A long time ago, a couple entrusted their two teenage daughters to us while they worked away from the area for six months.  I was 29 years old at the time, and 7 or 8 years from having teenagers of my own.  I doubt we really knew what we were getting into, but we agreed and did our best. 
            Having someone give the care of their children into your hands for more than just a couple of hours is terrifying.  I think we probably made even stricter decisions than we did with our own children when the first one hit that milestone age of 13 several years later.  This isn’t like borrowing a lawn mower, or even a luxury automobile—these were souls we were asked to look after, in some of their most important years.
            Those girls are grown now, even older than we were when they lived with us.  In spite of those six months, they turned out very well, as have their own children.  I doubt it had anything to do with us, but you had better believe that we were on our toes far more in those six months than at any other time in our lives.  Still, we made mistakes, but it wasn’t for lack of praying and considering before we did anything.
            I am sure you can understand how we felt.  Here’s the thing, as a famous fictional TV detective is wont to say:  all of us who are parents are given Someone Else’s kids to care for.  All souls are mine, God said in Ezek 18:4.  The Hebrew writer calls Him “the Father of spirits” in 12:9, the same word he uses in verse 23, “the spirits of just men made perfect.”  God is the Father of all souls, including those children of His He has entrusted to our care.  How careful should we be about raising them?
            I have seen too many parents who are more concerned with their careers, with their personal “fulfillment,” and their own agendas.  They want children because that is what you do, the thing that is expected by society, and a right they feel they must exercise, not because they want to spend the time it takes to care for them.  “I’m too busy for that,” they say of everything from nursing and potty training to teaching them Bible stories and their ABCs.  When you decide to take on the privilege of caring for one of God’s souls, you have obligated yourself to whatever time it takes to do it properly and with the care you would for the most valuable object anyone ever entrusted into your hands.
            If realizing that the souls of the children in your home are God’s doesn’t terrify you at least a little bit, you probably aren’t doing a very good job of taking care of them.
 
And he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law. For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life… Deuteronomy 32:46-47.
 
Dene Ward

The time Silas came to visit, shortly before his third birthday, Chloe scared him to death.  What did she do?  Nothing.  Our sweet-faced red heeler simply existed and Silas wasn’t too keen on being in the same yard with her, not even a five acre yard.
            Then he discovered that Chloe was even more afraid of him.  She would cautiously creep out from under the porch when we all went outside, but always made sure I was between her and that frightening little human.  What had Silas done to her?  Nothing.  He couldn’t get close enough to do anything to her. 
            When he finally understood, he thoroughly enjoyed his time outdoors.  He picked flowers for his mommy.  He loaded the bird feeder.  He looked for big hunks of bark that had fallen off the sycamore, broke them into three pieces—one for granddad, one for grandma, and one for himself—and led a countdown: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1—whee!—at which point we all threw our hunks of paper-thin bark into the air, over and over and over until there wasn’t a piece of bark bigger than a quarter to be found anywhere.
            Then he walked around to the side of the house and found the two old bathtubs Keith soaks his smoker wood in.  “Oh!” he cried.  “A pool!”
            First, he simply stood there splashing the water.  Then he eyed an old coffee can and some plastic flower pots, and began dipping into the tub and pouring the water back in and, in the process, all over himself. 
            Then he eyed Chloe, the dog that no longer scared him.  You could almost see the wheels turning.  He dipped again into the tub and sat the can on its edge.  “Chlo-eeeee,” he called in a singsong voice.  “I have something fooooooor yooooooooou.”  He picked up the can and headed straight for the dog, sloshing water with every step.
            I knew exactly what he was going to do, and so did Chloe.  She took off running.
            Funny how one simple piece of knowledge was so empowering.  When Silas learned that Chloe was so afraid of him, he was no longer afraid of her.  But it isn’t just the knowing; it’s the believing.
            How many times do we fail because we simply don’t believe what we’ve been promised?
            With every temptation there is a way of escape, 1 Cor 10:13.  We are equipped with armor that will enable us to stand against the Devil, Eph 6:11-20.  We are guarded by the power of God unto a salvation that is ready and waiting, 1 Pet 1:5.  Our faith stands in the power of God, 1 Cor 2:5.  We are supported in our afflictions by the power of God, 2 Cor 6:7.  His power works in us, and we are strengthened by it, the same power that raised Christ from the dead, Eph 3:16,20.
            Do you think Satan isn’t afraid of you?  The devils believe also, and tremble, James says, 2:19.  Since it is Christ’s power that rests on you and not your own, 2 Cor 12:9, what makes you think you aren’t a fearsome entity as well?  The only thing that would hinder it is disbelief in the promises of God.
            Our weapons are mighty, 2 Cor 10:4,5, far more so than a bucket of water in the hands of a toddler, and we should be ready and willing to use them.  Yes, we should face the devil with care, just as we would a rattlesnake, but his fate is already sealed.  All we have to do is believe it.
 
