When Crackers and Juice Aren't a Snack

I grew up in a church where the communion elements consisted of unsalted crackers and a plastic shot glass of Welch's grape juice. You can understand how it might be a bit confusing to a 7-year-old boy staving off boredom in "big church" when the grown ups start passing around snacks ("look, the glasses are even kid sized!") and you don't get any.

Fast-forward 30 years--I'm in a different church, but they're still using the same plastic communion cups and economy-sized grape juice. And this time, it's my 8-year-old daughter who turns to me and says, "Can I have a snack too, Daddy?"

Usually we take communion while the kids are in Sunday school, but this past week we were celebrating the end of a series we'd been studying as a congregation, and all the children stayed for the service. So for the first time, our kids got to see the grown ups taking communion.

We weren't really prepared for the "can I have some, too" question. I know my little girl believes in Jesus, but the timing didn't feel right. Both Carolyn and I attended a class as children prior to taking our first communion, and I think there should be some kind of reflection prior to partaking in communion for the first time. There is a reverence and respect for the Lord's Supper, even at a church where flip flops and shorts are acceptable attire.

At the same time, it shouldn't just be a head-knowledge quiz where a passing grade gets you a seat at the table. So as Carolyn and I have wrestled with the question, "when is it appropriate for our child to take communion?" I've begun to cobble together a rough set of criteria to help guide the process with our kids.

• Have they confessed Jesus as their Lord and Savior?
• Do they understand the significance of communion?
• Is their faith their own?

I don't think there is an exact age we can point to--in fact, I think it's likely that our kids may start taking communion at different ages. For us, though, it's going to start with a conversation when they're ready and seeking; this year, we're using Passover as an opportunity to explain the significance of communion and help our daughter make the connection.

What about your family? How have you made the kids and communion decision?

Getting past getting on

Family devotions. Exercise. Dentist appointments. In the past all those things were in the same category, stuff you know is good for you but that doesn't sound like a good time. Thankfully our family is getting into some life-giving rhythms that elevate family devos out of that mix. But sometimes I still slip back into going through the devotion-motions. My wife and kids have a sixth sense for sniffing out when I'm in obligation mode. In those times everyone get restless at the table. Thumbs fidget. Frowns abound. We all know I'm just trying to plough through it so I can "get on with life."

Any move towards goodness means encountering resistance. Family time is no exception. In the past I've overcome this resistance through brute force of willpower. As you can imagine this is no fun for anyone involved. But there are areas where willpower can be used that later leads to life around the breakfast table. Here are a few things I've found helpful.

First, whenever possible I get up before the rest of the family and write or exercise. I don't particularly look forward to either of those activities but both clear cobwebs out of the mind and make me feel alive.

Second, praying aloud and singing worship by myself helps re-center me on what is important. A prayer might be something like, "Father, help me be present to my family today. De-familiarize my eyes, open them again to the beauty in front of me. My family is a garden which won't look this way forever. Help me to walk in it now, enjoy it, water it and be watered by it."

Third, on good days I help the kids get up in a gentle and unhurried way. When we all get to the breakfast table early the temptation to rush is removed.

Here's the truth. Everything I'm trying to rush onto in the day has nothing on the gift of my family's presence. My computer, in front of which I'll spend the majority of my work day, can wait. My thoughts can wait. My todos can wait. God is in all those things, too, but how much more is He present in this little community of God-imaged beings around the kitchen table?

The Opportunity of Night

Nights can be tough for children. The "If I should die before I wake," sorts of prayers aren't really helping things. Seriously. Nights, specifically right before bed, open the space for deep conversations and rich solitude. As a parent I view 8:30 as the finish line to freedom and I fight the urge to rush our end of the day conversations and prayers. Gone are the days when they can't read the prayers and therefore don't know I skipped the middle.

Now they read and lead the prayers, good stuff for sure, but it takes longer.

For Lent, I'm practicing slow bedtime. Long conversations and lingering prayers. I'm convinced (or I wouldn't be doing it) that this time prepares the space for solitude which is quiet, alone, private time with God.

Here's the Evening Prayer we're using this season.

Child-Like Friendship with God: Evening Prayer

Together in BOLD and Italicized

May the Lord Almighty grant me and those I love a peaceful night and a perfect end. Amen.

Our help is in the Name of the Lord; the maker of heaven and earth.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen

Luke 18:16-17

But Jesus called for them and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’

A time of silence to review the day. (This is where you might ask your "Weed" questions from Good Dirt.)

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up.

My eyes are not raised too high for thee.

I do not think on things to great or marvelous

Or matters too difficult for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul

Like a weaned child with its mother is my soul within me.

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, Lord make me dwell in safety.

The Lord’s Prayer

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work or watch or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

Lord, you now have set us free to go in peace as you have promised; for these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: a Light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever more shall be. Amen.

*Pieced together from Phyllis Tickle’s Divine Hours and Shane Clairborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s Common Prayer

Lenten Adventures Continued...

