Worry Worry Worry Worry Worry

This Complete Breakfast - Day 7

Do you worry?

It seems like there's never a shortage of things to worry about. Health. People. Money. A zombie apocalypse. Heck, I'm married to an airline pilot. I could worry every day he's up there flying that he's going to become a headline. Here's another thing to worry about: The Bible says HERE that worrying is a sin. Bam. Now we can worry about worrying! Even the word "worry" looks worried to me. And it sounds worried. Say the word "worry" out loud several times and you realize it's a great onomatopoeia… doesn't it sound like something spinning out of control with pieces flying off in every direction?

That's about how the ancient Greeks defined it.

For reals. To them, the idea of worry or anxiety meant being drawn in different directions, shattering a person's soul into pieces. Conversely, their idea of peace was wholeness—that all the necessary pieces of life were joined together to form a whole. Picture your soul like a big jigsaw puzzle. Peace means you're put together and have a complete picture. Worry means there are pieces of you in the couch cushions, under the fridge, in the back of the closet, mixed with Cheerios in the cup holder of a minivan, and a few pieces might even be on their way to Goodwill in a bag of used toys. You're all over the place and you can't get yourself together! Your loving heavenly Father doesn't want that for you.

Maybe that's why he told us to do something rather unusual… He wants us to throw stuff on him.  You heard me. Throw stuff. On him. Here you go:

"Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you." —1 Peter 5:7

Ever heard that song from the 1970s that was written about this verse? 

"I cast all my cares upon you; I lay all of my burdens down at your feet. 

And any time I don't know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon you." 

That is a fantastic song, and I sang it incessantly as a kid. Mostly because it was pretty to harmonize on. If you haven't heard it, it's a slow, calm lullabyish kind of song. (If you're super curious, you can listen to it HERE.) And that's great for after you've calmed down. But what about when you're still full of that anxiety and you haven't cast it yet? What does it even mean to cast something, anyway? It means to hurl it forcefully away from you! Give it the old fling-boogie action! Heave-ho it like a desperate shot from half court at the final buzzer! Hard to capture that sentiment in a lullaby. I think we need sound effects, personally. Let me know if you come across a good one for this.

Why does God want us to hurl all our crap on him?

Because he's our great big Daddy and he cares for us. He takes a special interest in each of his kids and is concerned by what concerns us. Not to mention, he can handle it so much better than we ever could. We aren't meant to carry worry and anxiety in our hearts. It eats away at us like a cancer, literally making us sick, fracturing us into splinters in proper Greek fashion. We are weak. God is strong. He wants us to experience the wholeness of peace, and protect us from stomach ulcers and panic attacks. His command requires our complete trust and belief, because worry is an act of unbelief. But who better to trust than the One who cares for us most?

Okay Lord, get out your catcher's mitt…

Leave me a comment! :D

This Is the Day

We hear this verse by itself a lot. 

We hear people sing it in a song, or say it to someone else who's looking a little mopey. We mutter it under our breath when the baby's crying, a pot's boiling over, and we've just dropped an entire plate of spaghetti on the floor. It's almost a way of saying, "I hate this day, I can't handle it, but I'm supposed to have a good attitude. So I'm going to put on a smile and remind myself that I should be happy right now, because God put me in this situation!" We also see this verse plastered over breathtaking photos of God's creation and made into cute little fridge magnets. The mistaken and dangerous notion that crops up is, "cheer up, because God's creation is pretty to look at. Check out this sunrise or those daisies. Now, don't you feel better?  Every day is a great day, simply because God made it." 

 Yeah, that'll cheer you right up. Or not.

It's true that every day is a day that God has made. And it's also true that we are told to be glad when trials come our way… not necessarily "glad" to be going through them, but glad that God is using them to make us more like Jesus. But some days we just don't feel like rejoicing and being glad. Nobody feels glad when they lose their job, their marriage, or their child. Nobody felt like rejoicing when our country was attacked and thousands of innocent people died fiery deaths in the World Trade Center towers. Especially since Scripture is clear that there is "a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance," is this verse really saying that we're required daily to rejoice and be glad?

I don't think so. 

If you get out your Hebrew dictionary (because everybody's got one), and look up this little word for "made," you'll see the meaning it was trying to get across: "accomplished."  This is the day the Lord has accomplished? That sounds a bit bigger than just making a day happen. It sounds like he was busy… but doing what? Let's back up and read it again, only with the four verses that come before it: 

This is the gate of the LORD;

the righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me

and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

This is the LORD’s doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the LORD has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Did you catch it? Did you figure out what day we're actually celebrating?

