Keep Off the Grass

Last night, I made a bird out of a bird! My eldest came in and asked me why I was shaping a chicken on the kitchen table, and shoving carrot tops into it. He followed up quickly with, "actually, never-mind", as he left me to it. It was the next instalment of The Jesus Story Book Bible dinners of course, and it was a fun one to make, because I had pre-planned it in my weekly shop, making sure I had foliage and bright colours.

Page 228 of the JSBB, finds us at 'The Singer', a chapter derived from The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. The Sermon on the Mount is probably Jesus' most famous sermon, or preach that He ever gave. Emmanuel, the church I attend, is going through it as a series at the moment, both with the adults and in the kids' & youth work. The whole sermon can be summed up in a sentence; 'how to live a life that is dedicated to, and pleasing to God'. It's a Godly wisdom sermon, looking at our values, our vision and our habits. It was meant to be memorised, recited and and dwelt upon. 

The Jesus StoryBook chapter I read with the kids over dinner, was about the birds and the flowers, which is hopefully clearer from the picture than some previous weeks! Jesus was asking the people who were listening, if the birds have to go shopping for their food, and if the flowers have to store their home-made or shop-bought clothes in a wardrobe?! Of course not, God provides food and shelter for the birds and He provides the beauty the flowers adorn. 

The point Jesus is making, is that God the Father, cares more about us than He does about the flowers and the birds, but look how well He takes care of the flowers and the birds. Surely He will therefore take care of us even more so. Why do we spend so much time worrying therefore, about stuff? Why do we worry about the provision and what we look like? God's got it all in hand. 

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" Matthew 6v25 "Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" v27

Worry adds nothing to our lives, it actually just steals from us. It's a stealer of peace. It can be a stealer of action, of courage even. It's a stealer of trust from God. And the Bible doesn't just teach us not to worry, but to seek God's kingdom, to seek His righteousness, and see Him provide what we need. 

One of my sons said, that it reminded him of when God provided Manna, (wafer like bread), to the Israelites when they had been set free from Egypt, (Exodus 16) and they were only to take the amount that was provided. day by day. They weren't to take more, for fear there wouldn't be any the next day. An excellent reminder of the last blog post, about God giving us today our daily bread. It brought me real joy that He had linked the two, because the drip, drip, drip effect of teaching them the Bible stories is like them memorising the Sermon on the Mount...

In my own Bible reading this morning, I was reminded of how the flesh in all it's beauty, is like the flowers of the field, it will simply fade away. It's like the grass, which will wither away. No wonder we're not meant to worry about the provision for, and the look of our bodies, or indeed the things of this lifetime, because they will come to nothing. Unlike our souls of course, which will go on to live gloriously with God, with brand new bodies! And what won't ever fade or wither away? The word of God, the Bible will stand forever. I think I shall forever taste Spinach when I read Isaiah 40v6-8 from now on. 

"The grass withers, the flower fades...but the word of our God will stand forever".

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Last night we managed to read a story in The Jesus Story Book Bible altogether. It's becoming harder for me to pin them all down in one room, but we turned screens off and I set out my expectations. The four year old decided this would be the time to try out her handstands over the back of the sofa, but she was still engaged. 

I presented dinner to them, which was met by literal belly laughing from the teens. You see I had obviously arranged the sausages we were having, into praying hands, because we were about to read "How to Pray". The littlest encouraged me. She was afterall, pleased I had made a  'castle' for dinner. And as we do all day long in this house, we ate some bread too. Apparently man cannot live by bread alone, but my kids really seem to put that theory to the test. 

We read the story, with interuptions galore, and I asked them to close their eyes as I read the Lord's prayer. I wanted them to pray it in their hearts and minds, while I read the words, and I asked them to think of one bit which struck them in some way. 

“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. Matthew 6v9-13

One child was drawn to God's kingdom coming, so we unpacked that a little, talking about God's will and healing. One child commented about how much sugar was in bread. One child was a little confused and said some confusing things, which we had to unpack a little, but also put to one side a little, as I was losing the focus of the room. And then one asked if God would be in control of Hell, and if He'd be there... Love a tangent!

