Nehemiah confronts God

Resonating with the sentiment in the image, I read Nehemiah. It takes place after Israel’s Babylonian captivity. Nehemiah was a cup bearer in the palace of King Artaxerxes. When Nehemiah hears that the city of Jerusalem — the city God had promised his people — lay in ruin he was devastated. God had utterly disappointed him and he mourned for days. He cried out to God reminding God that he had promised that even if his people were exiled, they would be returned to their promised dwelling.

Nehemiah went to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. But the enemies of Israel were a constant threat and the people were tired from being attacked and mocked.

Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. (Nehemiah 4)

Have you ever felt like wherever you turned you were under siege? Like there was little or no reprieve from your pain?

Nehemiah gave the people a pep talk reminding them of God’s promises. He positioned some men to keep guard while everyone else continued the work of rebuilding the city. Even while they worked they kept one hand on their weapon.

From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. (Nehemiah 4)

photo by RyanBSchultz at Flickr Creative Commons

Can you imagine how exhausting that must have been? And how their work was slowed down by having to be on their guard all the time? Yet, they rebuilt the wall in just 52  days!

Sometimes we feel like Nehemiah. We are deeply sad to see something important to us in ruins. We feel like God has let us down. And as we try to rebuild whatever it is we’re attacked at every turn. We have to keep rebuilding with one hand while the other holds a weapon at the ready.

What kept Nehemiah going was his unwavering faith in the God and the dedication of the people around him to build alongside him and defend them all from attack.

This week I am glad for people who have reminded me to look to God for strength and comfort even while I’m feeling let down by him. And I’m thankful for those who have labored alongside me with one hand on their sword.

How about you? When have you felt let down and disappointed in God? How have you resolved your disappointment? 

Week 1: Jesus is Bread (John 6:35)
In the treasure box was some fresh bread for the kids to snack on and a picture of Jesus attached to a loaf of bread. We talked about Jesus wasn’t really a loaf of bread! Then we discussed all the good things about bread and why we love to eat it. It smells good, it’s soft, it gives us energy, etc. Then we tied what Jesus said about being bread to the Last Supper which we’d discussed only a couple weeks earlier. The main idea the kids took home was that Jesus feeds our hearts and helps us live for God just like real bread feeds our bodies.

by kidmissile at Flickr Creative Commons

Week 2: Jesus is Light (John 8:12)
This week we all went into a dark hallway to open the treasure box. Inside were several flashlights including this one with Jesus attached! The kids got a kick  out of it. Using the flashlights we talked about how light penetrates darkness. One of the children said that Jesus was like the sun because he is the light. We took turns reading scripture passages about light and concluded with a prayer asking Jesus to help us be light in dark places.

Week 3: Jesus is the Vine (John 15)
The treasure box this week contained a freshly cut vine and a dead, shriveled branch.  As before, I attached Jesus’ face, arms and feet to the fresh vine to get the kids thinking about whether or not Jesus was really a vine. We talked about what Jesus meant when he said that we are the branches. The kids decided that it’s important to stay connected to Jesus so we don’t die like the old, shriveled branch. I also had some fresh grapes and raisins for the kids to snack on as well as a comparison of something connected to a vine (grapes) versus something disconnected (raisins)

In September my youngest daughter was baptized by her two grandfathers. It was a wonderful occasion for our family and also for our entire church family. What a joy to see the gift of faith being passed down to each generation!

We created a service unique to our own church backgrounds (Lutheran, non-denominational, and Anglican). The baptism was followed by two baby dedications and a nice lunch overlooking the beautiful lake.

This is the prayer of blessing my dad prayed over her after the baptism. It’s from is from the the Book of Common Prayer and I think it’s something my husband and I should pray for our girls every day.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy
Spirit you have bestowed upon this your servant the
forgiveness of sin, and have raised her to the new life of
grace. Sustain her, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give her
an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to
persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy
and wonder in all your works. Amen.

Easter Sunday was a big celebration outdoors with our entire house church network. During Lent our time with the kids focused on stories I pulled together from the Jesus Storybook Bible. (If you don’t have a Jesus Storybook Bible yet I highly recommend you get one! More on that topic is coming soon). Together the lessons from each week told the story of God’s love for us. His love is so great that he created a “great rescue plan” to save us from the sadness and death in the world.

