Psalm 89:15-17
"Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD. They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn."
It is late Monday evening. Everyone is in bed now. The house is quiet. The dog is in his cozy spot next to me. Tonight I was pondering how truly God is in my life. Asking myself if I am to much of a Jesus Freakish woman? Do I talk to much about God? Are there those rolling their eyes, because Elizabeth is a Jesus fanatic? Do my big round glasses make me more scholarly for Jesus? I chuckled over these thoughts. Then wandered over to Psalms 89.
Walking in the light of His presence. Rejoicing in His name all day long....I reread this verse several times and found great confidence and comfort over how I love Jesus so much. How I share HIM with my children, so they now include Jesus in daily conversations. How my first role as a mentor is to teach women to get into the habit of recognizing Jesus in the moments through out the day.
Often when mentoring women, who are working to figure out how to include God in their day, I give a two week exercise. For two weeks, write down tens ways that you believe God showed up in your day. Here is the catch. If you do not fill up each day with 10 things for two weeks, then I cancel. Why do I do this? Habits of behavior.
A habit of behavior might be. Read my Bible, pray, go on with day with never another thought about Jesus working alongside your life. I have had so many gals tell me that they are frustrated because they don't know how to begin to include Jesus. So this exercise of writing down 10 things a day is given to produce the habit of "acclaiming, rejoicing and celebrating, all day long" I hear the same things over and over after the two weeks.
"I did not realize how present God is in my life"
"Don't be mad Elizabeth, I could not fill the first few pages with ten things, but I was hoping the other pages that grew into front and back, way more than ten each day would suffice."
"I see God's blessings in my life. How could I have missed this for so long?"
And the comments and conversations continue.
If someone told me to stop talking to my friends about my day, life, the things we enjoy talking about I would simply say, "that is not possible". I am in a relationship with these dear friends and as friends we connect on so many levels. One "habit" I really had to work on was showing up and making myself available. Available to sit, ask questions, and listen to outward process of things important to my friends. This means a lot to the person you are with. It's not like I woke up one day and WALLA I know how this works. I had to work at it and develop a habit. Habits of our relationships. In the same way, developing habits of knowing Jesus and learning of his character that I many walk more in his love.
Psalm 89:15-17
"Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD. They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn."
Do you feel blessed?
Do you naturally rejoice through out the day in Him?
What are you celebrating?
Take note of this passage of scripture and develop habits in your relationship with God.
Happy Tuesday,
Blessings, Elizabeth
Showing posts with label jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jesus. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Wake Up and Repeat
I was sitting and sipping my coffee this morning in somewhat of a controlled environment. Boys glued to Saturday morning TV, David and Emily still snoozing, and Eddie in a time-out for going potty on the floor (thank God for hardwood floors)
I took out some cookbooks and began to look over recipes's for Easter Breakfast. Tears began to surface as I sat and read the recipe's of many, many, many years past. I actually looked to see the date this cookbook came out (1992). In 1992 I only had two children. They were both 3 & 5 and life was getting so easy with little people getting bigger. I purchased this cook book 18 Easter's ago. It was a gift to myself. "The Summer Cookbook" by Susan Branch. It was a time of motherhood when the kids were no longer in high need of me and I decided to make an Easter brunch. Now sitting this morning I pull out this cookbook, the very same one and began to look at recipe's for Easter breakfast.
The boys are now at an age where taking the time to dedicate to a delicate recipe is available. I often say my life is like that movie "Ground Hog Day". Wake up and repeat. Raising kids is a wake up and repeat kind of life. This morning, realizing that once again it is the same wake up and repeat eighteen years later just brings me emotions to the surface because I really do embrace and love that I get those wake up and repeat days. I learn more that I am a creature of habit, otherwise those wake up and repeat days would not look and feel so familiar.