…we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1:9-12

Dene Ward

Three year old Silas has learned to pray, and often sits at the table, eagerly clasping his little hands together, looking back and forth at his parents, hoping they will ask him to say the blessing. 
            “Do you want to say the prayer?” his daddy asks, as if it weren’t obvious, and he gets a big nod and off we go. 
It’s never about the meal.  To him it’s about talking to God and saying thank you for something, for anything, for whatever happens to be on his mind.
            “Hey God!”  Read that the way an excited child would greet his grandparents, not the way a New Yorker would yell, “Hey Mac!”
            “Thank you for sisters,” although he has none, but one of his little friends does, so he wants to mention it.
            “Thank you for blue, and red, and yellow,” the colors of the containers he puts his blocks in.  He doesn’t complain about having to pick up his toys.  He thanks God for something to put them in, and that’s the one that really made me think.
            I wonder how many of our complaints could be expressed as thanks with just a little thought.  Dealing with rush hour traffic?  Thank God you have a car to drive through it in.  Complaining about the stack of ironing?  Thank God you have that many clothes to wear.  Griping a little about picking up your husband’s shoes?  Thank God he is alive and well enough to leave them in the middle of the floor.
            I thought about this again yesterday when I was blowing off the carport.  We didn’t have one for years, and sometimes I think that all getting a carport did for me was give me something else to keep clean.  But last week when one of our usual summer gully washers came through, I could unload the groceries and stay dry. 
            Then I came in and heaved a sigh at the extra dirty floor.  That happened because we saved enough money to buy a new vanity for the bathroom and the plumber tracked in sand going in and out. 
            Stop and think today about the things you complain about.  How many are caused by blessings you could have thanked God for instead?  How many extra chores do you have because God has provided you a home and a family?  I never had to wash diapers until I had babies.  Do you think for one minute I would have given them back? 
            If ever anyone had something to grumble about, it was Daniel when the other two presidents and the 120 satraps tricked the king into making the law against praying to anyone other than him.  How did he react instead?  And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Daniel 6:10.  Surely if Daniel could say thank you at a time like that, we can in this relatively easy time in history.
            God is patient with us as we daily grumble our way through a life He has blessed in thousands of ways.  You have to go to work?  These days especially, be grateful for a job.  Gas prices too high?  You’re still buying it, aren’t you? 
            Maybe we should be a little more like a three year old.  “Hey God!  (I’m so excited to talk to you!)  Thank you for all you have done for me, for the things you have given me that I don’t deserve and forget to be grateful for.  For all those extra chores, because they mean you have blessed me beyond measure.  For all my pet peeves, because it means I am able to be up and around and go to those places where they happen.  For the fact that I have to work so hard to lose weight, because it means I have plenty to eat.  For people who get on my nerves, because it means I have friends and family and neighbors and brothers and sisters in Christ—I am not alone.”
            Today look at everything you gripe about and find the blessing.  You will be amazed--and probably a little ashamed.  And maybe those gripes will go away, for at least a little awhile.
 
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, 1 Thes 5:18.
 