Our plan last week for our identifying with others was to attend a traditional Jewish Purim celebration, but due to an unexpected basketball tournament we found ourselves relating to the sports fanatic crowd. We fit into that a bit too easily as we hollered for our teams. So this week we planned to combine last weeks plan for the Jewish synagogue and this week of putting ourselves into the shoes of the homeless of our community. So we left our home for the 1 hour drive for the Shabbat service. We got there and it was not open. So we went to an Islamic community center and it was not open. So we went to the homeless shelter and it was not open. So we went to try our hand at panhandling and we could not find an open corner. It was bizarre! Isabella was sure God was telling us that this was a silly venture and we should just go shopping and Quinn was pretty convinced it was lunch time and Kadin is always game for anything where his people are. Mike and I were becoming more and more hesitant and anxious. Our nerves and pride almost got the best of us.

We almost just gave up and went to lunch. We finally found a corner and tried to make our freshly laundered clothes and recently showered bodies appear needy. And so we sat...in humility and disgrace. As we sat and watched car after car after car pass without so much as a glance our clothes became inconsequential. The ball was then in "their" court. We were there...putting our pride aside holding a cardboard sign...and no one would even make eye contact. If they looked our way at all it was hasty and they would quickly look away. We had been concerned about being recognized or considered "too clean" but no one really saw us. No one looked long enough at us to see that we were just regular people down on our luck. We could see another panhandler with a walker across the street making the same progress with his efforts as we were. We stood in pairs for a grand total 45 minutes. Not only did we not receive even a coin we barely received recognition of existence.

We certainly did not walk away with the results we anticipated. We rarely drive by a panhandler without giving something but from now on I am sure we will give the respect of eye contact and a hello as well as a dollar.

As for the religion quest we will try again. On a high note... next to the Jewish synagogue was a Church of Christ that had a prayer labyrinth. I was very excited as I have been aware of these for several years but not seen one so elaborate. So we as a family walked through it in the rain and prayed silently and out loud. We may now have to build one in our backyard! The ancients really knew what they were doing when they created such a wonderful and peaceful ritual.

In summary, as a hitchhiker Mike once picked up said, "Everybody wants an adventure except while its happening!" This day did not go as planned but it was still a learning experience and we are together and grateful to our loving God for our many many blessings!

The Sun and the Rain, the Good and the Bad

"You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, he send rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous."  Matthew 5:43-45. She likes to linger at the prayer sand box on our family altar. Nearly everyday she spends a few minutes there.

Honestly, sometimes I think her only purpose is to spill the majority of the contents on the floor.

Today, she prayed a sun.

"What's that?" I asked.

"You know, God makes the sun and rain for everybody. God knows when I'm kind and all that. And God knows when I'm screamy and all that. And I still get some sun and rain." she said.

I walked away and left her with God and her sun prayer.

But I prayed, "Oh Lord, when I'm "all that" you are good. When those around me are "all that," you are good. Give me your steadfast, long suffering, never giving up love. Help me to give sun and rain to those who need it."

Tomorrow I'm going to see how much sand I can dump on the floor.

Fasting from Self-Reliance

Today, March 5, is Ash Wednesday. So begins our 40 day (plus Sundays) journey of Lent! (Just in case Lent is new to you—it was to me a few years ago!—here's a short video to introduce it.)

http://youtu.be/m3L3c23MfC0

Each year, many Christians use Lent as a time to refocus through the Big Three practices of Fasting, Praying and Giving. (More on that here.) And each year I've had a sense of what God was inviting me to fast from—certain foods, media, dining out, etc. (Never coffee. God loves me too much to ask that, right?)

But this year I wasn't sure. I started Ash Wednesday without a chosen fast, and was waiting on God to show me what would be helpful for me right now. And the answer I got was surprising.

This year, God is inviting me to fast from self-reliance.

You see, I've always thought of myself as a fairly needy person. I feel things deeply, and walk a thin line between health and anxiety or depression. My closest friends know that I need a lot of reassurance and comfort. This has always seemed like a failure, weakness, shame.

But recently God has been challenging that view for me. And today, as I sat to pray, God invited me to use a single word: "Help!" Not because I'm so shockingly weak. Not because I'm a failure. Not because I can't pull it together on my own. No—ask help, God said, because that's how I made you. Needing help is normal.

Kids understand this. They come to their parents for shoes to be tied, homework to be explained, monsters to be chased out from under beds, straws to be stabbed into their juice boxes. Children in supportive homes aren't often ashamed to ask for help.

Lent is not a time when we fast, pray and give to make ourselves stronger on our own. It's not a time we prove we're spiritual athletes, heroes who can endure harsh conditions. Rather, it's a time when set aside our illusions of self-reliance and independence—or our shame at needing help—and press into the love of our Father who loves to give.

