Posted by Tricia at 11:14 pm
We have been helping our two year old, Nicolas, learn to attend church worship with us. He is actually very enthusiastic about being at worship, sings lustily during songs, and likes to try to “respond” along with the rest of the congregation to the liturgy. Despite his enthusiasm, at times his behavior is admittedly, very much like that of an active, not-so-quiet two year old, and not always appropriate for church!
Throughout the process of teaching our three kids about being in church with us and worshipping God, I often think I learn more than they, and today was one of those times. One element of our church service is a rather long pastoral prayer about 1/2 hour into the order of worship. Only recently has Nicolas even stayed with us during this prayer because, quite frankly, it is very long, and he gets pretty wiggly and tends to make noise after 8 minutes of Pastor Dave praying.
Well, today during the long prayer in the service, Nicolas excitedly whispered to me, “Flowers!”. I began to try to silence him and then realized he was keying into what Pastor Dave was praying about. Dave was talking about God clothing the flowers of the field. (from Matthew 6 [+/-]Matthew 6
[6:1]"Beware of practicing your righteousness before
other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will
have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
[2]"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet
before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in
the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I
say to you, they have received their reward. [3]But when
you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what
your right hand is doing, [4]so that your giving may be in
secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
[5]"And when you pray, you must not be like the
hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the
synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen
by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their
reward. [6]But when you pray, go into your room and shut
the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your
Father who sees in secret will reward you.
[7]"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as
the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for
their many words. [8]Do not be like them, for your Father
knows what you need before you ask him. [9]Pray then like
this:
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
[10]Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
[11]Give us this day our daily bread,
[12]and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
[13]And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
[14]For if you forgive others their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you, [15]but if you do
not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.
[16]"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the
hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their
fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they
have received their reward. [17]But when you fast, anoint
your head and wash your face, [18]that your fasting may not
be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And
your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
[19]"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and
steal, [20]but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal. [21]For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
[22]"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is
healthy, your whole body will be full of light, [23]but if
your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the
darkness!
[24]"No one can serve two masters, for either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and
money.
[25]"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your
life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about
your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than
food, and the body more than clothing? [26]Look at the
birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
of more value than they? [27]And which of you by being
anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28]And
why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of
the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
[29]yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these. [30]But if God so clothes the
grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is
thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O
you of little faith? [31]Therefore do not be anxious,
saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or
'What shall we wear?' [32]For the Gentiles seek after all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need
them all. [33]But seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
[34]"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day
is its own trouble. (ESV)
: 25-33). He then mentioned God feeding the birds of the air, after which Nicolas even more excitedly told me, “Birds!”. I whispered to him that yes, God takes care of the flowers and birds and we are even more important than they are, and He always takes care of us. He asked me, very earnestly, “God takes care me?” to which I smiled and replied, “Yes!”. “Yeah,” he affirmed, “God take care me!”.
He went on to repeat a couple more words/phrases in Pastor’s prayer and I was pretty surprised, I have to admit, that my little guy was actually, on a level very appropriate for a two year old, LISTENING to the words being offered to God in prayer, and at his tender age, assimilating the words being spoken into a simple truth about God’s care for him. It was a sweet reminder to me to not assume I always have a handle on just what a young child might (or might not!) understand of worship, and of how precious it is to have my children in church with me, and indeed, an encouragement to continue to patiently instruct them in this oh so important element of our lives as part of God’s church.
Posted by Tricia at 10:15 pm
for our friends, Greg and Christine tomorrow, as Greg undergoes an involved surgery to hopefully eradicate what remains of his tumor. You can read more about it here on Greg’s website.
Greg, may God guide the surgeons tomorrow, and give you healing, and great comfort and peace. We love you.
February 13th, 2005
Shop-Vac
Posted by Jay at 9:58 pm
I’ve always appreciated an orderly living environment (so long as the word “always” is taken to mean “always as a post-adolescent and adult”), but actual cleaning has never captured my attention quite as strongly. I can remember a time in college, as I was shopping at Wal-mart in preparation for my first semester living off campus (that being my 9th and final semester), I ran into a few friends from college. All of these friends were of the female persuasion. So I ask them to look over what I’ve got in the cart and tell me if I’m forgetting anything crucial to apartment living. Approximately 8 tenths of a second later, one of them pipes up and says, “Well, you don’t have a toilet bowl cleaner.” To which I smoothly replied, “Yeah, but I’m only going to be there for 6 months.”
For whatever reason, however, I’ve always wanted a clean garage. Oh, it’s always been organized and kept up, but how do you get rid of all those dead bugs and such that clutter the corners in behind stuff? Enter my new Shop-Vac. Last week, inspiration struck and I headed down to Harbor Freight Tools (which, if you’ve never seen one, has fantastic prices on tools and other cool stuff that belong in a garage) and bought a discontinued 1.5 HP wet/dry Shop-Vac for a song. Though sick as a dog, I have been out in that garage every opportunity since vacuuming, and today I finished.
Absolutely amazing. For the first time in my 10 years of home ownership, I have a clean garage. Not simply organized and swept, but actually clean (or as clean as bare concrete which houses two automobiles can get). I was tempted to set up a folding chair and write this entry from the garage, but it was getting a bit chilly. But let me promise you that prior to Mr. SV I’d have had no such urges.
