I probably come to the Lord with more questions than not. If He was someone other than God, He'd probably get tired of me. But I love the journey with Him, prayerfully pondering His words - words as alive this morning as they were hundreds of years ago. He even keeps watching over them to perform them! Add the dimension of people to love, add the context of time and culture . . . Didn't Jesus say that eternal life is to know Him? A lifetime can't possibly be enough time.
My five kids are young adults and teens but as I'm watching young parents I've come back to ponder Deut. 11 (particularly vs 5 - Imagine generations of parents telling their children what they've seen God do, Verses 8-9 aren't unlike the promise that goes with "Children, obey Your parents . . ." But it's for us. Verses 18-21: God is so relational - He's there when we get up, when we lie down, as we walk through the day willing to share, willing to teach, the way parents and children are when they're home together, working together or doing anything together - the way Jesus walked through life with His disciples. He must spend a lot of time fielding questions. Maybe He enjoys it. Parents teaching these things to their children is relational. Being part of a larger community of parents and children (we're all someone's children) is relational too.
Lord, help us to be as willing to share as You are. Help us draw our children into the ways we interact with You especially when they're little and so easily awe-struck. Teach us to think the way You do as we do what You ask. Help us see and remember what You've done, what You've said. Show Yourself to our children. Interact with them. Thanks for taking so many questions. And when You choose not to answer our questions thanks for just being there. You are truly awesome!
(c) 2005 Margie Hillenbrand
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I was hanging out with a friend of mine's (Greg) eldest son (Ian) a couple months ago. Ian said "Mike, wanna hear my bestest joke ever!?!" (That's six-year old grammar at work. If he wasn't homeschooled, i'd assume that whole-langauge was working for Ian too) I said, "no, man." "What should i tell you then?", he said. "You can't open with your bestest joke. You have to save your bestest joke and open with a mediocre-funny joke first. Then you follow it with a lousy joke or two for filler, and close with your zinger!" Ian proceeded to put on his best George Carlin face and make us laugh... we were more laughign at the process than the actual joke. Greg said to me, "i think it's so funny that you talk to our kids like they're older than they are."
ReplyDeleteI don't know that it's a good or a bad thing... how i relate to kids as older than they are... but it's an honestly 'me' thing. And when they relate to me, they get to know me and learn to trust me... even with their comedy. Moreover, i show them (or at least i showed Ian that night) that i cared about something that he cared about. ...
I don't mean to post up your blog with "yeah me" comments. i mostly want to share the little story about Ian and his jokes. Either way... thanks for asking the questions, Margie. Maybe sometimes they're more important than the answers
Thanks, Mike! Your comment is exactly what I'm hoping will come out of this! Sometimes when we're looking for answers we miss the really special things that God is doing right in front of us.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for your comment about asking the questions!