If you're still waking up, I'll help you out. Think about this part… "This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it." The gate? THE Gate? As in the gate mentioned in John 10:9? 

"I [Jesus] am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved."

Now consider the next part… "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." THE Cornerstone? As in, the cornerstone mentioned all over the Bible, such as in Acts 4:11? 

"This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone." 

This Psalm is all about Jesus saving us!

Jesus is the gate, the only way to God. He is our cornerstone. He answers our prayers. The day he made us righteous by giving us his righteousness, the day he became our salvation… that really WAS marvelous! What a staggering accomplishment on his part! That's something worth rejoicing over!

So even though those days will come when you're stuck in situations that make you feel hopeless, you don't have to try to fake happiness in the midst of those times. Because you have something better instead, something truly worth celebrating… the day the Lord accomplished your rescue. Let us rejoice and be glad in THAT!

How Jesus Is Our Stick in the Mud

This Complete Breakfast - Day 5 

Thanks for joining the Short People and me for our morning discussion! Look for more discussions under the "This Complete Breakfast" tab if you'd like to follow along with organized links rather than scrolling through posts. ;)

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, 

he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." —John 15:5

We have several grapevines in our yard... 

This verse makes so much sense when we think about the way the grapevines grow. Before there were ever any grapes, or even any branches or leaves, there had to grow that thick vine at the center. It's the oldest and strongest part of the plant, and it never moves from that spot. It brings the life-giving water and nutrients up from the soil. The sap flows from it into the crazy, young branches that go shooting out all over the place. During spring and early summer, the grape plant quadruples in size as the branches seem to take on a life of their own, changing almost by the hour. It's hard to believe, when you push back all that thick foliage, that it's actually that humble little stick in the mud, covered in crusty bark, that's feeding life to all those fancy leaves and loads of heavy, plump grapes. One of those branches might even grow so long that it winds its way several yards through the tangle of branches until it's clear across the grape arbor from where it started!  But if you were to take a pair of shears and cut that branch off from the vine, you would soon know which one it was, because every leaf and every grape along that branch would die. Without that humble little stick, there would be no fruit. There would be no grape arbor at all. 

It's just like that with us and Jesus.

He is that humble beginning to God's family. He is the Firstborn of God, and all the rest of us grow out of him because of his life-giving presence. God's family has grown fast, just like the grape arbor does every year, but every single one of us can trace our lives back to Jesus. He's the one who created us and continues to sustain us, hold us up, and make it so we can bear fruit. We are his branches. 

What does it mean to abide in him?

Simply put, to abide means to stay. It means to not allow anything to get in the way of our connection to him. We can stay connected to him by talking to him all throughout the day, and by looking into his Word like we're doing right now. It can also mean that if something gets between us and Jesus, to make it right. That might mean confessing sin and apologizing to him, forsaking that choice and deciding to obey him from now on. It might mean giving up something that makes it harder for us to worship Jesus. If we don't have time for him because we're playing too many games or have too many distractions, it's time to give up those distractions. We need that time with Jesus to keep allowing his life to flow through us and help us bear fruit. 

He abides in us too? What does that mean?

It means he stays with us! He keeps pure, unbroken fellowship with us. He promised that he would never leave us, but that the Holy Spirit would make his home in us and continue to be a constant influence on us. He continues to lift us up, speak to us, and help us get rid of sin in our lives. This is like the water and nutrients that flow from the vine into the branches and produce all those fat, juicy grapes. His life flows into us and produces in us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  

None of that happens without Jesus. Just like there are no branches or grapes without the vine. 

Temptations Are God's Idea?

This Complete Breakfast - Day 4

This is part of a series of morning discussions I have with my sweet girlies before school. Feel free to join us, pass it on to a friend, or leave us a comment. I hope you have a blessed day!

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he 

will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide 

the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. —1 Corinthians 10:13

Imagine that you're sitting in school and your teacher hands out a test. 

On this test are questions about everything you've been taught so far. The number of questions you get right on this test will show how much you've really learned, and how much you've forgotten. Also imagine that right next to you is the answer key. You know, the teacher's book where all the answers are written in pink? It's sitting right there. All you have to do to get 100% on the test is open that book and look at the answers. All you have to do is cheat.

The "temptation" that this verse is talking about can be both of those things. 