I am excited to be making the following:
Potato Pie
Crab Cakes
Blueberry Bread Pudding
And a few other extra's. Thanks Lord Jesus that each year at this time we can ponder the life you lived, walking this earth and then dying for this sinful world. Your life was not a wake up and repeat kind of life. You lived out your call from God and now you watch as our lives unfold with service and love to you the Holy One. Thanks that each year we recognize You. So as I wake up and repeat Easter may it be a day not just of yummy treats and breakfast, but a reminder of your Grand Resurection!!!
I took out some cookbooks and began to look over recipes's for Easter Breakfast. Tears began to surface as I sat and read the recipe's of many, many, many years past. I actually looked to see the date this cookbook came out (1992). In 1992 I only had two children. They were both 3 & 5 and life was getting so easy with little people getting bigger. I purchased this cook book 18 Easter's ago. It was a gift to myself. "The Summer Cookbook" by Susan Branch. It was a time of motherhood when the kids were no longer in high need of me and I decided to make an Easter brunch. Now sitting this morning I pull out this cookbook, the very same one and began to look at recipe's for Easter breakfast.
The boys are now at an age where taking the time to dedicate to a delicate recipe is available. I often say my life is like that movie "Ground Hog Day". Wake up and repeat. Raising kids is a wake up and repeat kind of life. This morning, realizing that once again it is the same wake up and repeat eighteen years later just brings me emotions to the surface because I really do embrace and love that I get those wake up and repeat days. I learn more that I am a creature of habit, otherwise those wake up and repeat days would not look and feel so familiar.
I am excited to be making the following:
Potato Pie
Crab Cakes
Blueberry Bread Pudding
And a few other extra's. Thanks Lord Jesus that each year at this time we can ponder the life you lived, walking this earth and then dying for this sinful world. Your life was not a wake up and repeat kind of life. You lived out your call from God and now you watch as our lives unfold with service and love to you the Holy One. Thanks that each year we recognize You. So as I wake up and repeat Easter may it be a day not just of yummy treats and breakfast, but a reminder of your Grand Resurection!!!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Take up "his" cross
Yesterday I was reading in Matthew 16: 24-27. It's a familiar passage. One that has had a few markings, a few highlights, and one that is red lettered. I have been pondering the days leading up to Easter. Having heard many messages teaching on Jesus' last days I am stuck in my human brain, unable to comprehend what it must have been like for Jesus to walk that road carrying a cross. I have watched movies, some kind of corny with the feeble timid looking Jesus.
I prayed that I could try to understand for a moment what that must have been like. I was in a church service many years ago. It was a special baptismal service for grade school kids. Each child wrote out a statement of faith, and then they were baptized. It touched my heart to hear each child read the process and thoughts of salvation in their lives. They were all 8-12 year old boys and girls. There was one girl in particular. Her words brought about 500 people to tears. Her simple words pierced my heart. Here is what she said.
"When I learned about Jesus is that I could not understand why He would love me. When I learned that He had to carry a cross and then died on that cross I realized that He was a very brave man. I knew that He must truly love me".
I wrote those exact words on a scratch paper and then later transferred into my journal. A little ten year old could grasp and get it. Yes, Jesus was a very brave man.
So how does this passage of scripture penetrate my spirit today, yesterday and now something to grab hold of. Here is something I never realized before.
Matt. 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up "his" cross and follow me".
"His" cross, is in lowercase. Jesus is speaking. He did not say take up "my" cross. If He is speaking and he meant to help Him carry that burden, then it would have said take up "my" cross, but it said in the red letters to take up "his" cross. How come I have never taken notice of that before. I thought we were to take up His cross. Jesus did that for us over 2 million years ago. He did it on His own, walked the street with thorns on His head. He did not ask for help. He was a very brave man.
