So What? Part One

"I used to think that cowardice was the worst

of human vices.

I've changed my mind; it's apathy!"

--Megan Carpenter

I think she's right.

The immediate context of her pronouncement was our conversation about orphans, but we had been wondering out loud together why, in general, so few people will actually do anything about situations that clearly need attention.

I think there is a cycle of reasons.  First, we avoid being confronted with needs.  If we do manage to be confronted with a need, we refuse to look into the faces of the need, so as to not get emotionally attached.  However, if, in spite of our best attempts to remain unentangled, we are stirred to do something, we pacify our urge to get involved by choosing the easiest and generally least costly way, so we can feel we've made a difference with relatively little inconvenience to ourselves.  Once we've convinced ourselves we've done our part, we return to our busy, self centered lives where we leave no room for further intrusion upon our priorities. Unfortunately, the cycle repeats itself again and again, whether the need is an orphan, the unborn, broken lives who don't know Jesus, or the sorry state of affairs in our nation.

Honestly, if we claim to follow Jesus, then this cycle is the greatest tragedy ever played out on the world's stage.  Tragedy:  a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character (can we see ourselves or the church here?).  In contrast, I find a totally different picture of Jesus in Matthew 9:35, "And Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness."  No avoidance of needs here.

Matthew 9:36, "And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast (harassed and helpless, says the NIV) like sheep without a shepherd."  Jesus was willing to look into their faces, and into their hearts, and let himself get emotionally entangled with them.  Compassion:  feeling and understanding someone else's suffering, combined with the desire to do something to alleviate it.

Jesus refused to choose the least costly way.  Philippians 2 says, "...although He [Jesus] existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. . .He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."  "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends," He explained in John 15:13.  And, for our souls, He was willing to be spent in the most costly way, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."  (Luke 22:42)

As His followers, we are called to more--more than contentedly enjoying ourselves while oblivious to needs all around us.  Jesus said the workers are few.  Paul said of Timothy, "I have no one else of kindred spirit who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.  For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:20-21)  What an indictment!

So what are we going to DO about it?  Breaking the cycle begins with opening our eyes.  It's time to not look the other way; it's time to get on, not off, that newsletter list that places needs before our eyes; it's time to take the time out of our busy schedules to find out what's going on outside the safe walls of our homes.

Will you seek with me to see like Jesus sees?

Please, Lord, direct our eyes to see what You want us to see.

So Incredibly Alone

I should be in bed, but sleep won't come yet.  My heart is aching, but it's not for myself.  It's not even for anyone I'm related to.  The person on my heart doesn't even live in this country.

He lives in Ukraine, he's sixteen, and he is an orphan.  We met him when he was just ten when we were in Ukraine to adopt our daughter.  Over the years, he has watched so many of his orphan friends walk out of the orphanage forever with the families who adopted them.   And this dear young man has asked over and over why nobody came for him.  He gave his heart to Jesus a couple years ago and has been praying earnestly for a family every day, and praying, too, for the strength to handle it if God has a different plan.

More than any of the other children we left behind in Ukraine, this boy captured our hearts.  Such a cheerful boy, and we hear God's been shaping him into a leader other children look up to.  Over the years, God wouldn't let us forget him, and we, too, have been praying earnestly for a family for him.

After years of longing, the answer to his prayers was about to happen this fall.  Just before he turned sixteen, a family filed the necessary immigration papers so that, even though they couldn't come 'til after his sixteenth birthday--the cutoff age for being adopted by Americans--they could still adopt him.   A friend told us that, of all the children she's seen looking forward to being adopted, (and she's seen lots of them), he was the most excited of them all.

Tonight, however, we heard that the family, who had been in Ukraine intending to adopt him, had to leave him behind.  We don't know details yet; but, we have heard that Ukraine's government agency that handles adoptions had closed and nobody knew when it would open again.

This precious boy has no family to comfort him.  He has no earthly father to hold him and tell him that they will get through this together.  The one thing he ever wanted most on this earth was to have a family, and the only American family who can adopt him (because he is now over sixteen) went home without him.

I don't know about you, but I'm afraid I can't even begin to imagine the depth of disappointment he must be feeling right now.  Only Jesus knows how he feels--He knows what it's like to be forsaken, as He went through it for us on the cross.  This dear boy has no family to pray for him, so how about we be his family right now, and ask our Heavenly Father to pour out His comfort. . .

Oh, dear Father, please wrap Your arms of love around dear A.  In Ukraine, his Monday has already begun.  Be his strength.  Reassure him of Your love; don't let him begin to doubt You.  Help him to be able to focus on his school work and trust that You are still in control of his life.  Please be his provider and his refuge.  Help him to understand that You are not looking the other way.  Help him to trust Your heart even though he doesn't understand what You are doing just now.  In Jesus' name we ask these things.  Amen.

Parenting By Heart

Okay, I confess; I'm too often task-driven.  I find myself frustrated around those who are so wrapped up in their "to do" lists that they can't entangle themselves long enough to stop for a bit of conversation beyond the surface, yet I fear I subject my precious family to the same frustration at times, by my own behavior.

Yesterday, I read something that has made me pause to re-evalute, as I often need to do, my modus operandi.  Our adopted daughter, Vera, whom we adopted from an orphanage in Ukraine just before she turned fourteen, is working on a persuasive speech about adoption.  Yesterday afternoon, I read her first draft, and I would like to share a few lines with you.  Speaking of math class at the orphanage, ". . .When you don't get it, and everyone else is waiting for you to finish, the teachers scream at you that you are dumb and will never get it.  Can you imagine hearing that almost everyday for four years?  You start believing that they are right.  No one in the orphanage sat down with me to lovingly explain to me how to get it done. . . .I was wishing that I could belong to someone who would call me theirs and not be ashamed of who I was."

Wasn't there someone who would take the time to minister to her heart, to listen to her heart and to give, without reservation, the abiding reassurance, the safe refuge, the patient encouragement, and the tender love she so desperately needed?

