Can I have some?

(The above was written by said husband with technical prowess. )

Part of our school work this week included reading “Granny Han’s Breakfast”, a wonderful story about trusting God.   During the course of the story, Granny Han’s home is robbed.   So, she is without food, as well as money.   She prays “Lord, this is it!   I really don’t care if I eat or not … you know what you want for me, and that’s all I want.   You promised to supply all my needs – but I can’t pretend breakfast is a need at the moment, as I’m not exactly starving! But Lord, I’m asking you to show Oo-lan (Granny Han’s housekeeper)   that you can provide for me…”   Through out the course of the story, the Lord sends many people to Granny’s home with food and money.   All of her needs and wants are met, and her housekeeper gets to be a front-row witness to it all.

After we read the story, I went through some of the discussion questions:

• Do you trust God to provide for all your needs?
• Can you think of ways that you could help God provide for other people?
• Have you ever prayed for God to supply a need and He did so in a wonderful, unexpected way?

We had fun talking through our answers.   I explained to the boys that God had answered my prayer for children with the two of them – and nothing could be more wonderful or unexpected.   The boys decide that they’ve never really asked for God to supply their need, and they resolve to do so.

—–         —–         —–         —–

Fast-forward to meal time, Tigger says his normal prayer and adds on a line that says: “Please God, I want seven brothers.”   I’m thankful his eyes were closed when he said his prayer because my eyeballs popped out of my head when he said that.   Tigger has been faithful to have the same request, for seven brothers, every time I’ve heard him pray since then.

I figure that Woody counts as one of those brothers, so that means that he’s asking for six more.   Oh, mercy…   We know that God listens to all of his children, but I think that the prayers of little one’s can be especially moving of the Father’s heart.   And frankly, I’m a little worried.

On one hand, it’s hard to believe that it was only three years ago.   On the other hand, it seems so long ago.   As I was remembering the events of that day, I realized how far we have come in three years.   Of course, the boys have grown and learned – but oh my, oh my – I think I am the one who has learned the most.   Like most mothers, I’ve learned about love, forgiveness, how to create a meal out of a can of tomatoes and a jar of peanut butter, and how to survive with a minimal amount of sleep.   But there are so many other things I’ve learned that I didn’t realize would come with motherhood.

I’ve learned that furniture can be rearranged when it is necessary to hide the Sharpie marker scribbles that were made by a certain child on the side of a bookshelf unit.

I’ve learned the names of most of the Marvel comic characters.

I learned the theme songs to “Dora the Explorer”, “The Backyardigans”, “Between the Lions”, “Sid the Science Kid”, and “Martha Speaks.”   I’ve also learned about all of the characters on the shows.

I’ve learned to despise “Caillou” for his whiney voice, “Word Girl” for continually lying to her parents, and “Sid the Science Kid” because Sid’s classmate, Gerald, has to be told 2 or 3 times before he will do what Teacher Suzy instructs him to do.

I’ve learned that if a shirt gets washed with a sticker, chances are, the shirt will never again be the same – even with Goo-Gone.

I’ve learned that pasta, tomato sauce, and meat can be loved or hated – it all depends on the pasta shape.   Long, thin spaghetti noodles called “spaghetti with meat sauce” = good.   Short, stubby elbow macaroni noodles called “goulash” = bad.

I’ve learned that no matter what I say, my boys will always think that farts are funny.   Ditto for belching.

I’ve learned that no matter what I say, my boys constantly have their fingers buried up their noses or laced between their toes. (And let me just say “GRRRRRROOOOOOSSSSSSSS!”

I’ve learned that a boy can walk over/around/on top of something for days on end without ever thinking to stop and pick up or move said item.

I’ve learned that I will struggle and search to find the perfect toy for my beautiful boy, only to have said beautiful boy toss the toy aside and play with the box.

I’ve learned that a snack almost always improves present circumstances.

I’ve learned that a nap can change almost anything.