Sometimes it can be like a test… a test that shows how strong your faith is, or how well you obey God when he asks you to do something hard (that's known as character). Other times it can be an enticement to sin, where you have to make a choice between right and wrong.  When does temptation happen? When people around us are sinning. When something bad or scary happens. When what's easiest isn't always what's best. This is hard stuff! There will be both tests and chances to sin, and we have to make a choice how we will respond with our attitudes and actions. How are we going to manage it?

This verse is reassuring, because it tells us three great things. 

1. There isn't a single test or sin choice that hasn't already happened to somebody else. 

Many other people are facing the same hard choices we face. In fact, the Bible even tells us that Jesus himself was tempted in all of the same things, but never sinned. What a great comfort that Jesus knows exactly what we're going through!

2. God won't ever make you face a temptation that is too hard to overcome. 

That means he won't put a 12th grade exam in front of you if you're only in third grade! It also means that you won't be too baffled to make the right call when it comes down to whether to sin or obey. The right choice will be clear. Even if you don't have the strength by yourself to do the right thing, he will give you the power to do it.

3.   There will always be an escape route out of trouble. 

God will provide you with a new destination, a path that takes you in the right direction, away from sin and away from danger… toward success.

Temptations—both tests and chances to sin—don't have to turn out badly. They are God's idea, for our good! Like a great teacher and Dad, God isn't just going to fill our heads with nice facts about himself and how great it is to obey him. He's going to give us chances to try them out in obedience, to see that they really work. This increases our faith in him. Don't be scared of temptation and trials. These can be awesome times that bring great glory to God! 

The Evil Queen Attitude

This Complete Breakfast - Day 3

Here's another morning Bible discussion designed for kiddos. Praying you have a blessed day. :)

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility 

consider others better than yourselves.” --Philippians 2:3

What is selfish ambition?

Having ambition means wanting something and being ready to work hard to get it. Having ambition isn’t always a bad thing. It can help you reach a goal. It’s when it becomes selfish that it becomes a sin. Being selfish means you care about yourself more than anyone else. If you have selfish ambition, that means you want to get your own way, even if it hurts other people. You might say things like, “Move out of my way!”

What is vain conceit?

If we act vain, it means that we worry too much about what other people think of us. It means we want others to think we are talented and good-looking, and we might feel pretty upset if they don’t. Being conceited means thinking we are amazing in every way. Everyone has their faults, but if we’re conceited, we have a hard time seeing our faults.

Remember the evil queen in the story of Snow White?

Now there’s somebody full of selfish ambition and vain conceit! She wanted to be the most beautiful in all the land, and worried so much about others thinking she was beautiful that she was willing to kill! She only cared about herself and getting what she wanted, and she did some pretty terrible things in order to be seen as the best. Her attitude was so dangerous that it made her downright evil!

This verse warns us that having the same attitude is also dangerous for us. We might not be polishing a poisoned apple for anyone, but we still might be hurting others by:

• Insisting that our way is better
• Not letting others go first
• Being unwilling to share with others
• Spending so much time thinking about ourselves that we don’t notice that others need help

...and worst of all,

• Focusing on ourselves so much that people don’t want to hear about Jesus because they don’t want to be anything like us!

What’s the answer? How can we avoid having this awful attitude?

The last part of the verse gives us a clue: “...but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” IS everyone else better than you are? Is that what God thinks? Hmmm. That’s not the right question. The truth is, it doesn’t really matter. God simply asks us to consider others better than ourselves. That means treat them better and love them more than we do ourselves. That’s a sure way to keep us from becoming evil villains full of selfish ambition and vain conceit!

How To Be A Geyser

This Complete Breakfast - Day 2

Here's today's breakfast discussion with my Short People. You'll find the links to other discussions in the "This Complete Breakfast" tab at the top. :) 

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for 

from it flow the springs of life." —Proverbs 4:23

What is a spring?

In this case, it's not a Slinky or a season of the year. It's water, shooting up from the ground! It keeps on flowing, toward the plants, animals, and people around it. If it's good, clean water, then that's a really great thing for living things. They get to drink it and grow big and healthy. 

But what happens if pollution gets into the spring? 

Then pollution goes into the water, and it gets all over everything! Everyone who drinks or even touches that water will get sick! Even a little bit of pollution in the water isn't good, because it can cause sickness that nobody notices for a long time. 

How could someone keep the spring from being polluted?