Jesus is now saying something like this.....my version of modern day theology. (I hope that is okay here) Hey guys, you have a lot going on, you possess so much, you have compromised so much of your souls away from Me, away from my calling for your life. If you want to save yourselves, you are going to lose it, but whoever loses his life for MY sake will save it. So Elizabeth, take up your cross and lose yourself unto me. (paraphrasing vs. 25)
So I am sharing this year my own Easter blessing and the truth in the red lettered part of my Bible that has unfolded. It's not so much the rolling of the stone part, but it is a part that God placed on my heart for a reason. What do I need to lay down at the cross, what do I need to place on the cross and carry or am I too feeble to even give it up and carry it. Carry a cross is not for the feeble minded, and since God made us He did not give us that feebleness we kind of choose that....whining, kicking,,, no God not that. My prayer this Easter season is that I take note of the cross and ask God to "break my heart for what breaks Yours" (taken from one of my favorite worship songs called Hosanna)
Happy Easter.
I prayed that I could try to understand for a moment what that must have been like. I was in a church service many years ago. It was a special baptismal service for grade school kids. Each child wrote out a statement of faith, and then they were baptized. It touched my heart to hear each child read the process and thoughts of salvation in their lives. They were all 8-12 year old boys and girls. There was one girl in particular. Her words brought about 500 people to tears. Her simple words pierced my heart. Here is what she said.
"When I learned about Jesus is that I could not understand why He would love me. When I learned that He had to carry a cross and then died on that cross I realized that He was a very brave man. I knew that He must truly love me".
I wrote those exact words on a scratch paper and then later transferred into my journal. A little ten year old could grasp and get it. Yes, Jesus was a very brave man.
So how does this passage of scripture penetrate my spirit today, yesterday and now something to grab hold of. Here is something I never realized before.
Matt. 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up "his" cross and follow me".
"His" cross, is in lowercase. Jesus is speaking. He did not say take up "my" cross. If He is speaking and he meant to help Him carry that burden, then it would have said take up "my" cross, but it said in the red letters to take up "his" cross. How come I have never taken notice of that before. I thought we were to take up His cross. Jesus did that for us over 2 million years ago. He did it on His own, walked the street with thorns on His head. He did not ask for help. He was a very brave man.
Jesus is now saying something like this.....my version of modern day theology. (I hope that is okay here) Hey guys, you have a lot going on, you possess so much, you have compromised so much of your souls away from Me, away from my calling for your life. If you want to save yourselves, you are going to lose it, but whoever loses his life for MY sake will save it. So Elizabeth, take up your cross and lose yourself unto me. (paraphrasing vs. 25)
So I am sharing this year my own Easter blessing and the truth in the red lettered part of my Bible that has unfolded. It's not so much the rolling of the stone part, but it is a part that God placed on my heart for a reason. What do I need to lay down at the cross, what do I need to place on the cross and carry or am I too feeble to even give it up and carry it. Carry a cross is not for the feeble minded, and since God made us He did not give us that feebleness we kind of choose that....whining, kicking,,, no God not that. My prayer this Easter season is that I take note of the cross and ask God to "break my heart for what breaks Yours" (taken from one of my favorite worship songs called Hosanna)
Happy Easter.
Monday, January 5, 2009
New Years Resolutions
In starting a new year I am not sure what is different in my heart and life today. The turn of the calendar does not seem to catapult me into new beginnings, new starts, and new resolutions. It never has. I look back on years of journaling and turn to those pages that follow the New Year and my lack of motivation for change is ever so present. It’s really not a lack of motivation. I guess I look at the unresolved in my life through out the year and work through resolutions one day at a time. The turn of the calendar does not all of a sudden mean, for me that life will be different.
My desk is still messy, my kitchen remains spotless after each meal, and I have the same extra weight that I had last year. I resolve to clean my desk. Nah, it’s a constant motion of change and I can find things just fine. I don’t share this space with anyone so it will remain true to my sense of organization.
There are things in my life that could use some refining, fine tuning and adjustments. My hope is that I am aware of these things long before the end of the year and that God reveals to me what these things might be. This evening I asked God to reveal to me and make me aware of how I can work towards building His Kingdom. I just started reading a small book I read almost 20 years ago. I have read many books in the past 20 years and only keep those that inspire me to love Jesus more, understand Him more, and catapult my heart and spirit into new understandings.
