new resources

Someone recommended Relevant Magazine at Emerging Parents. I haven't looked too closely but it looks interesting.

This is Relevant Youth. This is sort of interesting, too.

This is seriously random but it's probably a good thing. Have you seen the Boot Camp for New Dads in Richmond, VA?

Just have fun with these Pontifications!.

This is Tall Skinny Kiwi 2004 I first started blogging because I wasn't finding anything. Twas true!

Interesting,Emerging Adulthood not unlike the Odessey article mentioned in a previous post. This article is similar from USA Today.

musing on the work of Your hands

from Psalm 143 (NAS)
A Psalm of David


5 I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your doings;
I muse on the work of Your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You, as a parched land.
Selah.. .

8 Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies;
I take refuge in You.
10 Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
11 For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me
In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies
And destroy all those who afflict my soul,
For I am Your servant.

Psalm 119:98 (NAS)

"Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For they are ever mine."

I like the phrase, "ever mine."

a world full of things to praise Him for

Psalm 145 (NAS)

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

1 I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness.
7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
9 The LORD is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.
11They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The LORD sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.
16 You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.
20 The LORD keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

I have to say I've seen God answer prayers in unexpected ways, I've seen Him heal and restore, I've seen Him chase demons away, I've actually seen Him do a lot of amazing things over the years - not something every minute or even every year by any means. The thing that's so amazing is that even when you don't see Him doing any "Biblical miracles" or people extravaganzas there are so many little things and so much in the natural world to marvel at - the miracle of life, the miracle of birth, the miracle of 60 years of marriage, the fact that the sun rises every morning .... And He made our world that way - full of life, full of miracles, full of things to marvel at, full of things to praise Him for!

from Psalm 92

Psalm 92 (NAS)

Praise for the LORD'S Goodness.

A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.

1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
And Your faithfulness by night,
3 With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,
With resounding music upon the lyre.
4 For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
5 How great are Your works, O LORD!
Your thoughts are very deep.

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!