Mid-Week Message - Childhood Lessons

"Let the word [spoken by] Christ (the Messiah) have its home [in your hearts and minds] and dwell in you in [all its] richness, as you teach and admonish and train one another in all insight and intelligence and wisdom [in spiritual things, and as you sing] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to God with [His] grace in your hearts."  Colossians 3:16 (AMPC)

Children have been my life.  I started babysitting in the summers at the age of nine then graduated to babysitting on weekends and nights.  My first job was at a daycare center and I worked in daycare centers all through college and afterward.  Eventually I became a nanny for one family and then two.  

My daughter loves to hear the stories from those days, such as the little boy who could not correctly pronounce Pinocchio so he called him Pickanose.  I have no idea how many times I told her that story but it was a lot.  Children like to hear things over and over.  In my house we read the same two or three books every night for so long that I had most of them memorized!  Movies were watched over and over and songs played continually until Mom and Dad were hearing them in their sleep.  She had a Ronald McDonald tape that she got in a Happy Meal that I found myself singing the songs from while in the shower.  But I wouldn't trade those days for anything.  

There is great comfort in the familiar.  The first songs that we teach our children, such as "Jesus Loves Me", are simple but also easily remembered truths that teach them about the faithfulness of the Lord and the love that He has for everyone.  They like to sing them over and over and that is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom for them.  As they grow we begin to teach them scriptures such as John 3:16.  Because they hear them often, the words are written on their hearts and in their minds where they will dwell forever.  

I sometimes miss the days of childhood.  Things were much simpler when I could just allow the adults to worry about the problems of life and I could enjoy reading and re-reading books and singing the songs I learned in Sunday School.  Memorizing scripture was a challenge that was fun for me and although I had no idea the words would stay with me all my life, in actuality God was inscribing them into my very soul, preparing me for the day when I would need to refer to them in my adult years. 

I am so thankful now for the adults that the Lord placed in my life to teach me the basic truths about His love and steadfastness.  Each time they sang, prayed or recited scripture with me they were helping to engrave God's Word deeper into my mind and heart and teach me about who He is. Because I have that foundation I have hope to turn to on the toughest days. I am also thankful that He used me in so many little lives to do that same thing.  I hope they are thankful too.

As we go through this week, let's see how many of those songs and verses we can remember.  I am pretty sure we will each be surprised by all that comes to mind.  Then, each time we hum the tunes or think of the words, let's say prayers of thanksgiving for those people who invested into our lives.  Because they loved the Lord enough to share with us, we have knowledge and wisdom that is eternal.  God bless you!

Mid-Week Message - Images From the Past

“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever."  1 Peter 1:24-25a (NIV)

One of my favorite activities is perusing antique stores.  There you are able to actually put your hands on history.  Old furniture that used to belong in someone's home.  Hand-sewn aprons.  Knitted blankets.  Steamer trunks that may have sailed the seas.  Clocks that no longer chime for their original owners.  And photographs.  Wonderful black and white images of faces no longer recognized.  Faces that were loved with names that others thought would always be remembered, but no longer are and are now for sale to strangers to use as decor.  

After our move to Georgia I dismantled some family pictures from a collage that I had assembled for one of my parents' anniversaries many years ago.  The glass in the frame had been broken in our move so it was time to rescue them from sure destruction.  As I was showing them to my husband and telling him who they were, I realized that I didn't know the names of most of my grandmother's family.  Now that my mother and aunt have passed on, I doubt that I will ever be able to identify them.  

Life is fleeting.  Those who love us will continue to remember us and they may even pass on our stories for generations. However, for most of us, at some point all who knew of us will also pass away and our names will be but etches on a tombstone.  Maybe our photographs will end up in an antique store as well.  

There is One, however, that not only will never forget us, but will bring us to live in His own home when our souls no longer inhabit physical bodies.  He has known us intimately since before creation.  He formed us and breathed His own spirit into us making us His own forever.  We never have to worry that we will be forgotten by the One that matters.  Eternity will be spent walking by His side and singing His praises in the glory and splendor of Heaven.  He doesn't need photographs because we will never be apart from Him. 

I have a cedar chest that was made by my father's hands full of images of people that either have already or soon will become just faces without names to those of us still living on this earth.  If they accepted Jesus as their Savior though, they are rejoicing.  If you have not asked Him to be your Savior and Lord, please seek out someone to talk to about that. Or get in touch with me.  What a gift it would be to walk Heavenly streets with you and know your name.  God bless you.