Last night I made the mistake of falling asleep around 7:00pm; this had me wide awake at 1:00am. So I went to my small library of books and thought it might be fun to reflect on what I have read in years past. Our pastor spoke on Sunday morning about the name of Jesus, so I picked up “In the Name of Jesus” by Henri J. M. Nouwen. There are only 81 pages and the book is half size, so a really easy read. I picked up this book when I was a Young Life leader over 20 years ago. Its message is “Reflections on Christian Leadership”. I underlined this one part of the book. This is the only part I highlighted in the entire book. Last night and earlier today I read this part over and over. And this is now my resolution, so I will share this excerpt.
Taken from John 10:14-15
“As Jesus ministers, so He wants us to minister. He wants Peter to feed his sheep and care for them, not as “professionals” who know their clients’ problems and take care of them, but as vulnerable brothers and sisters who know and are known, who care and are cared for, who forgive and are being forgiven, who love and are being loved.
Somehow we have come to believe that good leadership requires a safe distance from those we are called to lead. Medicine, psychiatry, and social work all offer us models in which “service” takes place in a one way direction. Someone serves; someone else is being served, and be sure not to mix up the roles!
But how can anyone lay down his life for those with whom he is not even allowed to enter into a deep personal relationship? Laying down your life means making your own faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of life.
We are not healers, we are not the reconcilers, and we are not the givers of life. We are the sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for. The leadership about which Jesus speaks is of a radically different kind from the leadership offered by the world. It is a servant leadership in which the leader is a vulnerable servant who needs the people as much as they need him or her. A leadership that is not modeled on the power games of the world, but on the servant-leader Jesus, who came to give His life for the salvation of many”
Who are we in leadership over? I believe we who are lovers of Jesus are called to serve His Kingdom. I am thankful for sleeping to long in the early evening. I am thankful for our pastor and his message on the name of Jesus. I am thankful that in this New Year I am reminded of my service to His Kingdom through the writing of a book I read some 20 years ago. Who are we serving and who’s method are we using to serve? Are we choosing to serve through worlds idea of service or through the model that Jesus offers?
John 10:14-15
“I am the good shepherd and I know My own and My own know Me. Even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Happy New Year!!!!
My desk is still messy, my kitchen remains spotless after each meal, and I have the same extra weight that I had last year. I resolve to clean my desk. Nah, it’s a constant motion of change and I can find things just fine. I don’t share this space with anyone so it will remain true to my sense of organization.
There are things in my life that could use some refining, fine tuning and adjustments. My hope is that I am aware of these things long before the end of the year and that God reveals to me what these things might be. This evening I asked God to reveal to me and make me aware of how I can work towards building His Kingdom. I just started reading a small book I read almost 20 years ago. I have read many books in the past 20 years and only keep those that inspire me to love Jesus more, understand Him more, and catapult my heart and spirit into new understandings.
Last night I made the mistake of falling asleep around 7:00pm; this had me wide awake at 1:00am. So I went to my small library of books and thought it might be fun to reflect on what I have read in years past. Our pastor spoke on Sunday morning about the name of Jesus, so I picked up “In the Name of Jesus” by Henri J. M. Nouwen. There are only 81 pages and the book is half size, so a really easy read. I picked up this book when I was a Young Life leader over 20 years ago. Its message is “Reflections on Christian Leadership”. I underlined this one part of the book. This is the only part I highlighted in the entire book. Last night and earlier today I read this part over and over. And this is now my resolution, so I will share this excerpt.
Taken from John 10:14-15
“As Jesus ministers, so He wants us to minister. He wants Peter to feed his sheep and care for them, not as “professionals” who know their clients’ problems and take care of them, but as vulnerable brothers and sisters who know and are known, who care and are cared for, who forgive and are being forgiven, who love and are being loved.
Somehow we have come to believe that good leadership requires a safe distance from those we are called to lead. Medicine, psychiatry, and social work all offer us models in which “service” takes place in a one way direction. Someone serves; someone else is being served, and be sure not to mix up the roles!