She no longer lives at the orphanage.  She came home with us in 2006, to join a younger brother and sister.  We wanted to give what she needed, and we resolvedly rearranged our lives to attempt to supply it, yet real life can get awfully hectic, and in the hustle and bustle of life, I find I have to keep asking myself, "Am I still listening to their hearts?"  All three of their hearts have urgent and weighty needs every single day.  Every heart in every one of our homes does.

Do I really know what my children need most?  Am I tuned into their hearts enough to sense when they desperately need a tender encouraging word instead of a stern reminder from a task-oriented organizer?  Oh, Lord, forgive me!  Give me Your eyes to see their deepest needs.  Show me how to minister to their hearts as You would.  Love them Your way through me!

Slow me down, sit me down, with a smile, and not a frown, that I would love with no reserve and no regrets.


"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."  ~Proverbs 3:27

A Musical Tool for Scripture Memory

You know how a song will get stuck in your head?  If it's a good song, that's a good thing.  If scripture comprises the lyrics, it's a great thing!  Lately, our church family has been selecting a scripture passage to memorize together each month.  For October, the passage was Psalm 63:1-8.  Our family had been blessed by someone else's tunes (The NIV Kid's Club) for learning a passage from Colossians 3 the previous month, and we found ourselves yearning for a song for Psalm 63.  Well. . .

Our God, who can do infinitely beyond what we ask, gave me a song.  After reading through Psalm 63 several times, I set my open Bible on the piano music stand, sat down at the keyboard, and He gave the song.

And so I share it with you, in case you're like us and you find it easier to memorize Scripture when it's attached to music.  The words, in English, aren't perfect poetry as our usual hymns are, but they fit quite well anyway.  I did repeat a couple lines to make the music come out right.  The words in brackets are the lines I repeated.  Otherwise, the words are all in order.  The verses are from the NASB.

I pray that it will be a blessing to you, as you seek to hide God's Word in your hearts.

Psalm 63:1-8

(NASB)

Music Unpublished © 2011 Carol Carpenter

O GOD, You are my God;

I shall seek You earnestly;

My soul thirsts for You,

My flesh yearns for You,

In a dry and weary land where there's no water.

Thus I have beheld You

In the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

my lips will praise You.

So I will bless You

As long as I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth offers

praises with joyful lips.

[As long as I live,

I will lift up my hands in Your name.]

When I remember You on my bed,

 I meditate on You in the night watches,

for You have been my help,

 And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

[In the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.]

Blameless and Barren

I am concerned and grieved over an attitude reverberating through parts of the home school community that has the potential to be very emotionally and spiritually harmful, especially since it is not Biblical.  Here it is:  the more spiritual you are, the more you trust God, and the more you "do 'Biblical femininity' right", the more ‘blessings from God (i.e. children)’ you will have.  Well, maybe nobody actually states that idea as blatantly or explicitly as I just did, but it does get voiced subtly, is often alluded to, and it ends up making precious people feel like second class Christians/parents, on whom God has not dispensed His favor, if they don't have lots of children.

Trusting God with everything is the right thing to do, but the number of children in a family is not a manifestation of how godly the parents are or how much they trust Him!  There is so much more than number of children that factors into God's plans.  I invite you to consider Zacharias and Elizabeth, who had no children for a very long time, even though they were righteous and walking blamelessly.  It wasn't about the number of children, but about God's perfect timing and the fulfillment of God's centuries previous prophecy concerning John, forerunner of the promised Messiah.

The parents of John the Baptist were righteous and walking blamelessly we are told in Luke 1, but barren and old.  That’s right—righteous, but old and still barren.  (Luke 1:6-7)  Right at the beginning, God sets out to make it clear that number of children doesn’t correlate to spiritual maturity.  He’s God, and He chooses to work differently with each of us.  His plans are executed on His timetable.  His plans are executed for His purposes.  However much we may pretend we are, or however much we would like to be, we are not the one in charge.

In John’s case, first of all, the older his parents were, the more miraculous the birth of this child would be.  You know how people will talk about these things; and he turned out to be one very talked about baby.  Combine the parents’ age with the prophecy and with Zacharias’ voice loss and miraculous recovery and you see that God engineered a situation that put everyone in anticipation of what He would do next with this child.  Check out Luke 1:57-66.

Second, we know, looking back, that John had to be a contemporary of the Messiah, so if John had come any sooner, the timing would have been all off.  God knows what He’s doing.  What a relief, and what a good thing it is, that we are not the one in charge!

Have you ever puzzled about the timing or circumstances of your own birth or of someone’s in your family?  Have you ever thought about the possibility that you or your child may have been born at just the right time to make one of you a contemporary of a certain someone else in order to fulfill God’s plan?  Centuries ago, Esther’s uncle challenged her to consider, “And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”  (Esther 4:15)

Sadly, for some, 'trusting God' has produced  more guilt and stress, not less, as they worry that their number of children means they have somehow failed to live up to some man-made formula for a man-made definition of God's blessing.  Yes, children are a blessing, but children are not the only way God blesses.  It’s too easy for us to slip into worry and second-guessing when we see only from our limited perspective.  Meanwhile, God sees each of our lives from the perspective of His eternal perfect plans, where each life intersects with the others by design and in just the right rhythm.  His executive planner extends all the way to eternity.  Our calendar may only go to December 2011, or perhaps 2012, but He can see—and has planned for—forever.

Don't be tempted to buy the discouraging lie that the most godly will always have the most children.  It just isn't so, and Zacharias and Elizabeth are proof of it.  Abraham and Sarah are proof.  I repeat:  there is so much more than number of children that factors into God's plans.  A delay could be essential to His precise planning.  One or more of your children may need some special level of time-intensive care or discipleship that He desires you to give in a less crowded setting.  He knows your unique needs, the unique needs of each one in your family, and the unique needs of each one to whom you are called to minister.  Some of the circumstances of your life may not be about you at all, but about someone else whose life will be transformed because of the way He ordered your particular circumstances.