Dene Ward

We had our first opportunity for an overnight with our grandson Silas when he was two.  It was better than a trip to Disneyworld, better than a vacation in an exotic place, better than dinner in a five star restaurant, better than just about anything you could possibly think of.  Do I sound like a doting grandmother yet?
            When he woke the next morning, he remembered that it was the two of us who put him in the crib the night before and he called out, “Granddad!  Grandma!”  And there was that smiling face and those big blue eyes under a head full of tousled blond curls. 
            My one concern that weekend was understanding what he was saying.  He has been talking since he was one, but sometimes in a language we can’t quite figure out.  It sounds for all the world like a real tongue.  It comes complete with hand motions and facial expressions and he is quite fluent in it.  Unfortunately, we aren’t.
            The last year he has gained more English and less of his personal argot.  For two years old, as he was then, he had quite a vocabulary.  We were doing shape recognition, and he pointed to one and said, “That’s an oval.”  I hadn’t quite gotten over the shock of that when he added, “And that’s a rhombus.”  I quickly flipped through my own mental file card index, trying to remember that one from high school math classes. 
            That morning after we got him out of bed, he turned to me and said, “Can I have bussenwuddy?”
            I was stumped.  Maybe I didn’t hear right, I thought.  So I asked, “Bussenwuddy?”
            His little eyes brightened and he started jumping in my lap.  “Yes, yes!  Bussenwuddy!”
            Okay, now what?  Bussenwuddy...  I flipped through those file cards in my mind once again.  What have I heard him talking about that sounds like bussenwuddy?
            Finally it came to me.  “Buzz and Woody?” 
            Another excited little bounce.  “Yes, yes!  Bussenwuddy.  Can I?”  He wanted to watch the Toy Story DVD.  I felt like a successful grandmother--I had figured out what my two year old grandchild wanted.  Do you think anyone but a grandparent would have tried so hard?
            God is trying to talk to us every day.  He has put it down in black and white.  All we have to do is pick it up and read it.  Some of us won’t even be bothered with that.  Then there are the ones that will pick it up, but then put it back down in frustration.  “I can’t understand this.”  Well, how hard are you willing to try?
            I have had women leave my classes because “They’re too much work.”  Keith has had people complain about his classes because, “They’re too deep.”  Really?  I would be embarrassed to say such a thing if I had been a Christian for two decades or more. 
            Don’t I care enough about my Father in Heaven to put a little effort into it?  It isn’t that He expects us all to be scholars, who love to put our noses in books for hours on end.  But He does expect us to care enough to spend a little time at it.  He expects us to be willing to push ourselves some. 
            No, it isn’t all as simple as, “Do this,” or “Do that.”  Sometimes He throws a bussenwuddy in there (Matt 13:10-13; 2 Pet 3:16).  But if you really care about communicating with your Father, if talking to Him really excites you, if He is the most important thing in your life, then you will exercise that file card memory of yours and flip through it occasionally, striving (a word that denotes effort, by the way) to learn what He expects of you. 
            Knowledge alone doesn’t make you a faithful child of God.  You don’t have to be a genius with a photographic memory, but you do have to love your Father enough to be willing to work at building a relationship with Him.  Pick up your Bible today, and show Him how much He means to you.
 
And he said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel-- not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. Ezekiel 3:4-7
 
 Dene Ward

We talked once before about the need to teach facts as well as attitudes.  You have nothing to base your attitudes on if you don't have the facts.  But there is one real problem with facts-only teaching.  You can know the story of the Good Samaritan so well you can quote it, but can you put feet to it?  Can you look at your own life and apply it to your situation?  Over and over I have taught the lives of various women in the Bible only to have an entire class look at me with a blank stare when I ask how it applies to their own lives.  If we want people to learn this skill, we need to start teaching it to them as children. 
            Keith and I are team-teaching a class.  When we went over the Parable of the Sower (or the Soils), by the time we had finished they could tell you about each soil in depth.  So the next class, I wrote descriptions of different people, giving these imaginary people the sort of names their own friends and classmates have to make them seem more real, and asked, "Which soil is she?"  "Which soil is he?"  Once they got the hang of it, they could answer with only a few seconds thought.  Finally I had them do it.  "Tell me how someone would act if he were…" fill in the blank with whichever soil you care to name.  They did very well.  I had to laugh though when we asked, "What would someone look like if he were good soil?" and one of them answered, "Us!"  I hope he is correct, and at least at this point, I think he is.
            This past week we tried something else.  First I had them name various things Jesus taught in short phrases:  love your enemies, let your light shine, enter the narrow door, do unto others etc., and be wise as serpents— you can easily come up with more.  Then I handed each a situation they might someday be facing if not in exact detail, then something similar.  We asked them what they would do in that situation and what thing Jesus taught had led them to that solution.  They gave us good solutions to the problems.  The difficult thing was finding something in Jesus' teaching that would have helped them know what to do.  As we talked together, if we mentioned one they could instantly see how that tenet of teaching informed the situation.  They could also see that sometimes there was more than one right way of handling the situation and not to be judgmental if someone did something else as long as they did not sin.   We will be repeating this activity again and see if things are improving.
            As many times as Keith has visited fallen away members and read passages to them only to be faced with that same blank stare, I wonder if maybe it's time to give us grown-ups a dose of the same medicine.  Don't think for a minute this is kids' stuff, but maybe if we taught our children this way, there wouldn't be so many adults who are clueless about, as we so often have heard prayed, "applying these things to our daily lives."  That is certainly what God expects us to do.
 