But how can anyone lay down his life for those with whom he is not even allowed to enter into a deep personal relationship? Laying down your life means making your own faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of life.
We are not healers, we are not the reconcilers, and we are not the givers of life. We are the sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for. The leadership about which Jesus speaks is of a radically different kind from the leadership offered by the world. It is a servant leadership in which the leader is a vulnerable servant who needs the people as much as they need him or her. A leadership that is not modeled on the power games of the world, but on the servant-leader Jesus, who came to give His life for the salvation of many”
Who are we in leadership over? I believe we who are lovers of Jesus are called to serve His Kingdom. I am thankful for sleeping to long in the early evening. I am thankful for our pastor and his message on the name of Jesus. I am thankful that in this New Year I am reminded of my service to His Kingdom through the writing of a book I read some 20 years ago. Who are we serving and who’s method are we using to serve? Are we choosing to serve through worlds idea of service or through the model that Jesus offers?
John 10:14-15
“I am the good shepherd and I know My own and My own know Me. Even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Happy New Year!!!!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thoughts on Christmas
When I was a young girl Christmas was a very sad time of year for me. I often would go into my own little world of celebration. My birthday comes a few days before and between the two I knew I had to make the best of my situation. It was not uncommon for my birthday to fall during the classroom Christmas parties. (December 21st). One year I chose not to eat my cupcake, but to save it. Later that evening, in my bedroom, I gathered my ragged little dolly and played birthday party. I ate my crumbled cupcake alone. To this day that was the best birthday party I ever had as a child.
I always knew that when I was a grown up with kids of my own I would do everything I knew how to make their birthdays and Christmas very special. So as I sit and ponder last evening, this morning and Christmas's past and I feel very blessed. I am blessed that our awful pasts do not dictate an awful future. I am blessed by the Christ child who reminds me of His humble beginnings and still changed the world. I may not be able to change the world, but through the grace of our Lord Jesus I can change my future for the better and create memories that my children can look back on and say with a smile "remember when".
It's not about the amazing presents, or the dollars spent. It's about taking time (three times this year) to read over Luke 2, to act it out, and rehearse our lines. To roll over in laughter at the silliness and song added. To watch the videos and laugh even more. To sit around the table and share our family with others because we are blessed and want to share our blessings with others. Its that feeling of being safe in each other's space because we share an understanding of the value and importance of our family and all those who join in.
I still go to a quiet place on my birthday. I pray and thank God for my life today, and thank Him for that small voice inside me that can remember where I came from. A crumbled cupcake in my pocket, no presents or even a tree. I thank God for my imagination as a child to dream about what Christmas could be like, and looking into the windows of my home today, thankful of that dream being a reality.
I have to give glory where glory is due and that is to God. My life would be shambles, a mess, and a half and yet here I am in the quiet of my home embracing who Jesus is today. Seek to know Him, and your life will be changed. Merry Christmas!!!!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Oh to be Zachaeus
This past week our church had a familiar evangelist come and speak. I say familiar because he visits our church often and comes with such amazing insights into God's word. He spoke from Proverbs 30 which was all good. But he brought us over to Luke 19 very briefly. However it was this message that gripped me.
Even today, four days later I have landed on this one verse that has challenged my heart. We all know the story of Zachaeus. Short businessman, cheated people out of taxes, heard Jesus was in town, knew his stature would keep him from seeing Jesus, he climbed a tree, Jesus saw him and Jesus told him that he was going to Zachaeus's house. Yep that pretty much sums it up. I get the story, and have since I was probably ten years old. Even my kids know the story and the song to go along with it.
So, what has hit me sideways this week. Verse 7
..."But when they saw it, they all complained saying that he (Jesus) has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner..."
The followers of Jesus complaining about who Jesus chose to hang out with is just baffling to me, but so real of what we Christians run and hide from....sinners. Hello, last I check ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
This verse has me thinking all week long that there was complaining because Jesus chose a sinner. It is so like Jesus to sit and have wine with sinners. I think it's a very compelling story by today's standards. This verse had challenged me. I am a Christian and I seek to live my life like Jesus. Even in my Christian-ness I am still a sinner needing to be mindful of every word, action and thought I have. Am I being Jesus. Am I complaining when I see a person living like Christ spending time with a (in a whispering voice) sinner.