They would have to protect that spring! They'd have to tell people, "Hey, you can't dump that garbage here, there's fresh water coming out!" They might need to build a fence around the spring to keep animals from pooping in it. They might build a sign to let people know not to swim there. How else could they protect the spring? Are they being mean by making rules to protect the spring? No. They're being kind, because they're trying to keep everyone healthy with clean water. 

This verse tells us that our hearts are like that spring, and need just as much protection!

When Jesus comes to live in our hearts, he gives us new hearts—He starts the spring of fresh, clean water flowing out—and makes us more like him. Our hearts are where he tells us to hide his word, so we can remember it. Our hearts are where we make choices about our behavior… whether they are good choices or bad. The words that we say, and the attitudes we show others are like the water flowing out of our spring. Our words land on others and can bring them life and help them grow. If we let our hearts get polluted by bad ideas, bad thoughts, mean attitudes, or even movies or songs that aren't good for us, those ideas and thoughts are going to come out onto others through our words.

What are some bad attitudes, thoughts, or TV shows that might cause pollution in your heart?

The Bible tells us to protect our hearts from those things.  Part of a parent's job is to help protect your heart... we might do that by making rules for you that act like fences to keep the pollution out.  That way, what comes out of us is good for us and for others!

Photo credit: Wikipedia.org, Castle Geyser

This Complete Breakfast

My two girlies are going back to school today! Waaaahhhhh!!!

It'll just be Mr. Boy and me together all day long, shuttling dinosaurs around in dump trucks, wondering how Winkerbean and Sweet Pea are faring. I'm probably more nervous and excited than they are. What freaks me out the most is that my little sprouts are coming out of the greenhouse and going out into the unpredictable weather of public school. I don't know what they'll see or hear. I don't know if the other kids will like them or pick on them. They could come home with weird ideas! Or… they might just have a great time and learn some stuff. Who can really say?

Time to claim Philippians 4:6-7 one more time. 

"…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Because guess what… and I'm speaking mostly to myself right now (The Captain has learned never to interrupt me when myself and I are talking)—my little sprouts have got to leave the protection of the greenhouse sometime and start to put down roots; and they're going to come into contact with dirt! Healthy dirt, yucky dirt. All kinds of experiences, even negative ones, are part of shaping them into mature and fruitful people. 

I can't control everything that happens to them.

But I can do my part to prepare them. I can do more than make them the most delectable peanut butter-and-honey sandwiches and write their names in a rainbow of Sharpie colors on every pencil box, folder, eraser, and crayon (yes I did). I can pray for them. I can pray with them. I can pray over them. And I can feed them a good breakfast of carbs, protein, and Scripture.  

I'm going to let you in on our breakfast discussions, as I ask the Holy Spirit to provide me with just a little takeaway that I can give them during breakfast each day. I pray that God will impress the truth of that Scripture upon their hearts as they go about their school day. Even the public schools have realized that kids function much better when they start the day with balanced nourishment. As a result, the schools in our district—maybe yours too—are now serving a breakfast to each child every day, even the ones who've already eaten at home! (I'm going to refrain from venturing my opinion on whether they've actually achieved "balanced nourishment" because that isn't the point.) Even more than physical food, I feel strongly that spiritual food is so important for my Short People. 

Look for our discussions under the "This Complete Breakfast" tab if you'd like to follow the organized links rather than scrolling through posts. ;) And if mornings aren't your thing, they make good bedtime conversations too. I love breakfast at night! My kidlets are elementary school age, so the discussions are based on that maturity level. Of course, feel free to adapt them to your kids! I hope you find them useful. Don't be shy… pass them on if they're a blessing to you. And I love to read your comments!

Here's Day 1, about one of our favorite verses... Joshua 1:9. I thought it fitting to discuss fear on the first day of school!

"This is my command--be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." —Joshua 1:9

What does it mean to be courageous?

It doesn't mean not having fear. It means being willing to face your fear, because you know there's something bigger than what you're afraid of.

Did you know that even Jesus was afraid sometimes? The night before he died on the cross, he prayed and asked God his Father if there was some other way to save people from their sin. He asked if God would change his mind and not make him go through the pain of dying. But God didn't change his mind. He wanted Jesus to go through with it, because his love for us was bigger than his fear of being in pain. So he faced the cross, and he beat death! He won!

What are you afraid of today?

God can help you be courageous and face that fear. He may not take away your fear, but he will give you the strength to go through it. Is it because you are suddenly going to become strong? No. It's because HE is with you, wherever you go. At the end, you'll be able to say, "I was able to be brave because God was with me and helped me."