And I’ve learned that being a Mom is the toughest job I’ve ever had – but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.   I can hardly wait to see what Woody and Tigger are going to teach me next.

My sweet Alvin is gone. I was his Mommy exactly 12 years and 3 days.

He was born August 20, 1997.

He became my beagle baby September 20, 1997.

He left for the Rainbow Bridge September 23, 2009.

He will be missed.

Truth be told, he chose me.   I went to a home with a litter of beagle pups they were wanting to sell.   She had the whole crew out playing in the kitchen so I could see them.   One little guy came over and started playing with my shoe laces, I loved on him and went to go look at the others but he wouldn’t let me.   He pulled on my shoe laces again.   I grabbed a toy to distract him, but in true stubborn-beagle form, he wouldn’t let me go.   He had made his choice, and I just couldn’t argue with his cute adorable face.

Since then, he’s seen me through thick and thin.   He’s loved me no matter what.   He rode shotgun for nearly 2000 miles when I trekked across the country from Seattle back to Texas.   He was with me when I was single and now that I’m married.   He’s heard more of my secrets than any other living being.   He’s been an only dog and he’s been one of three family dogs.   He’s gone on hundreds of walks.   He learned a few commands and will obey them for the most part.   He loves just about anything I cook, and would probably fight to the death for Garlic Mashed Potatoes.   And he’s the best snuggler on the planet.

Tonight, my beagle-boy is spending his second night in the doggie hospital.   He’s hooked up to an IV to help hydrate him and he’s had pain meds to assuage the effects of suspected pancreatitis.     I’m really hoping and praying that he’ll get to come home, but I fear that we might be nearing the end of our time together.

I believe that God answers all prayers, even if He doesn’t give us the answer we want to hear.   So, tonight I’m asking for your prayers.   I am praying that Alvin will be healed.   I’d love for him to be healed here and now, but I’m willing to accept that God will heal him so that he can wait for me at the Rainbow Bridge.   Either way, I’ll take what I can get.   I just want my best friend to get better.

First, let me share with you how this whole conversation got started.   A couple of weeks ago, I attended a leadership meeting for KidRidge.   KidRidge is the name for the children’s ministry at our church.   The church has grown considerably, which is wonderful.   However, this growth necessitates some changes – things that worked with a handful of kids don’t work the same with nearly 100 kids.   So, we’ve had a couple of meetings and brainstorming sessions on the future and the vision for KidRidge.

Yesterday, Rachel, one of the team members, sent this link (click here) for everyone on the team to read and asked that we respond.

Go read it.

Really.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.   It’s worth the read.

Mkay, you back now?   What did you think?   Are you like me going “Wow.   Oh, wow.”   “But, what should we..” “How can we…” “I wonder if…”   And about a billion other thoughts all running around and bumping into each other.

Some of the questions she asked, won’t let me go.

“Our sons are never in church with us. Isn’t that weird?”

“Is that good?”

“What do you think the boys think of when they think of church?”

“Do they think of the group of people God wants to use to reach the world with the gospel…this large, multicultural, multigenerational body where we learn from one another…young and old learn from one another….serve each other and live out all the beauty of scripture with one another?”

Or

“Do they think of the age segregated programs…their “class” or AWANA?”

“Do they feel apart of the church?”

“Do we see them as a part of the church, or just a problem that needs to be solved so you and I, mom and dad can be in church?”

“Are they so used to having an extravagant program every time they set foot in the door, that if the programs were taken away, they would go from loving church to hating it?”

“Is that good? Does that mean we’ve taught them to love church…or taught them to love something else?”

“Are we growing them up in top notch children’s programs with teaching yes…wonderful teaching…but also a lot of games, activities, in some churches puppets, concert-like music, dancing and drama only to get annoyed at them years later as we wonder why our church is so consumer driven and our congregation thinks church is a place to be entertained? Are we teaching them to think the church is “all about me” and then getting irritated years down the road that our church is filled with people who think church is all about them?”