For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake (1Cor 9:9-11).                                                                                          
 
Dene Ward

It hasn't been long since I used an article by Doy Moyer.  But then I came upon this, probably on Facebook posted by someone else, and knew immediately that I needed to share it.  Especially as a parent, God expects us to be the  watchdogs of the home--do not be afraid to say, "We will not watch this in our house."
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Compiled by guest writer Doy Moyer.

While it is difficult to find movies or shows that are worth watching (for various reasons), I do believe Christians need to consider how to evaluate what they watch and hear from the biblical perspective. In recently reading Unraveling Philosophy by Groza and Moreland, I found these questions helpful:

1. What is the point of the movie or show? Movies are not made in a vacuum. There will be an ultimate message, and we need to be able to find it. “Spend some time ascertaining the point of the movie and then ask the all-important question: Is that true? Is the movie telling me the truth or is it lying?” (239)

2. What is the story of redemption? Story plots typically involve something that goes wrong. What is the resolution to the problem? “Another word for resolution, in this sense, is redemption. How is the wrong made right?” … “Knowing the story of redemption enables a greater appreciation of the movie. It also helps explain why its message resonates” (241).

3. “What is the perspective on sin? Does the movie make clear the ‘folly of sin’?” Is sin painted in a positive light or not? Are the consequences of sin shown or is the sin glorified? “Movies can tell the truth by exposing the bad consequences of sin, or movies can lie by painting sin in a positive light and minimizing (or excluding altogether) those consequences.” If good is painted as evil and evil as good (cf. Isa 5:20), and the consequences of this are not shown, we might want to look elsewhere.

4. What virtues are promoted or denied? “A good movie celebrates characters for the right reasons; characters who exhibit virtues such as hope, courage, and loyalty” (242). Or are the “heroes” of the movie bad guys who are celebrated in their wickedness and irresponsibility?

Groza and Moreland finish with this:
“The goal is to provide a framework for thought and conversation for the purpose of discerning beauty and its relation to truth. The goal is not to read Christian themes into art where such themes do not fit, or to impose a Christian worldview against the evidence within the movie. The principle of charity requires that Christians seek to understand the message of a film as it is presented and not as we will it to be understood. Not every story is a Christian story. It is legitimate to see Christian themes where they exist. It is not legitimate, charitable, or honest to force such themes.” (243)

Perhaps we just want to watch shows for entertainment purposes. We don’t want to overthink it. But we cannot afford not to think at all. We are inviting ideas and philosophies into our minds and we will either interact with them with a godly perspective or we will mindlessly imbibe what we see and hear. Let’s be careful, therefore, how we hear, and seek to walk with wisdom and understanding even in our recreational time. If there is nothing redeemable about a story, will the time spent on it be redeemable?

Via Doy Moyer and whoever shared it.   Thank you both!

Today's post is by guest writer Laurie Moyer.
 
This world is full of amazing diversity. I have to smile at the nature books which claim to be a “Complete book of” anything because even when they seem packed with accurate information, they still end up leaving some things out. This serves to illustrate how varied the people around us can be. Even identical twins are not alike in every way. Romans 12 details how Christians, as many different members, still form a unified body that functions together. This was no accident. Ephesians 4 tells us that these differences are placed there in order to strengthen the body of Christ when each part does its share. It should not surprise us that variation in judgment also occurs between and even among families.

You were raised with certain rules and experiences that have made you into the person you are today. Some things you want to copy in your own life, and others you may have chosen as deliberate differences in an effort to change the outcome for your children. Your spouse most likely was raised with different applications of some of those same rules, if not different rules, altogether. The two of you must come to an agreement on what the guidelines and practical applications will be for your own family. Many grandparents would like to have a say in what those rules will be, but in the final picture, you are the ones who have the right to determine what happens in your house. Wise grandparents will respect the fact that these are your choices. You do not have the experience to know how all those decisions will play out, so listen to the advice of older parents who have been there, done that, and have an end result you wish to copy. This is also a mark of wisdom. Do not, however, allow others to intimidate you into pleasing them if you have a clear focus for your own family unit.