Trusting Him means we choose to be content in Him, period.  We do not compare our lives to someone else’s and expect that God will do the same with us.  We are not to make our own assumptions about what God will or won’t do for us when we submit to Him.  Our calling is to seek Him alone, and, in His wisdom, He may grant us children.  But if we seek children ahead of seeking Christ, we're on the wrong train.  And even if he doesn't grant children, He loves us no less.

In God's plan, we have two biological children.  Pregnancy did not come easily.  Our third and oldest child is actually our newest; we did the unthinkable, from the world’s perspective that is, and, at God’s direction, adopted a teenager who was older than our biological children.  It’s possible that, had we had more biological children, we’d not have been open to adoption when she was in need.  It's also possible that we could not have ministered to her needs, had our family been any bigger.  God knew that a dear, lonely girl needed us and that we needed her, in His way and in His time.

Family design is ultimately not a function of our spirituality but of His sovereignty.  When we forget that, we can become proud and unwittingly wound others for whom Christ died.

The older our children get, and the bigger and more complicated the life decisions become, the more I find myself needing to rest increasingly in His wisdom and sovereignty, seeking His direction at every turn.  With every turn of the pages of His Word, I see anew that He is worthy of our trust—both for the circumstances of our own lives and for the lives of the children we have, don’t have yet, or may never have.

He’s still God and He’s still good. He has perfect plans and the perfect power to fulfill them.  Oh, that we would be content in His arms.

His Word in Our Hearts

God's been working on me about something for the last couple weeks.  I'm wondering if you can relate.


About ten years ago, we had just moved to a new community and were visiting churches, looking for a new church home.  I walked into the four-year-old class to pick up our son when I looked across the room to see him standing in the midst of some kind of dispute; I supposed it was over some toy.  I arrived just in time to hear him say to the other children, "Don't you know what the Bible says?  'Do everything without complaining or arguing!'"  Seriously, that's what he said.  I knew exactly where that came from, and, if any of you have had the pleasure of listening to or watching the Steve Green Hide 'Em in Your Heart Bible Memory songs on CD or DVD, you know, too.


Over the years, our family has certainly reaped blessings from memorizing Scripture, yet I am both firmly convinced and convicted that we still don't do it enough.  God tells us we should know His Word, and I'm sure He knows far more about the benefits for us than we've ever comprehended.  Looking back in our family, one result is that, even at a very early age, our children had an internal guide to godly behavior, based on memorized Scripture, even before they more fully understood the theological reasons.  Did it guide their behavior all the time?  No.  Of course, our children weren't perfect, but Scripture was being laid down as the authority and a foundation worthy of building a life upon.  Filling up their little heads and hearts with Biblical truth is the kind of start Deuteronomy 6 is talking about.


The words and the images we take in do leave permanent impressions.  They shape the way we will think and act for the rest of our lives.  From a human perspective, Scripture has an impact at least equal to anything else we internalize.  Far beyond that, it is the supernatural Word of God and has God's power behind it to transform lives.  It's one thing to read it, but it gets woven so much more deeply into the very fiber of who we are when we commit it to memory.  So, why do we memorize so little of God's Word, especially as adults?  Why is it that children have 'memory verse' assignments, but adults rarely do?  We can use busyness as an excuse, or the handy aging brain/declining memory line, but I seriously doubt God is buying it.


Recently I learned that someone we know has just finished memorizing the entire book of Romans.  Yes, the entire book.  I was absolutely flabbergasted.  Then I was sorely convicted.  I memorized the book of James once, but that was more than twenty years ago.  The more I thought about it, the more I, then, became inspired to seek Him even more earnestly through His Word, renewing my devotion to committing much more of it to memory.


But what if memorizing doesn't come as easily as we'd like, or as easily as it used to?  We are told by Jesus that if we pray according to His will, that we will have what we ask.  So how about praying for God's enabling to memorize His Word?  That's clearly His will.


When Vera, our adopted daughter, first came from the orphanage, she had trouble memorizing anything.  She confessed to us that, when she was at the orphanage school, she would feign illness and escape to the infirmary rather than attempt to give a presentation before her class of something she was to have memorized.  Maybe she just wasn't capable of memorizing anything?  One could make lots of excuses for an orphan who'd been the victim of less than optimal brain stimulating opportunities.


Instead, we decided to believe God.  Even though she had a terrible time memorizing anything in the past, we prayed for her to be able to memorize Bible verses.  We should not have been surprised at the result.  Yes, she can memorize Scripture, and lots of other things, too, now.


I'm not content with the way things have been.  Are you?  Will you believe God with me?  Let's ask Him to enable us to hide more of His Word in our hearts!


Next time, Lord willing...I'll pass along the song that I recently wrote to help our family memorize Psalm 63:1-8.

P.S.  If you're not familiar with the Bible memory songs I mentioned, you might want to check them out.  The blessing of the Hide 'Em in Your Heart series is that the songs were so easy to learn permanently and still remain favorites, musically, even for the adults in our house.  The added benefit to the videos is that they plant visual images of God's Word being lived out and applied that beautifully complement the flesh and blood examples we are trying to live before our children's eyes and ears.

His Thoughts

Every spring we have at least one nest of robins in our yard. This year we had three--that we know of.  We have so much fun watching the babies go from bald to fluffy to flying in just a few days, and we check on them quite often to see how they’re doing.

But sometimes it’s terribly sad, too.  One afternoon, I happened upon one of the babies that had fallen from the nest and died right there in the grass.  My heart sank as I thought, “We check on them so often--how could that little one have already died and we not even know he’d fallen?"

At that very moment, the Holy Spirit reminded me of something Jesus said.  “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?  And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.   Therefore do not fear; you are of more worth than many sparrows.”  Matthew 10:29-31

That bird lived in my yard and I didn’t know he fell.  But God did.  And He knows when a bird falls from any nest--in any yard--on the whole, entire planet.

Do you ever worry about stuff?  "How am I going to get all this done?  . . . I've got a million things on my to-do list that should have been done yesterday.  . . . How do I explain this math so my daughter will understand it?  . . . I need to do this, but I can't even start this 'til I do that first, and this other thing is in the way of that. . . .  How do I help my son survive writing and grammar?  How am I going to pay attention to my husband when I'm so tired I can't even think?"