I'm embodying this fast by spending 15 minutes a day sitting quietly before God, with my simple prayer: "Help!" And something tells me, that's the most grown-up prayer I'll have offered in a long time.

What's a Hypocrite?

I don't think we've had this particular discussion before with the boys. It was verses from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6) and questions in Good Dirt that got their wheels turning and, before we'd even finished the Scripture reading our 8-year-old was interrupting with, "What's a hypocrite? ... What's a hypocrite?" They couldn't really identify with Jesus' examples of blowing trumpets when giving money in church, or praying really loud on street corners, or fasting from food with troubled faces. So, the challenge was to bring hypocrisy to a kid's level.

"It's doing things so that other people will think you're a really good Christian, but you don't mean them in your heart. It's caring more about what other people think of you than what God thinks of you."

Well, that description seemed to satisfy. Except that our two younger boys haven't reached the place in life quite yet where they would conceive of doing good deeds to impress other people. It's not a motivation that resonates a whole lot with them. What you see is what you get.

However, as I've thought a little more on this, I've realized that we adults can sometimes use subtle ways of encouraging hypocrisy in our kids before they even really understand what they--and we-- are doing. For awhile our Christian school used a popular behavior program called Positive Behavior Management, where instead of focusing primarily on giving consequences for unacceptable behavior, teachers focused on praising and rewarding good and appropriate behavior. It was a big hit with the kids and it really did make a difference in the overall demeanor of the student body in classrooms and on the playground.  The kids rose to the occasion and loved being singled out for doing good things.

I wouldn't throw out this program completely. Encouraging kids is always good. Noticing the things they do right is biblical--the apostle Paul praised churches and individuals in his letters of exhortation. Praising those around us is part of loving them. The rub comes, though, when we consider what is motivating our kids to be "good," day in and day out, as they play with friends, serve their teachers and neighbors, and as they live as members of families in our homes.

That is what we ended up talking about this night where hypocrisy became our new vocabulary word. And Good Dirt helped us come to the crux of the issue with these words,

Today, Jesus is teaching us that because it is God whom we really need--not other people's approval--we don't need to act, perform, or pretend to be good to impress others. Let's practice that today by doing an act of secret service! Try not to be caught! Do something nice for someone else--maybe clean up after them when they're not looking, or make something nice for them, or do a chore for them--without telling anyone. Do it so only God sees!

That night our boys prayed, "Lord, help us not to be hypocrites. Help us not to have hypROCKrisy. Help us to do something in secret. Amen" The next night, again, they prayed for help in doing something secret--they'd forgotten. This may be an ongoing prayer. I don't think doing things in secret comes so naturally. It will be a good daily prayer for us all.

***You can get the next issue of Good Dirt by clicking on the title here and downloading for free, or you can order through Amazon. It's titled Good Dirt: Lent, Holy Week, Eastertide A Devotional for the Spiritual Formation of Families

Prayer, Fasting, and Giving with Children

We are not suggesting you fast from your children or give them away. (Tempting though it may be on some days.) Instead here are a few suggestions, a few practices to engage with children during Lent. A few suggestions from Good Dirt: Lent, Holy Week and Eastertide on celebrating Lent, at home, family style. The Big Three: Prayer, Fasting, Giving

Prayer begins in the heart.

• Family Altar or Prayer Corner: Cover a small table with a purple cloth,. Arrange on it a cross, or a family Bible, maybe a small shallow box with sand in it, where children can draw their prayers to God, maybe a family prayer journal.  Choose a Christ candle to place in the center. (Battery powered candles are wonderful for the not yet fire worthy.) Invite children to light the Christ candle in the morning or evening, or when you are reading the Bible as a reminder that Jesus is the Light of the World. This is the light of Advent that continued through Christmastide and Epiphany--and still shines on in Lent. Invite family members to visit the Altar at least once a day during Lent.
• Prayer Box: Take a 3x5 index card box and write prayers from the Bible, or from saints, or beautiful pieces of poetry on the card and place them in the box. Read one each evening before bed, or at the dinner table. Try prayers from This is What I Pray Today by Phyllis Tickle or Prayers for Each and Every Day by Sophie Piper.

Fasting begins in our bodies.

• Fasting from Meat:Traditionally many folks fast meat on Fridays and they will also choose some other vice to give up for 40 days. If this works for you and your people, go for it.
• Fasting from Superfluous Foods: Others I know have fasted eating out for 40 days, still others have fasted sugar, or chocolate, soda.
• Fasting from Technology: For children giving up nutritional food is not an option, but giving up TV, or video games, or texting is certainly a good choice.

Fasting is not popular in our culture. To deny myself something I want will sound strange to others, but it is imminently important that we and our children learn to tell our bodies, “No.” Letting our bodies and our desires run our lives will destroy us. Fasting is directly related to prayer. We will need strength beyond ourselves to die to our wills. The will is loud, and irritating; only the peace of God can quiet it.