Conversely, the decisions you make for your family will probably not be just the same as those of your friends. For different reasons you may choose to make other applications, but neither of you should feel you owe the other a defense or issue debate propositions to justify the judgment call you have made. Be careful, not arrogant. Don’t be stubbornly unmoving but be steadfast in the things you are prayerfully convinced of. This does not need to spoil friendships.

Having said all of that, do not rush to judgment regarding the parental standards of others. Each family has the right to determine what they will and will not allow their children to do. Each family has the right to set standards for punishment as a teaching tool. I would not be justified in calling CPS (Child Protective Services) because I disagree with another’s standards when the life of the child is not at risk. I know that sounds harsh, but I can see it no other way. Some parents are foolish in their judgments, but that is not criminal. They may not act consistently with their intentions, but that also is not criminal. Sometimes I cry over what thoughtless parents do, but if those individual parents do not have the right to choose the rules that govern their own household, then who does? We do not live in a fascist state where those decisions are made for us. As much as I hate the unfortunate times that this has negative results, I am far more grateful in the long-run that each of us possess those rights individually.

You can have nightly devotionals with your children because that is your right to determine. You can teach them to pray, sing Bible songs, memorize Scripture, and do all the things an activist atheist hates to know you do. You can do this because of your liberty. Value the right you have to lead the spiritual education of your children. If you do not it may not remain your call to make. To be sure there are plenty of child psychologists who believe you are doing harm. They would love to be given clearance to “fix and protect” your children from “fanaticism.” I pray God will never allow that to happen. It is the age-old problem of free will all over again. If someone has the ability to make the correct choice, then they also have the ability to make the wrong one.

What can you do? Speak kindly to those you fear may have misjudged the appropriateness of what they do. Do not condemn them or impugn their motives. Try to calmly persuade. Pray for them and the children involved. Protect life but allow parents to parent their own children.