Or how about the future?  "The children are growing so fast, how are we going to afford new clothes and shoes?  . . . What if my husband is in the next round of lay-offs?  . . . What will happen to my son if he can't ever make up his mind about an occupation?  . . . What if our new teenage driver totals the car?   . . . What if these medical tests come back with scary results?  . . . Will this child ever graduate?"  Can you hear yourself in any of those questions?  Can you hear yourself in any of the questions Jesus gave as examples in Matthew 6:31?

I confess I've spent more than one rather sleepless night thinking about things out of my control.  I was awake late one night when I found something wonderful in Psalm 40.  “Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts which are toward us cannot be recounted to you in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.   . . .But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me.  You are my help and my deliverer; . . .”  Psalm 40:5,17

This is incredible!  He’s thinking of me so much, I couldn’t even keep track of all of His thoughts of me.  What’s He thinking about?  Okay, realistically, I know He sees all my sin and knows all my thoughts (Psalm 139), so He’s definitely not thinking, “Oh, she’s such a nice person.”  So, what can He be thinking about?

Well, I looked up the meaning of the Hebrew words for His thoughts and His thinking in these verses.  And these are not just sweet, little thinking-of-you-card kind of thoughts.  These are actually intentional plans; He’s literally considering, computing, valuing, planning, devising, weaving, fabricating, inventing, . . . strategizing about me--and about you!  It’s no wonder Jesus said, “. . . Don’t worry. . .” (Would you take a moment to read Matthew 6:25-34 right here and now?)

On the night I read Psalm 40 before I went to bed, I could hardly see through my tears of relief.  We don’t need to stay awake worrying about anything.  Psalm 121:4 says He doesn’t sleep, so He’ll be awake all night, and He’s doing enough strategizing for all of us combined.

The fact is that worrying is not in our job description!  Moment by moment obedience--yes!  Trusting Him--yes!  But worry--no!   The future is His.  He's planning, inventing, and weaving it all together.  I don't know how He does it all.  I just know He is good and He is able to accomplish His plans.  As He did for Israel, He is able do for me, "Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass."  Joshua 21:45

So, this is what I now think about when I wake in the night.  God is awake and strategizing on my behalf.  Thank you, dear Father!  I can go back to sleep.  “When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.”  Psalm 63:6-7

With Psalm 4:8 we can truly say, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (NIV)

"How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust . . .Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. . .Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love your salvation say continually, 'The LORD be magnified!'"  (Psalm 40:4a; Matthew 6:33a; Psalm 40:16)

Exciting News

"A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation.  God makes a home for the lonely. . ."  ~Psalm 68:5,6a

God's heart for orphans being loved is what inspired the making of All I Want for Christmas, and even if just one child ends up in a loving home because of this film, it will have been worth it.  That same heart is what motivates us to share this film with as many as possible.  We are excited to announce that, in order to better accomplish the sharing of the film, we have created a site on the web just for All I Want for Christmas, also known as "The Little Adoption Movie".

It is thelittleadoptionmovie.wordpress.com.  All I Want for Christmas can be viewed there, and viewers can read more about the reasons behind the film, the making of the film, more about God's heart for adoption, and more about His incredible love toward each of us.

As an extension of His own hand, and in His name, adoption mirrors the heart of God toward each of us.  While we were helpless to save ourselves, Jesus Christ came into our world to rescue us from the life we were doomed to because of our sin.  "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  ~John 1:12,13

Will you help spread the word?

All I Want for Christmas

Five and a half years ago, our world changed forever when God tapped us to travel halfway around the world to adopt a teenage girl we had never met.  But as much as our world changed, her world changed even more as she received the fulfillment of her greatest wish--a family!  We can wholeheartedly say that the joy has been every bit as much ours as hers!

The hardest thing to do was to leave the others behind in the orphanage, the children who begged for someone to please find them a family.  Last Christmas, our biological daughter wrote a song that expressed the longing in their hearts and it became the spark which led to the creation of a short film, with the help of dear family and friends.  The six minute film is finally finished and we would like to share it with you.   Just follow the link below. . .But be warned:  your world may never be the same!

All I Want for Christmas on Vimeo

For the sake of the souls of the children left behind in orphanages, or passed from foster home to foster home, all over the world, would you help us spread this little adoption movie as far and wide as possible by as many means as possible?  Maybe you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who needs to see it!  And maybe someone who you'll never know this side of heaven will be adopted, not only by an earthly family, but into God's family, too, because you did!

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy"

Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)

P.S.  If you'd like to know more about our adoption experience and how God orchestrated it, you can follow the link on the right to our adoption blog.  The news isn't so new anymore, but the experiences and lessons the Lord taught us transcend time.

Unexpected Storms III-- The Song He Knew We Needed

My dear readers,

I know only a little something of the storms just a few of you are going through right now, but our precious Heavenly Father indeed knows the details of every one of the storms in each of our lives.  He anticipates our needs and is perfectly able to meet them.  In a way, He did that for us when He gave us this song.

It wouldn't be right to keep this song to ourselves, when He intends that we pass on the comfort He gives.  So I share this song (just a living room recording), not to focus on me, but I earnestly pray that you can hear beyond my voice to the words and character of Jesus as He reveals Himself in the gospels.  If you haven't already had a chance to, I humbly encourage you to take a moment to read about the backdrop against which this song is set.  Truly, I think understanding the song's backstory will make it's meaning richer.  Unexpected Storms--Part One especially sets the stage with the Biblical context from Mark 4, and Unexpected Storms--Part Two (Ben's Storm) will give you a glimpse of how God, in His perfect timing, used this song to encourage our family.

May it be a blessing. . . and yes, of course, you may share it if you think it will encourage someone else.

Trust in Him at all times, O people;  Pour our your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62:8

The words are on the video, but in case they are too small to read, I included them here as well.  You can also hear the song on Vimeo here.

Captain's Anthem
© 2011 Carol Carpenter
Inspired by Mark 4:35-5:1

V1
There will be days
When you think the waves
Will surely break over your boat.
Your knees are knocking,
And your boat is rocking,
And you're not sure you're staying afloat.

