PS

So here's the post script ... we also have a toad, sometimes. No fox, coyote, snakes or black bear as of this writing …But there was a black bear sighting about 1 mile away this past year. And I saw a fox about 1 mile from here just off the expressway towards the airport and rumor has it there are coyotes on the east side of town. I don’t know about the snakes. There’s a hawk, heron, bluebirds, and more various and sundry birds in the cemetery across the street. We may be wedged between a park and cemetery but we don't live on the fringes of the city, we live in the city. I don't adopt these critters. They're usually just passing through. Ellie and Nyah will make sure!

You've come here looking for info on children's ministry so you say, "So what? What do half (or too many) of these blog posts have to do with anything related to Children's ministry?"

Good question!Perhaps the better question to ask is what do they have to do with ministering to children? What do they have to do with loving children?

First, there's bound to be some far-reaching spiritual principal that says you probably won't see it if you're not looking - wildlife, for instance. It also applies to the wonderful things God does. There might even be scriptures to support it. Sometimes we don't see because we're not looking. Sometimes we see but we forget to thank Him and praise Him and tell Him how wonderful He is. "Lord, thank you that I could be here in this moment, at this time, to see this. You are amazing!"

The second thing is that those of you under 40 are part of a generation of parents who seem to be trying to integrate all of life instead of trying to keep everything (including your faith) compartmentalized and separate. There are a lot of things I've learned to love. It just took me a long time to stop feeling guilty about enjoying life. At some point in my life I stopped seeing things I enjoy as competing with God. It took me a long time to say, without guilt, God made me for this. Because I love Him, because He made me, this can bring Him praise and glory. No matter how I cut, destroy, or prune those branches they keep popping up. Even if for some reason God takes it away, either it will die or it will keep popping up. Pruned, it will bear more fruit. He wants to take me there. Maybe it's not unlike Jesus and the fishermen, Paul and his tent-making, Nicodemus and his work, David with his sheep, worshiping, pastoring a nation. Whatever my hands find to do can be a place to discover more about Him and discover more reasons to worship Him. Big change of thinking. Maybe it's a rather Celtic perspective but I think that whole person thinking - made in the image of God to worship Him- is Hebrew, too.

Someone else might blog about computers or gadgets or multi-media or health food or books or art or machines or travel and cultures, or urban life, or quilts or historical minutia or insects or parasites or math. Praise you Lord for math but I won't blog about math. You have to find that somewhere else. But think about it. There are soooo many ways to draw children into life and into the life of Christ and to help them see how amazing God is.

I think I've already quoted Psalm 8 on more than one occasion. I love the Psalms. Here's another passage I found yesterday in Psalm 111:

(vs 2-5)
Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.

Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.

He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The LORD is gracious and compassionate.

He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will remember His covenant forever.

(vs 10)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever.

Wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord. Learning God's Word is multi-sensory. We learn by doing.

Getting excited about the things you love, learning God's words in the process in the context of life, is somewhere at the heart of the kind of teaching and learning that happens when you rise up, when you sit down, and when you walk along the way.

End of lecture!