Laurie Moyer

Taken from Searching Daily, a blog by Doy Moyer

Some time ago I watched as a congregation decided to de-emphasize the teaching of Bible facts and spend the vast majority of time on the "emotion" of religion.  The reasoning went like this—we have lost so many because all we teach is facts and we forgot to teach them to love God.  Hmmm.  I hope that I and many of my generation put the lie to that.  We were drilled on the facts, but we got the whole story every time, not just part of it so of course we learned to love God, and we also learned to obey Him because healthy fear was a part of that love just like it was when we thought about our parents.  The emphasis was always on God:  we learned facts because it was part of His Word and He expected us to know about Him and what He wanted from us.
            And that congregation I mentioned?  That shift in emphasis led to a whole generation that married Rebekah off to Abraham, propagated denominational errors (like the wise men at the birth of Jesus or the imputation of Christ's perfect life), had no knowledge of the need for Biblical authority, and thought any church would do if you were running late on Sunday morning.  And they lost just as many of the next generation as the method they were decrying did.
            God's Word is profound.  It is not a quick-read self-help book that can be taken up and put down at one's leisure, or just when a problem arises, and expect to get what God intended out of it.  And the only way to really understand those deep things is to know—wait for it!—FACTS!  The more you know, the more you understand, the more connections you see, the more amazement you feel and the more love and awe for your Creator you will have.  The facts beget the feelings, not the other way around.
            So yes, it is sometimes difficult to teach facts to children.  That is why I have come up with so many games to help them out.  You can check the gallery to see my David game and Prophets game.  I have another one about Moses leading the people through the wilderness to the Promised Land.  And then there are the memory verse relay races and the People, Places, or Things game.  All of these can be found in the archives under Bible Study.  Just keep scrolling down till you find them.  It will become obvious that I am neither creative nor an artist, but you don't need to be if the children are learning and enjoying it at the same time.  As they mature, the enjoyment will come from learning God's Word without fun and games.  Biblical discussions with knowledgeable people is its own source of pleasure.
            We have recently started a new game in the class I am now teaching, one a bit more sophisticated, for older students, say middle school and up.  You can use it for any list of people they are trying to memorize and learn about.  I have used it for the judges and recently, the apostles.
            First, you have to get those facts in their heads.  For example, I hand out a paper with the apostles' names in a list.  Then we go through it one by one, with the students adding all the names each apostle is known by.  Do your research and you will be surprised how many you find.  Peter is known by four names, Thaddeus, of all people, by three!  As they hear you say the names, then see them on the board, then feel their hands write the names on their papers, you are involving three of their five senses.  It is a principle of education—the more senses you involve, the easier it is to remember the facts. 
            Give them exactly one week to work on those names at home.  Then make up about 30 or 40 cards, depending on how many students you have.  You can use index cards, or index cards cut in half, or you can cut your own size cards out of card stock. Put the other names the apostles are known by on those cards—everything but the name we all call them, the standard list (Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Thomas, Matthew, Bartholomew, James the Less, Simon, Thaddeus, Judas—do not use these, unless one of them is also a lesser known name of an apostle, hint:  Simon, Judas).  You will want three or four copies of each card.
            At class, deal the cards 7 or 8 per student.  When you call out one of the standard names, they are to look in their hand to see if they have one of the other names for that apostle and hold it up.  They can only hold up one card.  For example, if they have both Simon and Cephas, and you call out Peter, they have to choose one of those cards.  If they hold up a correct card, you take it.  If they hold up an incorrect card, they keep it and draw another.  The first one to run out of cards is the winner.  At that point, everyone shows their leftover cards and you review exactly who they are.  I always tell the ones who did not "win" that it did not mean they did not know the right names because it also depends upon which ones I call out.  Obviously, you call out the ones with more names more often, but I also try to call out every apostle at least once before repeating any of them.
          The third week you can add the disambiguators like the names of parents, siblings, occupations, and hometowns or areas.  We really only know about 7 hometowns.  The rest we just know as Galileans.  This means you have to add more cards and you too, need to study more.
            And what will this teach the students besides just facts?  For one thing, it teaches them that learning is fun.  For another it helps them see these men as real people.  After all, they had parents, some of whom were also disciples.  They had brothers.  They had families to provide for. They had occupations which they left to follow Jesus, which meant this affected their families too.  1 Cor 9:5 tells us their wives followed them around as they preached.  Jesus became their lives, not just a hobby.   If there is anything we have trouble with today, it is realizing that Christianity must be your life, not just a Sunday morning tradition.
          After writing this, I realize how difficult it was to explain.  If you have questions, please include them below, or on the Facebook link, or even in an email from the Contact page.  We really need to get back to teaching facts if we ever hope to reach hearts.                 

Dene Ward

Here is an issue that arose with "The David Game," and if you use it, you may have this happen as well.  In fact, this happens to everyone sometime or other in their lives.  It just struck quicker as we were studying that great man of faith with our grandsons.  As the first week of lessons wore on, you could see David growing into a bona fide Superhero in their eyes.  Every day they eagerly awaited the next adventure.
            Then we reached 2 Samuel 11.  As I went through the narrative in terms I thought they could understand—David stealing both a man's wife and then his life—they became quieter and quieter.  Their little blond heads dipped until their chins nearly touched their chests as they wrestled with the concept of a good guy who acted like a bad guy. 
            "Uh-oh," I thought.  "Have I ruined everything?" 
            As it turns out, I hadn't.  We were able to talk about good people making bad mistakes and how God always forgives and takes us back as long as we are truly sorry, willing to say, "I was wrong," and try our best not to sin again.  Their spirits lifted.  After all, they got in trouble now and again too, didn't they?  Here was proof that they were still loved.  David was once again a Bible hero.
            The story of David—of Judah and Peter, too—is an inspiration and a warning to every Christian.  No matter how well you have done for how long, you can still fall, but no matter how far you fall, God will take you back.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1John 1:7)  We all hunger for that forgiveness and revel in its comfort.
            Yet I have seen too many adults who, when they realize their heroes are not perfect, refuse to give that same forgiveness.
            All children grow up thinking Mommy and Daddy are Superheroes.  Sometime around middle school the luster begins to fade.  By high school, parents are so often "wrong," in their eyes at least, that they can barely be tolerated.
            And the truth is, parents are ordinary people.  They do make mistakes, sometimes big ones.  They have annoying habits and less than stellar character traits--just like every other human on the planet.  The larger problem is they have children, sometimes grown children, who won't accept anything less than perfection.
            When God tells us to forgive one another (Col 3:13 among a host of others), that goes for parents too, and any other person we have expected perfection from—mentors, teachers, preachers, elders, etc.  We have no right to sit in judgment over their apologies, deciding whether or not they are sincere based upon nothing but our own arrogant expectations.  We certainly have no right to ruin a relationship they might have with someone else.  I have seen grandparents have no opportunity for a relationship with their grandchildren because their unforgiving children hold on to grudges from the past.  Meanwhile, those same unforgiving children are making their own mistakes as parents because no parent does it all right—no, not even them, no matter what they might think otherwise.  I have seen the same things happen to elders and preachers by an unforgiving congregant who spreads his ill will everywhere at every opportunity.  Ruining another's perspective somehow validates his own.
            Forgiveness isn't just for strangers or people we aren't particularly close to.  The mistakes of a parent, mentor, or teacher may be more difficult to bear, but an unforgiving child or student or spiritual dependent is devastating to everyone.
 