Fasting is directly related to prayer. In fasting we teach our wills to ignore our mere desires and focus on our true needs. But the will is loud, and irritating, and is the habit of responding to the body's wants. We need strength beyond our own to die to our desires and retrain our wills. Only the peace of God can quiet  the will long enough for it to learn.

Giving begins with others.

Giving begins right where we are. We look to our families and see where we take instead of give. We make the effort to overcome our natural pet peeves. We do something nice for someone who irritates us.

• Giving Money: We choose to eat simple meals, or to fast junk food, and send the extra grocery money to someone else. There are many great organizations that truly give life to others.
• Giving Time: We fast our favorite TV show and instead pack the family up and visit the local nursing home.
• Giving Attention: We give up always having to talk about ourselves and give the gift of listening.

 Let us know how it goes.

Great is His faithfulness

Ever have one of those weeks where God just keeps showing up?  In every situation, no matter how you mess it up, no matter what rotten attitude you exhibit, no matter the mistakes you make.  You attempt over and over again to screw things up with your complete and utter “human-ness”, but there He is.  Making things ok.  Reminding you that He is in control and that all you have to do is rely on Him and obey.  That is exactly the week I am having. I’m not very proud to admit that trusting God is not really my strong suit.  I teach my kids that they can rely on Him for everything.  I tell them that they can go to God with anything that burdens their heart and if they hand it over, He will deal with it. I tell them that they will look back on those burdens one day and realize that what once seemed so huge to them will look much smaller and more manageable.  But, I don’t always practice what I preach.  I hand my burdens over to God with the full belief that He will work them out in my best interest. And I let Him deal with them. Until I don’t.  Until I feel like I am not getting the results I expected or until things aren’t happening fast enough to suit me.  I don’t do it on purpose.  I don’t consciously think “God had failed me.  I’ve given Him the one thing that He couldn’t handle.”  But by snatching my worries back from His hands that’s exactly what I am saying to Him.  By hanging onto things I had previously turned over, I am suggesting that I am bigger and more capable than God.

But He remains faithful.  He shows up.  Even when He could leave me to my own sad devices.  Even when He could fold His arms across His divine chest and say to me, “go ahead. You wanted to take it back so badly.  You deal with it.”  But He doesn’t do those things.  He walks alongside me and gives me more chances.  So many chances that I feel as though I must be coming to the end of my share.  Until I remember that there is no end to the chances.

I am so grateful for those times when God keeps showing up in unexpected ways.  When I hear the same message in different ways in a short amount of time.  When the same Scripture keeps popping up and speaking to me in different ways.  And when He makes His presence known in a situation that reminds me to stop, go to my kids and remind them of His great faithfulness.

The Eyes to See

Often in Good Dirt we asked reflective questions. These are great for children beginning in about late 2nd grade depending on the child, but any earlier and it goes something like this... On Mark 10:32-45, "What has the Son of Man come to do? How can you serve others today?"

After asking this young children will often look at you with a blank stare, or if you've got a budding comic on your hands it might be more like, "I think he's come to eat dinner with us. And Legos are my favorite."

For children under the age of roughly eight, the beauty of the Seasons of the Church are in the ritual. ("Rhythm" if you are not Catholic.) It's the daily opening of the Bible and quietly listening to the same stories that will seep in over time, over years. The reflective questions are of little help.  The questions will help the older children and certainly the adults, but the younger folks don't quite have the language to express what they know is true. Their knowledge of the subject is limited.

I know you're thinking, "Just what do they know?"  They know that goodness is something they want. No kid wants bad stuff. None. In my years of teaching I never saw a kid who wanted to be bad. Yes, there were many who couldn't find their way to goodness, but they always wanted it.  Goodness is a characteristic of God.

They know that truth is good. They may not always tell the truth, but they always want the truth told to them. No child likes deceit.  Truth is a characteristic of God.

They will always stop and wonder at beauty. Children under the age of eight will still follow a butterfly around the yard just to catch a glimpse of it's beauty. They will pick the petals of a rose to feel the beauty in their fingers. Beauty is a characteristic of God.

So how do we teach them the language they need? How do we help them connect with the goodness, truth and beauty of God?

When you tuck them in for the night ask,

"When did you see something good today?" Then remind them that God is good.

What made you happy or sad today? (This is telling the truth about themselves. This is the first truth we learn.)

What did you see today that was beautiful?

Don't choose all of these. and don't look for a specific answer. Let them simply work their knowledge of God into language. It's a bit like when they first learned to talk. Lots of babbling, many mispronunciations, joyful laughter and celebration.

Good Dirt: Lent, Holy Week & Eastertide is now available!

We are excited to share that Good Dirt: Lent, Holy Week & Eastertide is now available! In this second volume, seasonal activities and readings guide families through a journey with Jesus in his life, death, and resurrection as he invites us to follow him as his disciples.

The season of Lent starts March 5 with Ash Wednesday. This devotional will lead you through to the end of Eastertide at Pentecost.