Chorus
But this storm was never meant to scare you;
Instead, my friend, it will prepare you.
This whirling storm was never meant to be a threat;
You belong to me, so please don't fret!
Storms will rise,
Dark clouds blind your eyes,
But your strength is not in what you see--
Your strength is found in depending on Me.
Your strength is found in Me!

V2
When courage may waver,
Know that I am your Savior--
Don't let fears run away with you!
When faith starts to slip,
Remember:  I planned this trip.
You're here to see what I can do!

Chorus

And this storm was never meant to scare you;

Instead, my friend, it will prepare you.

This whirling storm was never meant to be a threat;

You belong to me, so please don't fret!

Storms will rise,

Dark clouds blind your eyes,

But your strength is not in what you see--

Your strength is found in depending on Me.

Your strength is found in Me!

Bridge

Can't you see that fretting is a waste?

Surely by now you've had a taste

Of My power and majesty--

No storm ever gets the best of Me!

Chorus

And this storm was never meant to scare you;

Instead, my friend, it will prepare you.

This whirling storm was never meant to be a threat;

You belong to me, so please don't fret!

Storms will rise,

Dark clouds blind your eyes,

But your strength is not in what you see--

Your strength is found in depending on Me.

Your strength is found in Me!

V3

I'm here in your boat;

I will keep you afloat.

You've got to understand Who I am!

Unexpected Storms-- Part Two (Ben's Storm)

Instead of me telling you about the 'storm' we ran into, I will let our thirteen year old son tell it in his own words--

A beautiful day.  A broken kite line.  A mad dash.  A slip on wet grass.  “Crack!”  What?  Why?  How?

Some would say that problems and trials are what they’re called: problems and trials.  I disagree.  James says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)  You see, God always has a purpose for what He does.  Trials aren’t brought along to make you miserable—they’re brought to strengthen your faith and teach you.  Starting in March of this year, I’ve been getting first hand experience in this, and I would like to tell you some of the things that I have learned and grown in because of my own trial.

Saturday, March 12, 2011, was a beautiful day.  In the afternoon, I went outside intending to get the mail on my bike.  Then, I saw that it was an excellent day to fly a kite.  So, I hurried into the garage and returned with the kite.  The wind was very strong and the kite went up very quickly—too quickly.  For a few minutes, things went well, but the wind was definitely too strong.  The kite started acting very wild because of the wind, and then, all of a sudden my line broke, and I saw the kite headed straight for the power lines and road in a twenty-mile-an-hour wind!  You can imagine what I thought.  A second later, I took off running as fast as I could go after the kite.  I chased it clear out of our yard, and into our neighbor’s yard.  As I ran, I realized I was running on wet grass.  I kept on running after the kite, and as it went down, I started to reach for it.  But on my last stride, my right leg went out from under me, and, as my leg went down, I heard a loud “crack”.  I wondered what I had done and hoped it was nothing too bad.  It took a lot of pain, effort, and time, but I finally dragged myself back to the house.  After I reached the door, I just rang the bell, thanked the Lord that I made it, and fell back exhausted!

I was very grateful to the Lord that the kite stopped where it did—About fifteen feet from the road and just underneath the power lines!

As you could guess, the door was opened, and a very grateful Ben was helped into the car, which we took directly to the hospital.  X-rays of my leg showed that the femur neck (around where the ball of the big leg bone joins the hip socket) of my right leg was broken.  I couldn’t believe it.  Not that I denied the reality, but it was quite a shock!  Truthfully, I had hoped that I had done something much more minor, like tearing a tendon or ligament, or just dislocating my hip.  My hopes were dashed.  Stuck with a broken hip!  “Why?”  “Why did the Lord let this happen?” I wondered.  I knew that the Lord was with me and that He always has a reason for what He does, so I decided to trust the Lord, and then we asked the Lord what He wanted me to learn from this.  Within hours, He started making things clear. . . .

. . .Surgery--that word made me gulp.  We were also informed that the surgery could not be done at the hospital I was at (much to my temporary relief!).  On the way to a different hospital, I had a conversation with one of the paramedics.  I said, “It’s always nice to know that if you ever have medical problems, you know where you can go.”  Then I said, “It’s also nice to know where your eternal destination is, too.” . . .

With me having a broken hip, you can imagine that a lot of nurses and doctors would be visiting my room.  God had given me an amazing chance to be a witness for Him!  My Dad encouraged me to just be myself and be polite, so that is what I did.  I thanked everyone who helped me, I was polite and attentive to what people said, and the Lord used just that. I think one reason God allowed me to break my hip is because of the opportunities to be witnesses that He has given us through this trial.

. . .One of the things the Lord taught me through this was to trust Him more, and also He has shown me how He provides everything we need.  In my case, it was hospitals to go to, the right people to help me, gentle people to help me, assurance from my Dad, who had experienced a broken leg himself—telling me everything would be alright, a chance to talk to the surgeon to get our questions answered, His provision of peace, and His strength (which I still need) in recovery.  He has also shown me, in a very up close and personal way, that I can do a lot more through His strength than I realized before this!

God does bring trials along so that we can learn and grow because of them. This is stated quite clearly in Jeremiah 29:11.

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not calamity, to give you a future and a hope.’”

Sometimes we may not understand His plans, and it may look like calamity, but we can rest assured that it is for our good.  This is also found in Romans 8:28.  So, if God uses trials for our good, our proper response should be to thank Him for the trials that He brings us—in whatever form they may come.

Now, I know, at first this might sound a bit extreme to some.  But if you think about it, (I’ll use a hospital example) if you had an extremely dangerous disease, which only one very-knowledgeable health agency knew about and guaranteed they could help you get over, you would probably want their help right?  But what if I told you the doctor they sent drove a ‘souped-up’ model T, wore chainmail and a sword, his tools were a saw, hammer, flashlight, and jackhammer, his note taking was done with a quill and papyrus, and his beard was nearly tripping him. But he claimed he did know how to help you. What would you think now?  Would you still want their help?