Each Sunday the kids created a 3D poster telling that week’s part of the story. By the time we were finished they had a timeline of God’s plan to show everyone on Easter.

We started with the Terrible Lie when the serpent told Adam and Eve that God didn’t really love them or care about them, and they believed it! You can see creation, Adam and Eve, and the serpent in the poster.

Next along the timeline we visited Abraham. We learned how God started his family through Abraham and Sara even though they were too old to have children. But God didn’t let that stop him. He promised Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars in the sky. The children learned they are among those descendants and made a family portrait of themselves as the stars in the sky overlooking Abraham, Sara, and Isaac.

We moved from Abraham down the timeline to King David. He was the king God chose to rule Israel before Jesus was sent to be the king. David was only a small shepherd boy, but he slayed the giant Goliath. Later David grew to be a great king who worshiped God and wrote many of the Psalms. The children memorized Psalm 23 last year during Lent, so we revisited that passage. The poster for David shows him defeating Goliath. The kids (and one or two of the dads) thought it was a good idea to glue pebbles to the poster showing the trajectory David’s stone took from slingshot to forehead.

After David we progressed to the gospels and focused on what Jesus did in his life that shows us God’s love for us. The first week we learned about Jesus healing the sick woman and raising the little girl from the dead (Luke 8).  Part of God’s plan to rescue the world is to heal us of our sicknesses. Jesus even has the power to raise dead people back to life. Since I was little, the story of the little girl being raised from the dead has been one of my favorites. The kids really seemed to enjoy it too. In this poster Jesus is wearing the traditional rabbinic shawl with the tzetze which the woman likely touched in faith when Jesus healed her. And we show the little girl in “before” and “after” scenes.

Next we learned the story of Zacchaeus who was a tax collector and not very well liked in town. There was something about Jesus that Zacchaeus wanted to know more about. So much so that he climbed a tree to see Jesus teaching, because, as you know, Zacchaeus was a “wee little man.” When Jesus encountered Zacchaeus he didn’t shun him like many others had done. In fact, he went to have a meal at his house after which Zacchaeus declared he would give back everything he had stolen from people as a tax collector — even four times as much! Our poster shows Zacchaeus up in a tree talking to Jesus.

We combined Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Good Friday into one lesson. The kids made tambourines with ribbons, danced and shouted “hosanna!” There also may or may not have been daddies crawling around on the floor like donkeys with children riding on their backs while we sang. The kids learned about how Jesus was a humble king. God’s rescue plan didn’t involve beating people up or taking over with a big army. Rather, Jesus was a humble servant showing us how we are to act even in difficult circumstances. After the Palm Sunday lesson we talked about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper before they shared the Communion meal together. This all led up to the cross. Our posters show the palm branches and donkey and the outlines of the children’s feet, bread and wine, and a cross.

Finally, our journey took us to Easter Sunday and the Resurrection! The kids heard the story of Jesus’ resurrection read to them. Then they searched for Easter eggs which contained the pictures for them to glue onto the last poster. There was also some candy thrown in for good measure! We discussed how God’s rescue plan is now complete. Death, sadness, sickness, darkness, and loneliness have been defeated. And even though sometimes it doesn’t seem that way, one day all those bad things will be gone. Jesus will come back, God’s Kingdom will reign, and only good things can exist then.

Peter Enns is a biblical scholar and teacher whose work I’ve recently become aware of through the BioLogos Forum. I appreciate his approach to integrate science and faith, and I’ve learned a lot reading his blog and other articles he’s written. When I found out he was working on a Bible curriculum for kids I was excited and bought it right away!

These books begin with the Jesus rather than familiar stories from the Old Testament. It’s explained like this on the publisher’s website:

Who Jesus is and what he did is central to the Christian faith. That is why this curriculum begins with teaching children about him. Grades 1-4 will focus on what the Bible as a whole focuses on: Jesus. The emphasis will be on getting to know him by looking at who he was and what he did.

Later books will go in depth in the Old Testament. I think the idea of introducing children to Jesus first is the right one. In the past I’ve often tried to tie an Old Testament story back to Jesus, and Telling God’s Story has just taken that concept a step further.