You can download a free PDF of the book, or order a physical copy from Amazon.

Thanks to everyone for going on this journey with us!

Prayer for Kaiser

We, the community of saints, gather to lift one another up. We can gather through the waves of internet, passing through time zones and seasons.

Today will you join us in lifting up Kaiser Liebenthal. He is in the hospital in South Korea.  He has pneumonia. His parents, Mark and Tamara, who blog for Good Dirt, need our prayers and loving encouragement as well. 

 Lord Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd of the sheep, you gather the lambs in your arms and carry them in your bosom:We commend to your loving care this child, Kaiser. Relieve his pain, guard him from all danger, restore to him your gifts of gladness and strength. Hear us, we pray, for your dear Name's sake. 

We also ask for an awareness of your care and presence for Tamara and Mark. Help them to unmistakably see your hand, feel your strength. Protect them from the "what if" devil, and help them to lean into your goodness and light. 

We, your people, bring this family to you. Thank you for helping us. Amen. 

From the Mouths of Babes

My boys want to share their thoughts about this season and our Good Dirt readings. Please remember that Kadin is 4 and Quinn has a very hard time verbalizing his thoughts and feelings. That being said.... I type their words... Kadin: We talk to each other and about Jesus. We hug each other and we love each other. I know that Jesus is the best Jesus. I like that we have a great time in our Bible study. I like to draw the pictures. I draw my shepherd pictures. I like to pray for my Tt (aunt) that she has a great night sleep and that Rilynn (cousin) will have a sleep over again at our house. I like when Daddy prays for me. My favorite is the kids Bible. My favorite story is about Jesus when he talks to persons and heals persons. I like that we have a great time every night. I miss it when we don't do it.  We pray for each other and I like to pray for Daddy. That's all!

Quinn: Every night we pray for blessings and forgiveness and our ability to know Jesus. I like to pray for Lacy and Easton and Grandma Nonie and our neighbors and believing. I like to draw pictures of what you're saying of the stories. My favorite picture I have drawn is of the Jesus giving the woman a loaf of bread. I like this picture because that lady was grateful and she said thank you to Jesus for the loaf of bread. I am always grateful! I am grateful for friends, pets, toys, clothes, bed, food, water, lions, movies and video games, parents, family, wood for our stove, ipods, funny youtube videos, Max (the dachshund), real trains, giggle fits and our home/farm. (truly he can keep going but my fingers are not fast enough). I love to light the candles every night... OH YEAH! I learned about Jesus how he is a good man and our King. How he made our world very good. I have learned how He loves us by how He made us and how He gave everything for us. I like when we do our (Good Dirt) Bible study after dinner because we want to learn more about Jesus and it helps us know Jesus better.

I am beyond blessed listening and talking to these two precious boys. They are my heart and soul! Just a minute ago I was frustrated with Quinn and his difficulty getting his schoolwork finished and with Kadin for not finishing his room chores. Now I am humbled and honored to just be able to talk with them.

They remind me why Jesus liked to spend his time with the children. They are profound and simple and fun.

How often do we adults just make things too difficult... to detailed... to big... to complicated. I think now all of my concerns of this life I will just take to my kids and let them answer with their perfect faith. (PS... Isabella is not here. She is on a "date" with her daddy. That makes me love him even more!)

How to “EAT THIS BOOK”

“He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give to you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.” Ezekiel 3:1-3 is always a hard one to explain to children who have been told most of their lives to keep things out of their mouths.

“If you are going to pick your nose, please don’t eat it.”

“No. You cannot eat the candy you found in the sofa.”

“The gum underneath the table is definitely off limits.”

However, in this passage God is clear, he want Ezekiel to eat the word of God. God wants Ezekiel to place that dry, inky word in his mouth and chew. And perhaps chew some more. God wants Ezekiel to swallow those words and let the process of all that he has eaten become part of his very being. Eugene Peterson translates this command as “Eat this book.”[1]

In Romans 12:2 Paul gives his readers a leg up on how the transformation into Christ likeness happens. We are “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” One way mind transformation happens is when we “Eat this book,” when the words of Scripture become part of our very being.

Often when we expose our children to Scripture we get surface level understanding, but that isn’t all they are capable of. If we want to go deeper with them; we have to speak the language they know best—the language of imagination.

C.S. Lewis said that, “Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.” [2]

Ignatian meditation is one way to chew and swallow the word of God. It becomes part of our being, it transforms our minds. The practice is quite simple.

