Biblical Connections Colossians 3:15

I cherish the time I spend pouring into my son through literature. Every time that sweet blond haired, blue eyed child comes toddling up to me with a book in one hand and his blanket in the other I praise the Lord for the gift of that moment. I take a mental picture of the joyful anticipation upon Shane's face knowing full well he looks forward to the next few minutes of time together, snuggles, and the story. Oh, the story.

Books are magical. They can tell a tail of a princess being rescued from a flaming dragons breath by her prince charming. A book can teach a story about friendship through a rhyming story of farm animals or made up places. Stories can plant an idea in our head to make the world a more beautiful place or warn us with a cautionary tale to watch our actions.. Books can take us on a trip in a chapter and allow us to explore far off places without ever leaving home. There is something so powerful about the written word of a story that I loose myself each time I open a book and get wrapped up in a story.

Shane loves reading time just as much as I do. He will hoist himself up onto my lap while one hand clings to his book and the other to his blanket. He will snuggle into my lap and smooth his colorful airplane quilt over us both. Then the pages start to turn, the pictures are explored, the words are read off each page and he is delighted. Every time he hears the word tree he claps with joy and points outside our window to the lush evergreen northwest landscape and finds a tree. He knows the word. He makes the connection. We read on and word after word Shane recognizes and then points to the world around him to identify, connect, and better understand his reality. Each time we read a favorite book Shane sees something new, he understands something more, he grows and develops. My son is learning through reading and enjoying every moment.

I crave this same hunger for scripture that my son has for books. I long for the desire to spend any free time I can pouring over Psalms and Proverbs, learning from the Genesis of how I was made, hearing multiple accounts of how my Lord came into this world as a tiny fragile child. I want to make connections to my world from what I read. I want to joyfully point out the lessons learned from the Bible to people in the world showing grace, love, and forgiveness. I pray for just a little more of a desire to make the Word enthralling, to let the passages come alive, and to learn through reading the Bible with the same childish anticipation as my son.

Scripture to Ponder: ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through himColossians 3:1517

The Desired Path: Proverbs 16:9

One crisp winter night my son learned to climb the stairs. The sound of holiday music cheerfully played in the background and the smell of Christmas cookies filled my home. Shane wore fleece blue footie pajamas with playful polar bears on them and we were enjoying a quiet holiday evening together. My strong and ambitious son inched his body across the soft family room carpet twords the three cushy steps that lead to the main floor of our home. I watched him lift his right arm and he planted his palm firmly in the center of the step. Then the next arm repeated the same steps. His right knee swung over the step and he hoisted his body up onto these limbs followed by the left leg. My son was a climber.

At first I would stand behind him with a nervous motherly hand waiting to catch him if he should fall. Soon he could go up and down independently and my hand was no longer needed. Shane took great pride in his ability to climb the stairs from our sunken living room the mail floor.

Soon enough Shane discovered the ten towering stairs that connected the main floor to the upstairs which quickly produced a baby gate fixed to the bottom of this flight. At first my son quizzically explored a potential new toy that was the baby gate. His eyes surveyed the tan lattice plastic center and neutral wood frame. Shane was delighted that we could lift the bar up and down to remove the gate and place it back in and he enjoyed hooking those tiny finger through the gate and trying with all his might to tug it down. Soon the joy turned to frustration that his little body lacked the strength to move what Mom and Dad could. He would stand at the bottom of the stairs, body latched to the gate, crying that he could not go up the stairs nor remove the gate.

When I looked at this flight of stairs I saw the honey colored hard wood floors that graced our main level floor. They were beautiful, cool in temperature, and offered no cushion for a fall. The upper level flight of stairs had old carpet: worn, hard, unraveled. As a mother I saw the pain of the fall if Shane should loose his footing. I saw each bump on his head against the stair edges, each roll his little body would endure, and the hard landing upon those beautiful hardwood floors. Thus, despite the tears, the baby gate remained.

Though Shane won't remember the baby gate I know it will not be the last time I have to block an adventurous path off from my son. I have his best interest at heart. I want him safe and secure. In time I will teach him how to climb these stairs on his own but for now, in his infancy, it is not a task he is ready for.

Like so much in life we can't see the bumps and falls that may await for us down a path. In our humanity, we can't understand that we don't yet possess the ability or strength to sail a desired course. Our Lord sees each step that we take and knows our ability. He can see the beginning and the end of a move, a relationship, a job, a trip, a purchase, an opportunity and He has our best interest. Trust the path you are on now is one that has been lovingly opened up to you and perhaps the one you wanted so badly, the one you cried you could not walk down, is best left off limits for reasons that the Lord can see. He has your best interest at heart.

