and Wonder of a Child
This post was inspired by a friend who explained how she was off and running, after her baby started walking and was getting into EVERYTHING! Our lives come in stages. The first stage is infancy when that precious newborn can only cry, sleep, eat and provide reasons for diapers – lots of them. At first, he can only detect light and motion and after about a month, he can make eye contact and focus on objects about 12 inches away. But when his full vision comes to be, a whole new world is opened to him. His is the world of curiosity and adventure as he reaches and puts his little hands on everything. In fact, he is so curious that we have to cover our electric sockets because those little fingers want to discover what those holes are all about. Curiosity and wonder are inbred in this little one. Then he starts to walk. This is the sweetest, yet often concerning times for his parents, as my friend shared: “What’s he going to get into next? Oh my goodness – he pulled all the toilet paper off the roll! He's eating the dog's food!” Then he starts to talk and soon is asking questions. Remember those little ones asking “What's that? Why? Why is the sky blue?” “Why does the dog bark?”

He’s curious, inquisitive, wondering AND wandering. Oh, to be filled with curiosity and a sense of wonder and awe again – like those little ones! Don’t you know that is something that God wants for us, as His children, to embrace again? We who have lived several decades know what it is to become busy with life and pressing needs like food, water and shelter so we leave little room for curiosity, being inquisitive and finding wonder. We know what it is to make mistakes, so we become a little gun-shy (cautious) with life, instead of giving our curiosity full reign to being spontaneous to new adventures, asking questions, and seeking new ways of doing things. That’s not the case with children. The future is wide open for them, and they seem to know it. Wide-eyed with wonder, filled with potential, they are ready to see the possibilities all around them. Unhindered by the past, they are free to wake up each morning with enthusiasm and delight for what this day holds.

That’s the childlike spirit that God wants for all of us. God doesn’t us to think we are too old, too wounded, too limited, too whatever. Adventure awaits us when we take off the restraints of complacency. May we become curious again. May we seek and find treasures in friends who have knowledge and a wealth of wisdom to share. There are exciting places to go and things to do. Our Father has great plans for us. It’s up to us to run into that future with all the confidence of a little child!
Matthew 18:2-4 “Jesus called a little child to him. He stood the child before the followers. Then he said, “I tell you the truth. You must change and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.”