1. Choose a passage of Scripture from one of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. A passage that has some action is particularly good. Also choose something short. If you are following along in Good Dirt, you can use the passage from that day. John 6:1-14 is one of my favorites with children.
2. Pray a short prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to speak through the passage into your hearts. Then read the passage through once.
3. Remind everyone that they have five senses. Touch, Taste, Sight, Smell, and Hearing. It is with these senses that we experience the world. Invite everyone to close their eyes and enter into the passage using their five senses just as if they were actually there. Read the passage again.
4. Ask the questions: What did you see? What did you hear? What did you smell? What did you taste? What did you feel? Some responses to these questions might be… I heard a lot of people talking. I saw Jesus. I smelled fish. I touched the bread. I felt hungry. Give everyone a chance to share their experience.
5. Read the passage through one more time. Do 2 things this time. Ask, who are you most like in the story? And ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. When you finish share your responses. (Remember that nothing you ever hear from the Spirit will go against the character of God found in 1 Cor. 13: 4-8, and further the words of the Spirit produce the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control.[3])

Once when I was explaining to a third grader why chewing the end off of his pencil and swallowing it was not really a great health choice I said, “It’s not that I don’t want you to eat. I just want you to eat things that are good for you.”

So how about it? Grab a kid or two and give it try. Let us know how it goes.

---

[1] The translation I’m referring to is the Message.

[2] C.S. Lewis, Selected Literary Essays: “Bluespels and Flanlansferes: A Semantic Nightmare,” Cambridge UP, 1969, p. 265.

[3] Galatians 5:22-23

This Is My Command: Love One Another

January 5th was "Epiphany Eve," the last day of Christmastide and the night before Epiphany (as a born-and-raised Baptist, this was my first year to ever take note of this). In Good Dirt, Ben and Lacy explain Epiphany is the season in which "we focus on the life of Jesus and how he lived in the Kingdom of God here on earth." So it seemed appropriate that the Scripture for the day was a scene from the upper room—Jesus' final hours teaching his disciples. Gone were the opaque parables and instead, a tender description of how God is intertwined in our lives.

The Vine and the Branches

I've always been moved by the intimate language Jesus uses with his disciples (and by proxy, us) in telling the story of the vine and the branches. He paints a picture of a life weaved with God's Spirit—a life so interconnected with His that it is impossible to separate the two:

• "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you."
• "Remain in me, as I also remain in you."
•  “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you."
• "Remain in my love."
• "I no longer call you servants...I have called you friends."
• "You did not choose me, but I chose you."
• "This is my command: Love each other."

We are Jesus' friends. He chose us. He has made us clean. We will bear fruit if we remain in Him—fruit that will last. And above all, Jesus says "love each other."

Translating to Five-Year-Old Speak

So there we were, gathered around the table on Epiphany Eve—Carolyn and I with our eight year old and five year old. I'm lucky to get seven seconds of uninterrupted attention from the boy between pleas for him to finish his dinner. And I don't feel like I can do this passage justice--the intimacy with God, Jesus' final meal before the cross—it's going to be lost on the kids. But then I remember the old Sunday school song:

This is my commandment that you love one another that your joy may be full!

http://youtu.be/JgAMqYPtjLU

So we sang it together—I jumped on the piano and plunked out a few chords. We sang loud verses, we sang quiet verses. We sang with just the boys, then just the girls. Our son went and grabbed flashlights to use as microphones, then our daughter did an interpretive dance. They had a blast--in fact, they even asked to do it again the next night.

Most importantly, they heard (and remembered) Jesus' main point - "love one another."

May we know God's kingdom here on earth as we love one another—that our joy may be full.

Light for the New Year, Light for the Neighborhood

Used under Creative Commons License.

Part of Anne Lamott's story  has stayed with me like a persistent whisper even years after reading her memoir Traveling Mercies. A few families in her childhood opened their lives and gave her a sense of God and his Word and life with him. Her own parents didn't believe, yet in a 1960's San Francisco culture of drugs and alcohol Anne was drawn to God. She experienced life with the believing families of various friends and her own sense of a living, personal God took root.

We Quinns live in a busy suburb here in Colorado, surrounded by houses next door, behind, and across the street. Mormons live behind us, several Hindu families from India are down the street, and a mix of other Christian and unbelieving households live all around. Our culture doesn't mirror Lamott's of the '60s, but we have our own demons to be sure. We've walked with neighbors through deaths on each side of our home, one a suicide and one a father with Cystic Fibrosis. We feel the weight of materialism, strained marriages, self- and entertainment-focused living, career pressures.  Our street has seen a baby born to an unwed 19-year-old, teenagers crawling out of upstairs windows at night, a marriage happen between singles who shared a back fence, divorce, and lots of pet-sitting, lawn-mowing, house-siting, even a dog swap!

We love the people who share this little piece of Colorado with us. We've gotten to know many of them and we spend considerable time with some. I pray for neighbors almost daily as I walk for exercise, we pray for them at family meal times, and we try to follow the Spirit's moving to share the with-God life as we try and live it. We Quinns are so flawed ... we fumble all the time in loving each other and others ... we're so much on the journey ourselves. But somehow--I think it's like the mustard seed that Jesus' preached--God's presence takes hold and He enters lives.