Believe it or not, this situation is like life.  Just like the sickness, we have areas in our lives where we need help and need to grow.  There is an Agency that wants to help you.  That Agency is God’s spiritual health agency—God wants us to grow and become more like Him.  One of the ways He does that is through trials, and, like I said before, we need to be ready to accept His help through trials in whatever form they come, and thank Him for it. Just like the doctor from the agency, the trials could be baffling, weird, ridiculous, or even scary, but we can be sure that the trials are for our good.

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or became His counselor?’” (Rom. 11:33 & 34)  We serve a very creative, caring God who, I know first hand, does things in ways we sometimes don’t understand.  But we can trust and thank Him that He knows what He is doing and that He does work all things to the good of those who love Him!   ~ Ben


You've been reading an excerpt from Ben's writing about what the Lord taught him through this storm.  For the most recent update from Ben, see ONE YEAR LATER...The View From The Top.

About thirty-six hours before Ben fell, I had shared with our family the song the Lord gave me about unexpected storms in our lives (based on Mark 4--see Unexpected Storms--Part One).  A night or two after Ben got home from the hospital, when I came to tell him goodnight, he was lying there humming that song.  As we started talking, we discovered that the first night we spent in the hospital, while we each thought the other was asleep, both of us were actually awake with the truths in that song comforting our hearts while it silently went through our minds.  If you would like to hear what God did, you can listen to the song here.

Unexpected Storms-- Part One

A recent trip to the emergency room (see the Sept. 19, 2011, post Real Life), got me thinking about what I call the unexpected.  From our perspective, life is uncertain, filled with unexpected storms, great and small.

Now, when we talk about 'the unexpected' happening, that may be true enough coming from our own perspective, but from God's perspective, nothing is unexpected.  He never sleeps (Psalm 121:4).  His plans stand firm forever (Psalm 33:11; Isaiah 46:9-10).  Each and every day of our lives was ordained by Him before it ever came to be (Psalm 139:16).  On top of that, He loves us and there is no one wiser.  Not only does He have perfect plans, but He has plenty of power to carry them out.

With that as a backdrop, consider with me this incident that Mark records in his gospel (Mark 4:35-41):

"And on that day, when evening had come, He (Jesus) said to them (his disciples), 'Let's go over to the other side.'

And leaving the multitude, they took Him along with them, just as He was, in the boat; and other boats were with Him.  And there arose a fierce gale of wind and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

And He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they awoke Him and said to Him, 'Teacher do you not care that we are perishing?'

And being aroused, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Hush, be still.'  And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

And He said to them, 'Why are you so timid?  How is it that you have no faith?'  And they became very much afraid and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?'"

Now, when that storm hit, the disciples were convinced that they were dying.  They said so.  “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re perishing?”  They honestly thought they were going down, but they were overlooking one small fact.  At the beginning, Jesus had said, “Let’s go over to the other side.”  NOT, “Let’s go die in a shipwreck!”

I’m not sure why the chapter divider deciders decided to do it this way, but the first verse of the next chapter (Mark 5:1) actually has the end of this story.  It says, “And they came to the other side.”  That's right--they came to the other side.

When Jesus plans a journey, He finishes it.  However unexpected the storm was to the disciples, it was not unexpected to Jesus.  Yes, they ran into a storm.  Yes, the waves were breaking over the boat.  Yes, the boat was already filling up.  But they got to the other side, just as He planned.

The disciples let their fears get way out of control, way ahead of reality.  When Jesus asked them, “Why are you so timid?  How is it that you have no faith?”, their answer, in the form of the question hinted at the heart of the matter.  They asked each other, "Who is this...?"  They didn’t know, clearly and unmistakably enough yet, who He really was.  It wasn't fully integrated into their hearts yet that it was God in their boat, and that He would keep them afloat!

Somebody once defined worry as thinking of the future as if God isn’t in it.  Fear does the same thing.  They were thinking of their boat as if God wasn’t in it.  They didn’t understand yet that Jesus was Lord over what seemed, to them, their most 'impossible' situations, and that Jesus' plans for them would not be thwarted.  They were still learning that fear, in the face of unexpected storms, was never what Jesus had in mind for them.

If it wasn't fear that He had in mind for His disciples, what was it?  A bit later in Mark, Jesus reassures others who were wrestling with storms of a different kind, with these words, "Go in peace. . ." and, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe."  Deliberately and progressively, He revealed to His followers more and more of Who He is and what He can do.  "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid."

What are you afraid of?  Is there something that has taken you by surprise?  Is there a journey the Lord set you on, but now you're wondering if you will reach the end of it? 

We can rest assured that God doesn't have to wait to see the morning paper to find out what's happening in our world.  When you next check the weather forecast, remind yourself that He never needs to.  We can trust His power and His love through any storm.  And when He plans your journey, He will be with you, to get you to the other side.

I asked for a new song
These very themes are some of what I chose to speak about at the June, 2011, Indiana State Homeschool convention.*  As I was preparing, I was earnestly hoping to close the session with a song that we could sing together, that would capture these truths in a package my listeners would be able to take home with them to sing later, when they would inevitably run into storms of their own.  But all the songs that seemed to fit were copyrighted by others, and since the session was to be recorded, that would have been a problem.  So I asked the Lord if we could have a new song.  And He gave me one!

Here's the most amzaing part!  In His perfect way, He gave it, not just in time for the convention, but three months earlier, and just before our family ran into a storm of our own.  Here's what happened (our storm), and here's the song He knew we needed.

* I wasn't there because I've got everything together.  I haven't.  I was there because God has been my strength and comfort, and He wants us to pass on to others the comfort He supplies (II Corinthians 1, you know).  Anyway, what I shared there wasn't some theoretical formula.  I shared some of the truths from God's Word that had become a literal lifeline to me, and, in fact, they still are.  I never grow weary of hearing Him calm the storm again and again!

Real Life

I've been thinking a lot about thankfulness lately, but when I last posted and I said there there was more to come soon on thankfulness, I had no idea what the Lord had around the corner within less than twenty-four hours. . . .