One of the boys mentioned that trespasses (as it read in our version) didn't mean someone coming onto our land, or into our house. But I've just read something this morning, which actually explains that that's exactly what it means. "A trespasser occupies a realm, or exercises a right that rightfully belongs to someone else. A trespasser violates another person....We have not merely borrowed from God an unpayable debt for which we appeal for bankruptcy protection. We have seized a realm and exercised a right that belongs to him. We have violated God". I must follow this up with my boy. He likes words and meanings, and I think this will help him see sin in a new way. 

A couple of the kids commented on the aspect of forgiving others. We discussed how siblings seemed to be the hardest ones to forgive. But we looked at how much God has and continues to forgive us for our stuff, which was helpful. And I pointed out that I'd had to forgive someone who had given into the temptation of rudeness to me during the Bible time itself, but that I can do that freely and quickly because of what God has forgiven me for. (Really had to forgive quickly on that one, rather than sit in the grrr for a while). 

God's provision of Daily Bread was a great point for my kids. I literally handed out bread, and reminded them that God gives it to us, and we had a little think about the good things He provides for us. Someone had bought us a Family Take Away on Monday evening, so they were thankful for God's tasty provision. Earlier in the day, me and one of the girls had dwelt on the good things from God, so it was helpful to link it all up together. 

Quote from Desiring God

Onesie Wonder

We are often the recipients of hand-me-downs, and with six kids, this is obviously a blessing. It's quite hard now to get any for the nearly 15 year old monster that lives here. We are all tiny minions compared to him, and the only family member who is taller than him, is Grandad who isn't exactly on trend (I'm sure he was at one stage). Even the husband will have a little look through the bag if the trendy 20 year old nephew is getting rid of anything!

For the girls though, we have some regular donations, which is fab. And what I've learnt about girls' clothes, is that even when you think its grown out of, you simply put it with another outfit, and it's back to being in use again; trousers which are too small, suddenly become cool three quarter lengths, with a pair of denim shorts over them. Also, my girls change their outfit numerous times a day. This was all new to me after the four boys!

One of my girls recently got given a black onesie with sparkly stars all over it. She went and put it on straight away, and loved it. My other girl seemed to take offence at this new item of clothing in the house. Well she didn't take offence at the item, but to the fact that she didn't have one. She wasn't interested in the thought of borrowing it, she just wanted one for herself. She expressed herself very clearly, on the kitchen floor, for all to hear. 

I took a breath, and went for the same talk that I've been having since there was more than one child in the house; 'in this house we don't do fair, we do selfless'. (It's not the first time I've blogged about it, and I doubt it will be the last!) If I had £1 for every time this phrase was used in this house, I'd have enough money to clothe everyone on my estate, I'm sure. I reminded her that we don't deserve any of the good things God has done for us, or given us. And that He selflessly gave His son to us. He handed Him down to us. 
He didn't treat us fairly, how our sins deserve, but instead has treated us with lavish love. 

She of course couldn't care less at this point. She was all consumed by the wailing. She wanted the sparkly onesie and that was that. I reminded her of the brand new onesie she got for Christmas from her Auntie, and the brand new, soft pink blanket (which zips into a bag) she got last week. I asked her if she would like to have to share it. She didn't particularly want to. I told her that she was allowed to feel a little disappointed, but that she mustn't live in that place, because then the darkness takes over, and you end up being consumed by your feelings, and both of you are robbed. 

I told my daughter, that we even needed to get to the place where she can say that she is happy for her sister. Quite the battle to pick for a Saturday morning, but some are worth picking. It took a while, and with the quietest of voices, with all her fingers in her mouth, she eventually said she was happy for her sister. (I don't mind too much at this point if it is heart felt, or a habit in the making). 

The husband is currently on the slopes, shoop-shooping down the mountains with a bunch of his friends. He's doing Blue and Black Runs and I'm doing the School and Asda runs. It so similar! (Although his week sounds exhausting). But the same principle has to stand, in our house we don't do fair, we do selfless. I am happy for him, like literally happy for him to be there. What a wonderful week he will have. What a blessing for him. 

I learnt from a friend of mine, that when he goes, he should go guilt-free, other wise it robs something from him. I can well imagine that I will need to remind myself of this this week, when I'm a bit done with the bedtime routine and extremely outnumbered at dinner times. But remembering God's selfless act towards me really does help with that little thing called perspective, as does the fact that his friends made him wear a retro onesie on the slopes!

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2v4 (This photo is definitely for the interest of others)