New Year's Eve each year we get together with the family across the street. Fondue, games, and ringing in the New Year has become a tradition all the kids relish, and this year we added some Good Dirt! Our neighbor kids didn't understand about "family devotion time" so we talked about it when they came early before dinner. After the long meal around pots and platters of food, we read about Service and talked about what a spiritual discipline is. Our 8-year-old has trouble transferring that word discipline into the "good" category, so we all went round some more together on the concept, and then our teenager read about Jesus, the Light of the world. Our neighbor parents jumped in with ideas on when we might need Jesus' light in our lives. All the kids agreed that when they're afraid of monsters, Jesus' light is a good thing, and sometimes when they're at school they really need the light of Christ for help.

Those minutes of sitting together focused on Jesus were a bright spot New Year's Eve; Jesus' light indeed filled our time together. I hope these kinds of moments continue to fill our year. I want to thank Lacy and Ben for writing Good Dirt, for putting together this blogging community, and for overseeing the process as we all journey together. Jesus' light is reaching our family in warm, daily ways. And it's reaching our neighborhood family, too. We'll never be anyone's salvation. But Jesus the Savior might be. Yes, come Lord Jesus.

"Whoever follows me ... will have the light of life." John 7:12

Waiting

The middle candle of the Advent wreath sits waiting. The boys watch it, asking which day they can light it. Is Christmas Eve too soon? Yes, too soon; too soon for Advent. Like the boys, we parents want that light to be lit, now, in their hearts. And in the world we are sending them out into, still too young. Light shining in darkness. Are they ready for that? Advent is a time for preparation. Chistmas...gifts, and cards, and baking. Are we preparing for the right thing? We make time to look at the words of the prophets, the work of John the Baptist, Mary, fitting in the candles (one more every week). So much to prepare for as Christmas approaches, as they approach the world.

I told the boys the story of my baptism, as Lent turned into Easter. It was during a late-night service called Easter Vigil. On Good Friday the church was darkened and closed, to be kept silent in remembrance-and preparation. Then, as Saturday turned into Sunday, the priest entered holding a candle high, the only source of illumination in the church, and calling out "the Light of the World!"

Advent and Lent aren't so far apart, really. But neither Christmas nor Easter is the end of the story, and we remind the boys that we are again waiting, just like the prophets and Wise Men, John the Baptist, and all the others we read about during Advent. We're waiting with those last few words in the Bible on our lips: Come, Lord Jesus.

The Wait

For some reason I thought he'd be early. Weeks early. I'd wanted this son for 5 years, and the final days of waiting were killing me. Every day for a month I would wake up and check the bassinet just to make sure he wasn't there yet.

The people of God had been waiting for the Messiah a long long time too. Not just 5 years. More like 500 (give or take). He didn't make his grand entrance quite the way they were expecting him to.

He still doesn't.

Sometimes we wonder if He's coming at all.

When the angel came to Mary to tell her how he was coming, she replied "How can this be?" The Christ child was a hard thing for the child Mary to wrap her mind around. She was afraid. She never had Life inside her before. Never even been touched. "I'm just a virgin, how can this be?"

One of my favorite things about this passage is the angel tells her a story. He gives her a testimony of Life springing up in barren places: Once upon a time, there was a woman who couldn't bear children. Your cousin. The barren one. Six months ago life came to her. She is with child. She has recieved the seed of life inside her. For "nothing is impossible with God". Literal translation: "No freshly spoken Word of God comes without the ability to complete itself."

The atmosphere of fear and confusion shifted to one of faith. The levels of her faith sky rocketed! Even excitement surged thru her! Yes! Yes! I want to be a part of that! "Let it be unto me according to your word" Let the Seed come and bring Christ Life inside me! Her joy was so great that when she got to her cousins house she broke out in song. She believed that what had been promised would come to pass.

When the Lord whispers his plan for us he'll also tell us a good story. The word of the testimony that helps us overcome. Seeds of Life in barren places. It increases our faith in a moment. The testimony gives us grace to agree and wait with patience for what he says he will do. There's the story of lives of those in Scripture, in the lives of fathers and mothers of the faith. Stories of Immanuel, God with us. Then there's our very own stories. Where he has bent down to dwell with us. To be born in us. It's these that infuse us deep with renewed faith. Even when our flesh shakes and says, How can this be?

Here's the short version of my story. Once upon a time I lost my mind. I was told I'd never be better. I was told I was chronic. I was told I'd never be well enough to have another baby. But then! The word of The Lord came to me in a humble little church, bright as that angel who came to Mary. "All Things Are Possible With God." It set me free from months of dark depression. That was March of 2010.

Then on a glorious Saturday in late August of this year my long wait came to its glorious end. My son came, my little miracle boy. Now I have a story that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. It fills me with faith to believe for things that seem impossible. Praise be Immanuel. Nothing is impossible with You. Let it be to me exactly as you've said.

- Joy

Resistance

From Gary: We're one of those families that eats dinner together pretty much every night.  And since that's the most calm, consistent daily time as a family, we figured dinnertime would be the best time for Good Dirt devotions.