Scripture to Ponder: Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Sing a Smile upon Your Father's Face: Psalm98 1-6

When I was growing up I loved being read to. I can remember at night my mom sitting in the hallway, my siblings doors and mine ajar, and she would read. We listed to The Chronicles of Narnia, Barenstine Bears, The Boxcar Children, and many other memorable stories that lulled us to sleep each night. Her calm and caring voice along with adventurous tails made such a sweet memory in my childhood I wanted to do the same for my son. I brought Winnie the Poo to the hospital when he was born and started reading to Shane from the first day.

These days Shane likes to sit for about 10-15 minutes with board books. Anything paper gets destroyed but thick sturdy pages allow for him to examine the pages and turn them with all his toddler hood strength. A favorite these days is Moo, Baa, LaLaLa by Sandra Boytnton. We read this book daily and Shane, though not saying much aside from "mama" and "dada", can mimic the singing pigs saying "la, la, la." I love to read with Shane and I love hearing him make his first tangible sounds.

Shane spends moments reading but hours practising the connections from books to the world around him. He points to lights until we name them, trees, cars, and dogs. He strolls around the house in his unsteady steps, arms tucked behind him like a butler, singing at the top of his lungs the only sound he can make "la, la, la." Shane does not notice us around but belts it out with pride. "La, la, la."

This past week Shane noticed that when he would sing his three little notes his Dad would smile. My, husband, Brian, loves how Shane will be a loud boy who cares nothing of what others think when he sings and it brings an instant smile to both their faces. As soon as Brian wakes up Shane will climb the stairs, swing open our bedroom door, walk to the bed and in his loudest voice belt out "la, la, la" until he gets the desired smile from his father.

Not every person would find this noise beautiful. Some may think it is cute. Some may thing it is a tad annoying but to Brian and I  it is a beautiful noise. Our son knows it delights us to hear him sing so whenever he can, he will sing for us to bring a smile to our faces. It delights Shane to delight us and makes our whole home filled with a joyful sound.

I learn so much about my Heavenly Father from watching my son with his earthly Father. I see that it is not so much the song I sing but the desire to bring God joy with my every being that pleases Him. I want to daily make a joyful noise unto God. I can picture my heavenly Father looking down on me with a big smile because I sought Him out and without caring what anyone thinks I belted out my own "la,la,la" song just because I wanted to see Him smile.

Scripture to Ponder: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with harp, with harp and the shouts of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn-shout for joy before the Lord, the King. Psalm 98: 1-6.

The Wonder in the World : Romans 1:20

Today I went for a walk with my son. We dorned ourselves with light jackets appropriate for a spring morning in Washington.  The day greeted us with the scent of freshly cut grass and newly spread bark that the early morning rain enhanced like a fine wine does chocolate. The sun was tucked behind the clouds but still offered us some warmth and the birds were well into their daily chorus offering us a beautiful melody to stroll to. I love this time with Shane.

At fourteen months my son has just mastered walking. He has a certain gusto to his stride with a lingering instability. Shane enjoys getting outdoors to work on his new found skill and I equally enjoy watching him walk with pride towards anything that is in eyesight. To Shane, walks are adventures. He reminds me of Indiana Jones taking in the wonder of a lost temple or artifact. Everything is new and glorious to Shane and he now has the freedom and ability to walk right up to what he sees and touch it, pick it up, smell it.

We ventured into the front yard which is small but well stocked with annuals, perennials, evergreens, and green grass. Shane took a moment to feel the grass with his hands then plucked a piece from the earth to show me, quizzically looking at me to discover the name of this smooth, jade, sweet smelling find. "Grass" I told him with a smile. He was delighted at this new connection. Grass. We moved on.

Directly next to our home is what we call the duck pond. In reality is is a retention pond that is not nearly tended to as often as it should be which delights us because it is the lush green home to a host of ducks, frogs, and bugs. There is an unsightly fence around the pond but we can see past it into our own little garden of Eden. It is beautiful. Today, Shane strolled up to the fence, hooked his tiny fingers onto the steel lattice, and joyfully smiled as he took in the sights. There were 27 ducks in the pond of which 13 where ducklings. Blackberry bramble twirled round a small dwarf pine and cattail emerged from the far end of the pond. Adding base to the birds melody were the frogs that populated the area like the plague in Egypt. Shane was in awe. There was so much to see, smell, hear, and touch. He would even taste it all if it were not for me standing there telling him not to put everything in his mouth.

On our way back to the house we stop to examine a tulip that had just bloomed. I have been teaching Shane how to be gentle  and he tenderly demonstrated gentless as he caressed the snow white petal with his pointer finger. He leaned in and rubbed his cheek against the flower feeling the fresh silk like texture of the new bud. "Flower" I told him. "This is another flower." Shane smiled at me in accknoledment and then we headed home.