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph 4:31-32)

Dene Ward

In case you haven't figured it out, I love for our grandsons to visit.  My house is a wreck, my schedule is shot, I live on chicken nuggets and mac and cheese and watch either Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Paw Patrol.  The laundry piles up and sometimes the dishes, which is a real mess because I don't have a dishwasher to hide them in.  I sit by the plastic pool being splashed on purpose and loving it, or egg on the mudfights, perfectly happy to clean up the resulting mess.  I help build highways in the ever present Florida sand, chase rocket sling shots as they scream through the sky, throw flimsy balsa airplanes into loop-de-loops, and push a swing till my arms want to drop off.  Isn't that what grandmas are supposed to do?
            I fall into bed every night utterly exhausted, but still listening for the whimpers of bad dreams or the cries of a sick tummy from too much homemade chocolate sauce on the ice cream, and get up and run whenever necessary.  Sleeping late is not an option, but who would want to anyway?  Every day is another chance to build those memories and instill those values with a Bible story every night, a memory verse picture card, a Bible game, or craft.  And then there is this.
            Every morning I lie there still in the mists of sleep when suddenly I am pelted by a soft, well-worn stuffed tiger—Lucky is his name—then a fairly new crocheted and stuffed Mignon (ask your grandkids), and finally a "blankie" slowly unfurling as it flies through the air like the flying scroll in Zechariah's vision.  Our bed is high off the floor, and a toddler cannot possibly climb in without both hands to pull up by.  So after the pelting ends, the bed begins to shake and a little blond head begins to rise over the sides of the mattress, little hands persistently pulling on the sheet, little grunts of exertion sounding with every pull.  I reach down and pull on a pajama bottom waistband, giving him just the impetus he needs to climb on to the top, then burrow under the covers next to me.  I snuggle against the warm little body, the scents of bubble bath, baby shampoo, and lotion wafting up around us in the body heat.  When his head hits the pillow he rolls away from me only to scoot quickly backwards so I can spoon him and wrap him with both arms.  We are both back asleep in less than a minute.
            At least until the next set of footsteps comes in, heavier and faster, a boy whose head is already higher than the edge of the bed, who can easily scale the billowy mattress and bedclothes and who, already knowing from longer experience that he is more than welcome, clambers right on in all the way over me, and snuggles down between me and his Granddad.  The game of "Wake up Granddad" ensues, giggling at the pretend growls and grumbles, growing louder with each attempt, until finally we are all good and awake and ready to begin the long day of play again.  Do you think I begrudge the sleep?  You know better than that.
            Yet knowing all of that, we sometimes act like God would begrudge the attention we ask of him, apologizing for bothering him "when there are more important things" for him to do.  Just like there is nothing more important than my children or grandchildren's welfare, there is nothing more important to God than ours.  Understand:  that does not mean he will always say yes to his children any more than I always say yes to mine.  That does not mean that there may not be things we will never understand in this world, nor maybe even in the next.  But you are important to God.  He revels in the relationship you two have.  How do I know?  Look what he sacrificed to have it.
            And don't you believe in his infinite power?  I may have to leave things undone in order to spend time with Silas and Judah.  God never has to leave things undone.  He can do it all, including the piddly little things we sometimes beg for while still keeping the earth spinning on its axis and the sun rising again and again.
            If you haven't climbed into the warm bed of love and compassion that God feels toward you, don't blame God.  He wants you there.  He will help pull you into the safety and comfort of his arms.  He won't begrudge a minute of it—unless you do.
 
I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. (Ps 40:1-3)