Saturday became one of those days when I needed to sing, when I just needed to break loose and be really thankful.  “It was a perfect day?” you ask?  Well, let’s just say that it didn't exactly go as I had expected.  The path to where I landed began in the emergency room, and most times, when that happens, you’re likely to end up in a place you weren’t anticipating to be when the day began.  Anybody else ever had a day like that?


I don’t just mean a day where your path leads through the emergency room.  I mean any day where something unexpected or potentially overwhelming happens. . . . Maybe your calling looms larger than you are. . . or maybe when discouragement over not making enough progress bars the path to a place or time to relax with contentment. . . or when you long to be free of a particular struggle so you could be able to joyfully embrace life without feeling as though life itself would crush you first.  Anybody know what I’m talking about?

Though it does seem counterintuitive, those are the days when we most need to sing.   That’s right.  And to be thankful.  In our Father’s Word to us, this is what I find.  “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High; And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me. . . . He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”  Psalm 50:14, 15, 23.

This sacrifice of thanksgiving.  It has always puzzled me, for how can expressing thanks be a sacrifice?

I think it's because it requires something of me, and is a gift to Him.  It pleases Him and He deserves it.  That would be reason enough, but there’s more.

Thanksgiving, for my part, (God is so smart!) reverses my focus, back to where it belongs.  Frustration or fear takes me in one direction, but thankfulness takes me in the opposite direction.  It’s thanksgiving that puts me back on track.

“And let the peace of Christ rules in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”  Colossians 3:15

“Le the word of Christ richly dwell in you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  Colossians 3:16

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”  Colossians 3:17

When whatever shade of the gray ‘overwhelmed’ cloud looms over me, its showers threatening to drown me, I need to get under His wings, in the shelter of the Most High, in the shadow of the Almighty (see Psalm 91), and be thankful.  No, things are not hopeless!  I am not without strength, His strength!

He goes before me;

He walks beside me;

He lives within Me; He’s the lover of my soul.

He’s my Defender;

He’s my Provider;

His overflowing mercies are brand new everyday.  

(That's part of a song called This is the Day by Bob Fitts.)

And that’s what I sang Saturday night at the hospital in the room where my dear husband slept after having had his appendix taken out.  “It was a very bad appendix,” to quote the doctor.  The list of ways the Lord orchestrated the situation to keep him alive is too long for this post , or this would be my longest post ever.  (later, Lord willing)

Suffice it to say for now that God is the lifter of my head.  I put my hope in Him.  And not just because he saved my husband's life, but because, no matter what happens, He loves me, He has forgiven me because of Christ, and He will never abandon me.  It doesn't get any better than that.

P.S.  The writer of the letter to Philippians and his friend found themselves in an unexpected situation, too, when they first came to Philippi and ended up in jail for freeing a girl from a demon.  They chose to praise God with singing in prison.  Do you remember what happened?  You can use the Search the Bible tool on the right to look up 'Acts 16:11-40' if you want to see the amazing outcome. 

Where's the Joy?

I must warn you--this is my longest post ever.  I tried; I really did.  I sat on this post for several days, but I just couldn't smash it into fewer words.  So here's what's on my heart. . . .

Do you find yourself wanting to experience more of God, to be closer to Him?  Do you feel like something is missing from your everyday life?  There must be more, and you know it.  The joy you thought you were supposed to have as a Christian just isn’t there.

It’s easy, I know, to begin to think, “A vibrant Christian life just isn’t possible in my situation.  My life is so mundane.  Where’s the joy here?  I just don’t see the possibility of a joy-filled life.  I’m not at the cutting edge of trusting God through some exciting adventure.”  You are not alone, friend.  Plenty of people are out there searching for someplace else, or someone else, to give them an exciting experience of deeper spirituality, an amazing encounter with God.

Over the years, I’ve seen and heard promises of one-of–a-kind experiences, where you can get away without distractions, where scripture is more alive, fellowship and worship more meaningful, and where you'll cherish Christ more than anywhere else.

Sounds attractive doesn’t it?

It sounds great—until you think about the implications of what that says about the rest of your life!  If I buy what they’re saying, I'm conceding that, in the rest of my life outside the special environment, Christ will always mean less to me, scripture will be duller, fellowship more empty, and worship can never be as rich.  What?!!  Wait a minute?  How can that be?!!

Who do we think He is?

Is He limited by our circumstances?  Honestly, do we believe there are places on earth where He cannot make Himself fully known?  Is God’s ability to reveal Himself, through His Word and in our lives, limited by our environment, surroundings, or circumstances?

Just what do we need to love Christ wholeheartedly?  For worship to be meaningful?  To find more life-changing insight in the scriptures?  Do we need an ideal environment?  God is God where ever we are.   His love endures forever, whether I am Corrie ten Boom in a German concentration camp or I'm in my own home buried under a mountain of dirty laundry.

If my spiritual life seems deeper and my joy more full when my circumstances are more ideally arranged, then that only proves that my environment must be having more impact on my outlook than the presence of God is.  I don't know about you, but that really scares me.  If we weren’t distracted by and focused on externals, the 'perfect' environment wouldn’t have any significant or profound effect.  What if the things we think would make worship sweeter and scripture more profound have nothing to do with Christ and everything to do with a beautiful sensual experience we could create for ourselves?

Granted, almost everybody is more cheerful in a carefully controlled, ideal atmosphere; we seem to be created with a need for order, and our minds appreciate, and thrive in, order and beauty.  That doesn’t mean, though, that we’re more deeply experiencing the presence of God--just because we're more cheerful--when our surroundings are more 'pleasant'.   Actually, I'm afraid it’s a telltale sign that something besides the presence of God is controlling our outlook.  If we experience more of a spiritual high in a protected environment, then we clearly haven’t yet learned to depend on God alone for our joy—sadly, the depth of our spiritual walk still depends on our outward circumstances and environment.  