I don't want to be part of the crowd complaining. At our church, our pastors and many staff members will stay up front after each service and extend prayer, a hug, and listening ears to hearts that are hurting, celebrating, or just an offer of encouragement. These are my modern day Jesus's because they are seeking to live and be Jesus. Often I have watched as I see so many trying to get an opportunity to chat with them. I have to admit. One time I sat and watched one of the pastors talk for a long time to this one guy, who apparently had just walked into the church and I felt my heart complain a little because I had something important to share. But in the moments that followed, I realized the tenderness this pastor had towards this man, who wanted to know and seek Jesus. For a moment I was like the complaining crowd.
Okay, this may all sound silly. I don't sit at my desk with concordances, and Bible books to learn what it all means. I don't think God expects us all to be scholars of the Word. His Word speaks to us right where we are at. And it's always a blessing to have someone with more knowledge bring the Word to greater meaning, but I tell you. Oh to be Zachaeus that day. Knowing he had a hard heart, knowing that he was cheating people, and yet his heart yearned for more and yearned to just get a glimpse of this savior... and the song goes...."and as the Savior passed that day he looked up in the tree and said Zachaeus you come down, for I am going to your house today". (verse 5).
I challenge each person who takes time to read this to ask yourself if you are complaining about what Jesus is doing in the hearts of others or do you grumble and complain?
Even today, four days later I have landed on this one verse that has challenged my heart. We all know the story of Zachaeus. Short businessman, cheated people out of taxes, heard Jesus was in town, knew his stature would keep him from seeing Jesus, he climbed a tree, Jesus saw him and Jesus told him that he was going to Zachaeus's house. Yep that pretty much sums it up. I get the story, and have since I was probably ten years old. Even my kids know the story and the song to go along with it.
So, what has hit me sideways this week. Verse 7
..."But when they saw it, they all complained saying that he (Jesus) has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner..."
The followers of Jesus complaining about who Jesus chose to hang out with is just baffling to me, but so real of what we Christians run and hide from....sinners. Hello, last I check ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
This verse has me thinking all week long that there was complaining because Jesus chose a sinner. It is so like Jesus to sit and have wine with sinners. I think it's a very compelling story by today's standards. This verse had challenged me. I am a Christian and I seek to live my life like Jesus. Even in my Christian-ness I am still a sinner needing to be mindful of every word, action and thought I have. Am I being Jesus. Am I complaining when I see a person living like Christ spending time with a (in a whispering voice) sinner.
I don't want to be part of the crowd complaining. At our church, our pastors and many staff members will stay up front after each service and extend prayer, a hug, and listening ears to hearts that are hurting, celebrating, or just an offer of encouragement. These are my modern day Jesus's because they are seeking to live and be Jesus. Often I have watched as I see so many trying to get an opportunity to chat with them. I have to admit. One time I sat and watched one of the pastors talk for a long time to this one guy, who apparently had just walked into the church and I felt my heart complain a little because I had something important to share. But in the moments that followed, I realized the tenderness this pastor had towards this man, who wanted to know and seek Jesus. For a moment I was like the complaining crowd.
Okay, this may all sound silly. I don't sit at my desk with concordances, and Bible books to learn what it all means. I don't think God expects us all to be scholars of the Word. His Word speaks to us right where we are at. And it's always a blessing to have someone with more knowledge bring the Word to greater meaning, but I tell you. Oh to be Zachaeus that day. Knowing he had a hard heart, knowing that he was cheating people, and yet his heart yearned for more and yearned to just get a glimpse of this savior... and the song goes...."and as the Savior passed that day he looked up in the tree and said Zachaeus you come down, for I am going to your house today". (verse 5).