“Have we in some ways delegated discipleship to the church when the Bible clearly says that’s our jobs as their parents? I know the church can help, but we aren’t doing anything at home to teach them God’s Word…so if we’re honest is the church helping or have we made them fully responsible for teaching our children about the Lord? If so is once-a-week discipleship enough for our kids when the Bible has already told us how often to teach them His Word?”

So many questions.   But I really think these are good questions, and they are ones that need to be asked.   I’m hoping we can find answers.

When I read through it the second or third time, I recalled my experience with church as a child.

The church of my childhood – well, as I recall, and I was a child so it very well could be that the memory is inaccurate. But in my memory, we started going to church when I was about 10.   Mainly because I bugged my parents into it.   Again, the memory could be faulty, but I remember asking if I could go play at so-and-so’s house.   I’d receive the response, “No, they’re at church.”   So, I’d ask “Then can I go play at whozit’s house?”   Same response, “No, they’re at church.”     After hearing this a number of times I finally asked, “Well, why aren’t we at church?”   And, lo and behold, we ended up at church.

We started attending the local Presbyterian church, because my mom had gone to a Presbyterian church when she was a child.   Some have referred to the Presbyterians as being the “Frozen Chosen.”     I’d say in my experiences of church, that would be a pretty accurate term.   We would go to Sunday School, and then most families would go sit together for the 11:00 service.   Both of my parents sang in the choir, so I would usually go sit by myself.   As an adult, I don’t remember any the messages, but I do remember the order of the service.

Occasionally, when we’d visit Granny and Grandaddy’s house we would go the their church.   First Baptist Church of Flint, Texas.   I remember liking their church better than ours, because I didn’t feel like the Pastor was trying to talk 8-miles above my head.   I understood his message, what he said had relevance to me, it mattered.   It caused me to have feelings that I never had in the church at home.     I remember vividly, one Sunday during the alter call, my heart leaped inside my chest.   I understood what he said.   I understood that I was a sinner, and that I needed to ask Jesus into my heart so that he could be my Savior, and that I would be saved.   I wanted to walk down that aisle.   I wanted to go tell the preacher that “I believe!”   I wanted to be a Christian in the true sense of the word.   But, the ways I had learned from the “frozen chosen” kept me in my seat.   So I sat silently longed for something, something more.

Funny.   I’d forgotten most of that until I read the post Rachel sent.   Looking back, I wish I would have had the courage to stand up and walk the aisle as a child instead of waiting to make that profession of faith when I was 30.

However, this reminds me that we don’t need a big, fancy program to reach the hearts of the kids at church.   We just need to present the Gospel in a real and relevant way.   Sure the programs are cool, and yes, they teach the great stories of the Bible, and yes, they help kids apply Biblical knowledge to their everyday life, and yes, I think programs can be good and valuable tools.

But I wonder -

are we putting too much emphasis the program, and forgetting about the True Message?

is the program so busy and fun that the True Message is getting lost in the presentation?

are we just looking for a place to “park the kids” while the grown ups do church?

I wish I had the answers.

Things to think about.   Lots of things to think about.

Hey, if you have any answers or thoughts you’d like to share – I would love to read them.

PS:   There’s a great follow-up post to the link above.   If you want to read it, you can find it here.

It happened at our church yesterday morning.   I’ve been involved in church since about age 10 or so, and I have never seen this done before.   In fact, I’ve never even heard of it being done.   It was – and there’s really no other word for it – amazing.

We had a reverse offering. I know, you’re thinking, “Huh?   Reverse offering?   How does that work?”     Because that’s what I said when the pastor said we were doing one.

For the reverse offering, the plates were filled with several denominations of cash and passed around.   The folks who are in need and who are struggling in these hard times were invited to take what they need. If they needed help with the light bill, with the grocery bill, with whatever – they could take what they need with no fear of judgment or condemnation – if you need it, take it.