Now, I’m not advocating turning our homes into chaotic garbage heaps just to prove that God is our only source of joy.   (And, definitely, there is a place for Bible college or other specialized training, or even retreat kind of events with an intentionally intense focus for a time on spiritual things, seen, with a healthy, Scripture-informed perspective, as optional supplements to our spiritual development.)   I’m just saying that if we think we would need to go somewhere other than where God has placed us in our normal life, to some different, somehow 'better', environment, in order to love Christ more deeply, for God's Word to be more alive to us, or to affect any other improvement in our spiritual life, something is very wrong.  We’ve bought a lie.  

So here comes the challenge, and I issue it to myself, too.  This issue of joy really all boils down to an understanding of Who God is.  Do we really believe He is all-powerful?  Do we really believe that fullness of joy is found in His presence?  That He will never leave or forsake us?  Do we really believe He is truth?  Psalm 16:11 says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy”.   I think it’s incredibly significant what it doesn’t say.  It doesn’t say there is fullness of joy when the house is neat, when the children are behaving perfectly, when the dinner isn’t burnt, when the car is running perfectly, when all at work goes smoothly, when Congress votes right, when the sun is shining on your private mountaintop retreat, when all the laundry is clean, or when you are married to a perfect man.

Are we willing to take the Bible for truth when it says that, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. . .The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.”? (Psalm 19)  Those words were written down, at God’s direction, by a man who spent part of his life running for his life from a powerful, jealous man, and who experienced huge, tragic personal losses.  But, in the midst of it all, he knew where real joy comes from.

In fact, the Scriptures are full of the stories of ordinary people, in less than ideal circumstances, with real problems, and major distractions, who found joy in knowing God.  They didn’t seek a different life or a different locale to find joy in the Lord.  They found that God’s presence brought fullness of joy, in even the darkest of moments.

We don’t need altered circumstances to know real joy.  The heavens declare the glory of God, but He doesn't need a 'mountaintop' to make Himself known.  We've got His Word in our hands.  The Creator of the universe and lover of our souls will meet us in His Word wherever we are, whatever our surroundings.  If we believe any less, we don’t yet understand Who He is!

I, for one, want to dig deeper in His Word, to know and understand His heart, to let the joy that comes from His Spirit permeate my life against all odds and in spite of any of my circumstances, not because of them!  How about you?

P.S.   I find encouragement on this journey in the words of Paul in Philippians, especially. . . which he wrote as a prisoner (for his faith), by the way. . .(If you haven't paused there lately, you're missing out.)  And in the themes of thanksgiving woven through so much of Scripture.  More on being thankful soon. . . .

A Tool for My Readers

Any time I speak or write, it is with a sense of carrying a responsibility for the influence and impact my words may have.  I am touched that, in my absence from this blog, more than one someone has come to see what else I might have written.  I never meant to be away from the blog so long.  Grand intentions of writing while our family was away together on vacation were pushed aside by the whirlwind of experiences and conversations that give family vacations the highly deserved honor of being the source of some of our fondest memories.  Thank you for your patience.

If you would like, so you won't have to spend time checking for an update when there isn't one, you may use the tool I have added ('Want to Receive New Posts by Email?' toward the top right of the page) to sign up to receive new posts by email whenever I've added one.  My sincere hope is to be more regular about posting again, now that our travels are over for now.

Of course, if you know someone else who would welcome the encouragement, please do pass on the link to Unsmotherable Delight and feel free to share any individual posts using the 'Email Post' option found at the bottom of each post.  Unsmotherable Delight is meant to be shared!

Character Part Three--How Young Is Too Young?

Imagine with me for a moment. . .What if your child, just as soon as she could talk, informed you that for most of her life up to that point, she'd been bored to tears with the lack of significant substance in what had been communicated to her in words?  How would you feel?

A healthy sort of fear of that very thing happening is what motivated me as a young mother.  The last thing I wanted to have happen was to find out that I had wasted time and opportunities to introduce her to Jesus, to teach her what is true, to explain what really matters in life.  Not concerning myself with what scientists said about how soon children can comprehend, I began talking to her even while I carried her the nine months before we saw her face.  I determined not to waste even one day.  If I was going to err, it would be on the side of too deep and too much communication.  Heaven forbid the reverse!

So it wasn't just 'baby talk'.  I talked to her about big ideas.  Along with introducing her to the names of simple objects, I told her about the Creator who made everything, including her.  Her Daddy and I told her all about our family, how we had prayed for her, and how much we loved her.  We told her that God had a plan for her and how He sent His Son to redeem her.  We answered why questions she wasn't even asking and explained how various things worked.  I told her what I was thinking and explained what was going on around her.

Did she get every bit of it?  I suppose not, but I am convinced that she did comprehend more than anybody would have expected her to.  And so did her brother who came next.  Let either of them have engaged you in conversation when they were three, and the evidence was irrefutable.

At this point, I have to say that I'm not holding us up as perfect parents who did everything right--we are far from it!  Neither do we have perfect children.  My point, instead, is simply this--that I know for a fact that children can comprehend far more at a very young age than is generally supposed.  And the evidence has been living in our house for nearly eighteen years.

In an earlier post, I mentioned our thirteen year old son's advice to "not dumb down God's Word" for children.  This time I'd like share something the seventeen year old evidence had to say on the topic.  Her thoughts on training children included this, "Have and give reasons for what you say, and don't expect them to not be able to understand what you tell them."

I realize this flies in the face of some very popular ideas on child development and education strategies, which maintain, instead, that children aren't capable of much reasoning 'til somewhere around the junior high years, and that dry facts are what children crave before that age.  There is a whole lot zooming around in my head on that topic, but that will be for another day soon.  For now, I simply ask this question.  If young children can really only handle dry facts, then why do two and three year olds incessantly ask, "Why?  Why?  Why?"?

God, of course, knows, definitively, the in and outs of a child's developing mind and is not silent on these things.  I choose to trust Him rather than rely on fad ideas from folks who have never even raised children of their own.  Joshua 8:35 gives us a picture of God's intentions, "There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them." (italics mine)  Deuteronomy 6 and Judges 2:10, among other passages, tell us relationships and conversations, or the lack of them, will shape hearts.

How young is too young for shaping hearts?  I'm not taking any chances.  I'm not comfortable with one wasted moment.  Are you?