I challenge each person who takes time to read this to ask yourself if you are complaining about what Jesus is doing in the hearts of others or do you grumble and complain?
Friday, April 18, 2008
Special Prayers for Ethan
I have shared often about my third child Ethan. He is deaf, but through the brilliance of a few men, he is wearing Cochlear Implants, which have allowed him to hear through technological means.
He did not start hearing until he was three years old. He will be six this month. He has holes in his language and in his understanding of anything that is not concrete. It often takes much more dialogue, any kind of parallels I can bring in to help him along. He is doing excellent in school, as education at his age is very concrete in the process of learning.
Last night he was afraid of going to sleep. I can not imagine hearing absolutely nothing, and then closing your eyes. This is common for deaf children. So we have allowed him to sleep with his devices on, and we go and take them off after he has fallen into sleep.
I asked him if we should pray and ask Jesus to take away the fear of going to sleep and he started crying and said that he did not have Jesus in his heart. I said, you can ask Jesus into your heart. He responded with more tears and said he was not ready to leave the earth. He still wanted to be part of our family. I realized that his complete understanding of having Jesus in our hearts was that we would go to heaven. For him and his thought process that meant that he would then be going to heaven. He said he did not want to die now.
I explained that mommy and papa have Jesus in our hearts and we are still on earth, his sister and his older brother, all have Jesus in their hearts and they are still here. That if there was an accident and you died then yes if you have Jesus in your heart you will got to heaven, but for now Jesus has lots of work for us to here on earth.
I began to weep over how his handicap will challenge him in his process of learning. As he gets older, this will become less as he has still had to go through all the levels of learning language. My heart just ached to see his heart so desire to have Jesus, but he could not get over the fact that heaven was the next step. I asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart, but he could not grasp that he would still be here, on earth with his family, so he said no.
I pray over all of my children, but today I pray more for Ethan as he struggles with his passion to know Jesus, takes time to read his little Bible, works hard as he learns his Bible passages from school, and yet will not ask him into his heart for the fear that this is the final step before heaven. I know God is going to use this boy in amazing ways, and I am here to guide him, pray over him, and live my life as an example of who He is. Thanks for reading and please pray a special little prayer for Ethan.
He did not start hearing until he was three years old. He will be six this month. He has holes in his language and in his understanding of anything that is not concrete. It often takes much more dialogue, any kind of parallels I can bring in to help him along. He is doing excellent in school, as education at his age is very concrete in the process of learning.
Last night he was afraid of going to sleep. I can not imagine hearing absolutely nothing, and then closing your eyes. This is common for deaf children. So we have allowed him to sleep with his devices on, and we go and take them off after he has fallen into sleep.
I asked him if we should pray and ask Jesus to take away the fear of going to sleep and he started crying and said that he did not have Jesus in his heart. I said, you can ask Jesus into your heart. He responded with more tears and said he was not ready to leave the earth. He still wanted to be part of our family. I realized that his complete understanding of having Jesus in our hearts was that we would go to heaven. For him and his thought process that meant that he would then be going to heaven. He said he did not want to die now.
I explained that mommy and papa have Jesus in our hearts and we are still on earth, his sister and his older brother, all have Jesus in their hearts and they are still here. That if there was an accident and you died then yes if you have Jesus in your heart you will got to heaven, but for now Jesus has lots of work for us to here on earth.
I began to weep over how his handicap will challenge him in his process of learning. As he gets older, this will become less as he has still had to go through all the levels of learning language. My heart just ached to see his heart so desire to have Jesus, but he could not get over the fact that heaven was the next step. I asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart, but he could not grasp that he would still be here, on earth with his family, so he said no.
I pray over all of my children, but today I pray more for Ethan as he struggles with his passion to know Jesus, takes time to read his little Bible, works hard as he learns his Bible passages from school, and yet will not ask him into his heart for the fear that this is the final step before heaven. I know God is going to use this boy in amazing ways, and I am here to guide him, pray over him, and live my life as an example of who He is. Thanks for reading and please pray a special little prayer for Ethan.
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