Ultimately, the curriculum will teach children, and the adults who work though it with them, how to approach the Bible . I’ve only read part of the parent’s manual so far, but I resonated with this from the introduction: “The Bible is not a Christian owner’s manual. It bears witness to who God is, what he has done, and who we, as his people, are.” The hope is that this approach to studying the Bible with children will accomplish a deep purpose: “to encourage children to become mature, knowledgeable, and humble followers of Jesus, growing in faith.”

I’m looking forward to seeing that growth and maturity over time in my own kids and in the other kids who go along this journey with us in Telling God’s Story!

photo © 2005 Bjørn Bulthuis | more info (via: Wylio)

“Maundy” comes from the Old Latin mandatum meaning command and refers to Jesus’ words in John 13:34 “A new commandment  I give to you: Love one another as I have loved you.” Maundy Thursday helps  us remember four events in the final hours of Jesus’ life: 1) the washing of the disciples’ feet, 2) the giving of Lord’s Supper/Eucharist, 3) the agony of Gethsemane, and 4) the betrayal by Judas Iscariot.

We took the opportunity to combine Maundy Thursday with some elements from Good Friday as well. Around the room were stations set up with objects to help us enter into the story of Jesus’ last week before his death. The table was set for a shared meal which was followed by a meditation on Jesus’ Passion.  We ended our time with Communion remembering the Last Supper.

It was fun to go around to each station with my girls and watch the children engage the story through the different objects. The whole thing was interactive. My oldest daughter and her friend washed each other’s hands at the foot-washing station, they smelled oils and perfumes similar to the ones Mary anointed Jesus with, counted quarters to make sure all 30 pieces of silver Judas received as payment to betray Jesus were there, and read about the Garden of Gesthemane.

Each child also created an Easter Garden which they were able to take home. The interactive nature of the evening was a great way to teach the children and bring them into the story.

Remembering Jesus’ suffering helps build anticipation and longing in me for the Resurrection. Entering into Jesus’ story the way we did Thursday night makes it all seem much more real and removes some of the familiarity. This year for some reason I was especially struck by Peter’s denial  of Jesus and have contemplated ways I deny Jesus.

As it turned out, everyone who came Thursday night had been in a group together years ago. We’ve all since gone on to start new groups. I was encouraged to be with all of them once again in my home, and I was excited to think about how we’ve all grown personally, taken risks, and are doing our best to live lives of mission.

They have all played a role in serving and loving me.  It was a perfect way way to spend a night remembering Jesus’ command to his disciples to love one another.

photo © 2007 Stephen Cummings | more info (via: Wylio) 

This past Sunday was one of those weeks. One of those weeks when the kids are just nuts! Loud happy play, loud unhappy crying, toddlers getting into everything, lots of tattling, attention spans even shorter than usual, etc.

But, we persevered. I do believe, perhaps naively, that they are getting something out of it even when they don’t seem to be.

As it was Palm Sunday and we were wrapping up our Lent series of Psalm 23, I merged the two together into one lesson. First, we went back over the entire Psalm 23 which the oldest children know by heart and the younger ones seem to know about half of. The final verse of Psalm 23 says, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

I shared with the children that the verb “follow” in the Hebrew means “to pursue.” Being pursued has a different feeling to it than being followed as a pursuer most often intends to overtake you! Imagine being overtaken by God’s goodness and love! We experienced this by first following and then chasing the children to show them the difference between being followed and being pursued.

After our game of chase we transitioned into Palm Sunday and the story of the Triumphal Entry. I told the kids that the biggest way God chased after us with his goodness and love was by sending his Son, Jesus, to show us just how wide, and long, and high, and deep his love is for us.

We reenacted the story with one of the daddies being a good sport and taking on the role of donkey while his son rode on his back pretending to be Jesus. The rest of us threw palm branches to the ground which my girls had fashioned out of cardboard and construction paper earlier that morning and shouted “Hosanna!”

During most of this time it seemed at least one child was having a meltdown or wandering off or interrupting to talk about something unrelated. It was one of those weeks when I think to myself that we’re crazy and should just go to a “normal” church!