The pastor asked the congregation to close our eyes as we sang, that way no one would feel like they were being watched whether they took from the plate or not.   He asked for each person as they were handed the plate, to ask God “What do YOU want me to do, Lord?”   So many prayers were answered for those who had “more month than money.”   To be a part of this was such a humbling and beautiful experience.   Many of us were in tears, to see the body of Christ moving in such a way we had never seen before.

To see the church meeting the needs of the church in such an unusual way was awesome, beautiful, incredible, stunning – or to put it simply – amazing.

After much drama, a few tears, more drama, bribery of an ice cream sundae dinner, a bit of drama, and the blessings of a wonderful babysitter, and oh, did I mention the drama???     We are finally missing one tooth.

Day 1

Day 1.   I LOVE taking pictures of wide, open spaces.   I don’t know how many “empty road” shots I took.   There’s just something about seeing it that gives me a sense of peace.   We drove from the DFW area to Dublin, Texas to visit the original Dr. Pepper plant.   Today, the Dublin Dr. Pepper plant is known for sticking to the original Dr. Pepper recipe.   Yep, it is different from the one you buy in the store (which is bottled in Waco, TX.)   The difference is the sweetener.   Dublin Dr. Pepper uses Imperial pure cane sugar, the other Dr. Pepper uses high fructose corn syrup. (Now you’ve learned something new!)   And believe me, there is a difference!

After our tour we drove to The Antler’s Hotel in Kingsland, Texas.   Let me tell you, THAT is a cool place, especially if you (or your children) like trains.   I enjoyed the lake and taking pictures of the blue bonnets on the property.   In addition to the hotel, they have several cabin/cottages and several train cabooses and one train car that have been converted into sleeping quarters.   We stayed in the McKinley Coach.   The boys loved sleeping on a train, and I thought it was quite comfortable.   Hubby enjoyed everything except the door.   He is a very tall guy, and after hitting his head on the door frame (several times) – he was not pleased.

Day 2

Day 2 – We got a lot of usage out of our family State Park pass.   We visited Longhorn Cavern State Park in the morning.   WOW.   For someone who is a wannabe rock hound, I REALLY enjoyed this place.   It was fun to walk through the cavern, but even more impressive was to hear of the history of the cavern.   The Comanche Indians used it for ceremonies and as a hiding place.   Texas Rangers once snuck in and rescued a hostage back in the early 1900′s.   The Confederates used it as their Powder Room – meaning gun powder, not a place for ladies to powder their nose.   Some outlaws used it as their hiding place, and in Prohibition days it was used as a Speak Easy.

After our tour we went to Llano to have lunch at Cooper’s BBQ.   It was fanger-lickin’ good. (Yes, I meant fanger.   For you Yankees, think “finger” only much tastier!)   Men all over the world dream to see that much meat on a pit at one time.   If you’re ever in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by.

To wrap up the day, we headed to Inks Lake State Park.   I snapped a few pictures of blue bonnets, the sky right after sunset, and plenty of deer.   I hope we get to revisit it again some day.   It was a beautiful place.

Day 3

Day 3 – I took a few more pictures of the inside of our rail car.   I loved the intricate work on the door knob, so there’s a few hundred shots of it.   We moved on to Austin in time for lunch, and then took a tour of the city via the Duck.   If you have not done a “duck” tour, you should.   We got to see the sights of the city AND go on a short boat ride, all while sitting in one place.   The boys loved it, and those blasted quacker mouth pieces.
For dinner we met up with my folks and then had fun chatting while hanging out in their hotel room.

Day 4 ~ AM

Day 4 – After a leisurely breakfast with my parents we went to see the state capitol.   It is truly a magnificent structure, one that makes your heart swell with pride, I might say.   The fine craftsmanship is awe inspiring.

After our visit at the Capitol, we drove out to visit with my grandfather for a couple of hours and then we made the journey home.   All in all, it was a good trip.   I’m already looking forward to the next one.

PS: Remember you can enlarge the image by clicking on it, or (if you’re really bored) you can see them on my flickr page here.