Then comes the first week of Advent, and suddenly half our dinners are spent apart.

It could be coincidence. This is a busy time of year, after all. But it just might be something more. It might be Resistance.

Cover from "Do the Work", http://amzn.com/1936719010

I recently read a business book called Do the Work that talks about Resistance. And while the author was speaking primarily in non-spiritual terms, I was struck by the universal experience.

Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify; seduce, bully, cajole. Resistance is protean. It will assume any form, if that’s what it takes to deceive you. Resistance will reason with you like a lawyer or jam a nine-millimeter in your face like a stickup man. Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take Resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get.

It's safe to say that Satan is not a fan of Christian parents seeking to teach their children the way of the Lord. And in just two weeks time, I've already felt Resistance pushing back on me--being too tired, being distracted, or just straight up forgetting.

And yet, in our first week of Advent, we shared one of the sweetest moments together as a family. On the second morning as we were rushing about trying to get out the door on time, our daughter reminded us about the Good Dirt "tilling" message. So we gathered, standing in the family room, and read together. As we wrapped up, Carolyn suggested we pray for our day--and the four of us stood in a circle, holding hands, each taking a turn with short, simple prayer.

It was a brief moment--but it was a holy moment. And it's moments like that for which we continue to fight Resistance.

The Many Voices of Christmas

© Luke Saagi, used under Creative Commons License.

What's not to like about Christmas? It's a wonderful season. The music and good cheer, bright lights and parties, secrets and stories and sentiment. It's a magical time for children, and a time that as parents we love for our children's sake even as we cherish quietly, and with them, the focal point of the whole celebration--the coming of Jesus to our lives.

This will be our fourteenth Christmas with children, and as I think back on the years and look toward another celebration this month, its the voices of Christmas that come flooding to mind. The voices that have spoken into our choices about what and how to celebrate...

"What if Christmas, [Grinch] thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”

Three gifts for each child--Gold, something they will value and treasure. Frankincense, a gift to help them meet with God. Myrrh, something to anoint and care for their body.

Sinter Klaus Day, Dec. 6. A first gift to each child in celebration of the caring bishop who provided dowry's for girls without one.

A birthday cake for Jesus on December 25.

Cub scout giving of gifts to needy families. Operation Christmas Child gift boxes. Gifts to men and women  serving far away in the military. Gifts to orphans  in Africa and others at risk worldwide.

Advent wreath lighting and reflection.

Epiphany remembrance and observance.

Creative and tasty gifts for neighbors.

Crafty holiday touches throughout the house.

Meal traditions for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and Christmas lunch.

Caroling in nursing homes.

Gingerbread houses and cookie exchanges.

"Bah," said Scrooge, "Humbug."

Oh, the list goes on. Each of us with many voices, many choices before us each year as we hurtle from Thanksgiving to Christmas and New Year's. And laid back as we might be, surely we all have to squelch just the vaguest inclination toward a "Bah, humbug" as we spend our December days determined to remember the reason for the season and to keep the meaning the main thing as we live out all the ways of doing that.

Just last week I heard on the radio that many years ago, Christmas was not even celebrated. The church celebrated Easter in a big way, but because birthdays were not celebrated overall, the birth of Jesus just was not a church holy day. The thought. No Christmas, compared to ChristmasofToday. It's a startling dichotomy.

An article by Eugene Petersen tells the story of his family's Christmas when he was eight. Eugene's mother had found  a passage in Jeremiah that seemed to speak against the tradition of Christmas trees, and so that year, much to his own and his neighbors' chagrine, his family had no tree.  He reflects back now:

Mother, thank you ...  for providing me with a taste of the humiliation that comes from pursuing a passionate conviction in Christ. Thank you for introducing into my spirit a seed of discontent with all cultural displays of religion, a seed that has since grown tree-sized. Thank you for being relaxed in grace and reckless enough to risk a mistake. Thank you for being scornful of caution and careless of opinion. Thank you for training me in discernments that in adult years have been a shield against the seduction of culture-religion. Thank you for the courage to give me Jesus without tinsel, embarrassing as it was for me (and also for you?). Thank you for taking away the Christmas tree the winter I was eight years old. And thank you for giving it back the next year.

I don't know that we ever settle into an easy, contented Christmas rhythm. Much as we would like to, the good and the tradition and the holy are so intermingled that, without tossing away the holiday and stepping back a few hundred years, we can't escape the cacophony of voices and choices year by year.

For me, one voice helps bring perspective each time I feel I've failed or fallen irreparably behind. Funny, it's Scrooge again, but later in the story: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

Each day, all year, is a celebration of Jesus' life come to change mine. Each day is the time to spend meaningful moments with family, to care for another in need, to offer a thought-filled gift, to meet God in his Word over the light of a candle. It's a wonderful season, and all the more when we let Christmas illumine each day of our lives.