Some of the magic of toddler hood, to me, is the the wonder the world takes on when a baby is no longer an infant but not yet a child. To my son the world is a wonderful wonderful place to explore. Everything captivates his attention for a moment and then he is on to the next thing not only due to a developmentally appropriate short attention span but because there are endless creations to expore. There are a million trees to marvel at, a thousand flowers to touch, to smell, to observe. To my son nothing is simple and nothing should be overlooked. Everything is wonderful.

I pray that I can see the world through my sons eyes during these wonderful years of toddler hood because he sees what I overlook.  For years I have neglected to see God's artistic hand in nature. I have not noticed the details He placed in each blade of grass, the unique color to each tulip, the beautiful songs of birds, frogs, and crickets. I have forgotten to notice the wonder of the world but this sweet son of mine is daily reminding me to see God's handy work. All I need to do is step outside and look.

Scripture to ponder: Romans 1:20  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Grace in our Home: 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

On a sunny April day in 2009, Brian and I moved into our new home. We had been planning and packing for weeks in anticipation for this day. The smell of cardboard boxes filled our SUV and my hand held a set of smooth, cold keys that we had just picked up from our relator. We were homeowners.

As we pulled into the driveway we put the car in park, turned off the ignition, and took a moment to thank the Lord for the gift of this home. I had just completed graduate school and Brian was less than a year into his career. This house, this home, was a gift from God and we did not want to forget that. We anxiously opened the car doors and jumped onto our driveway, walked across our front lawn, smelled our blooming bushes, climbed our front steps, and unlocked the front door to our home. It was a memorable moment.

Over the next few hours we unloaded labeled boxes from the car into the appropriate rooms: kitchen, master bedroom, office, living room, laundry room, guest room, family room. After our third trip from our old apartment we simply started dumping boxes into the entry and figured we get them to their final destination later. We worked for six hours straight: driving, loading, driving, unloading. By three in the afternoon we had worked up an appetite and our empty fridge emulated the emptiness we felt in our stomachs. It was time to eat.

With boxes unopened and our stove not hooked up we decided to grill some burgers outside. We headed to the local market, picked up some fancy rolls speckled with sesame seed, pre made burger patties with cheese and grilled onions mixed into the meat, and a bottle of ketchup and mustard. I grabbed a couple bananas and muffins for breakfast and a tray of cut veggies to go with lunch and we headed home ready to make our first meal as homeowners.

It still baffles me how I ended up doing the grilling that day. Normally that is a joyfully anticipated event for Brian. He loves to set out the plate of red raw meat, have his tongs in hand, and listen to the sizzle of the grill with manly pride as he makes us burgers, BBQ chicken, grilled salmon, or grilled veggies but for whatever reason I did the grilling today. I stepped outside, pulled the BBQ two feet away from the house, turned on gas, and pushed the ignite button. I had grilled several times last year and I was looking forward to the honor of grilling the first burgers of the season.

The most important thing to remember when grilling is to make sure the gas is off when you are done, the grill is not close to the house, and to clean the grill properly both before and after. I successfully accomplished two of three tasks and that third one will forever haunt me. As the grill began to heat that day so did the bits of last season’s leftovers which quickly ignited into a two foot flame. The heat and shock sent me into action quickly closing the lid of the grill and turning the gas off. As I surveyed the area to check that all was well I noticed a droopy cartoon like animation to the side of our house. A ten by four foot area on the side of our house had melted the siding causing it to morph. I was mortified.

It is moments like this in your marriage you stop and think how to tell your spouse the bad news. I had lots of practice at telling the bad news but most of the time it was that I burnt dinner and we needed to order a pizza not that I melted our beautiful new house. I found myself slightly shy walking into the office upstairs where Brian was filling our bookshelf with novels and text books. In an emotional overflow I began to explain that I had not cleaned the grill and I damaged the side of the house. Brian hardly let me finish my repentant story before he had his strong arms wrapped around me in a tight and loving hug.

"Sweetie, its O.K. We can fix this." he said.

I love the man I married.  I love that we are a team that can "fix" the problems that arise. I love the grace he shows me. It is this type of grace that we experience on earth that gives us a small glimpse into heaven at the God who extends grace to us. We don't deserve it or earn it but desperately need it. So often we shy away from approaching God because of fear of His reaction to our follies however, when we shy away we miss the loving arms of favor that are already being extended to us. If my husband can so quickly forgive me and show grace how much more so can our almighty God? 

I often look at the side of my home and see the slight color difference in the new siding up against the old. I don't think of how careless I was in not properly cleaning the grill but of a beautiful moment of grace and forgiveness. It reminds me that when I feel I am at my messiest, clumsiest, most disorganized state God has His arms open ready to extend grace, favor, and honor to me.  

Scripture to ponder: 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.