But, then I remembered a couple of things. First, research shows that when it comes to discipleship the most significant influence on a child is his or her parents having a vibrant spiritual life. I see the Treasure Box time as an opportunity to plant a seed which the parents will water throughout the week. Equally important, I believe setting aside time for the kids helps them feel like they are an vital part of our gathering as too often adult conversations are “boring” and sometimes inappropriate.

Now, as for the yelling and interrupting that happened even after the Treasure Box time, I remind myself it’s a family gathering. Sometimes at large family gatherings the children are little angels, and sometimes they behave monstrously! But, in either case, they are children who are learning how to get along with and love each other as well as how to behave in different environments and contexts. It is my job as an adult, and the job of the other adults in the groups, to help the children learn and grow in both areas.

It’s weeks like last week where I realize I probably learned and grew even more than the children did!

The table was set with lots of the kids’ favorite foods including mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, and strawberries! There were cards with each child’s name set at their spot at the table making them feel even more special. We gathered around the table, and while the children started snacking on the yummy food we practiced saying the entire Psalm 23 from memory and reminded the kids what we’ve been learning the past few weeks.

Then Carla took over and did a fun activity with the kids to demonstrate what it means for your cup to overflow. She brought small paper bathroom cups and candy. She talked about how all the blessings from God are what fills up our cups until they overflow and asked the kids to think about good things God gives them. As each child said something they were grateful for they put a candy in their cup. Eventually all the cups were overflowing!

We closed in prayer and thanked God for preparing such a wonderful table for us and for all the gifts in our lives, and enjoyed our lunch together.

photo © 2010 godo godaj | more info (via: Wylio)

My car sped along the dangerously winding road. Years ago, before they widened it, white crosses dotted the roadside from numerous traffic fatalities. Still, it was not uncommon for a driver to lose control swerving off the road into a tree.

The painted, double yellow line was all that separated me from the oncoming traffic. It wouldn’t have taken much effort to simply cross it into the other lanes. At the speeds we were all traveling I didn’t doubt that I would die. In fact, I hoped I would.

Yet, one thought pierced through the sinister ones — “What would they feed the baby?”

I was breastfeeding after all, despite the fact that I was only going to “try” it. Hours were spent practicing her latch, counting wet diapers, and making sure I fed her often enough. It was the only thing I seemed to be able to do right as a new mother. Make milk.

Her birth traumatized my body so much that I couldn’t sit properly for weeks. When she cried I didn’t know what to do or how to comfort her. Holding, walking, rocking never seemed to help. Nursing, though, that almost always helped. Nursing was difficult and excruciatingly painful at first, but it worked. Besides, all the literature told me “breast is best.”

“I can’t kill myself because she needs my milk,” I thought.

The darkness I walked in after her birth was overwhelming. Most of my memories of the first few months of her life seem to be in black and white. There is no joy, no happy-shiny-mommy-moment I can recall. The loneliness and sadness I felt were excruciating, and my thoughts were not rational.

I believed I was useless as a mother and that she’d be better off without me.

My midwife screened me for post-partum depression at my 6-week check up asking me about my moods, if I cried a lot or for no reason, how I was sleeping, etc. I lied and told her I was happy, that I was fine. Speaking the truth would only have served to confirm my utter failure as a mother. So, I pretended to my midwife and to everyone that I was okay.

Slowly, over months, the fog of depression began to lift. My ability to cope with everyday events became stronger and I stopped feeling as overwhelmed. I quit calling my husband at work crying about how unhappy I was and asking him when he’d be home to help me with the baby. I felt more confident and content.

As that baby’s 9^th birthday approaches, I look back and feel sad for what seems like lost time, grateful that I got better and that it didn’t happen again after the birth of my second child, and still somewhat ashamed of my fragility during that time. I also feel guilty that those months of my depression may have contributed to the current problems with ADHD and a mood disorder my daughter struggles with.

But the shame and guilt is quickly removed by a whisper of grace. The whisper says I don’t have to be perfect at anything, including being a mom. It says grace is all I need for my past, for today, and for what is to come in my future. I chose then and choose now to believe that whisper of grace.

photo © 1998 Russ | more info (via: Wylio)

This was a bit more challenging to me because we have mostly younger, preschool aged children in our group and I didn’t want to make the lesson too scary for them. Sometimes even just the suggestion of something scary earlier in the day can lead to several nights of bedtime drama in our house, and I didn’t want to cause that for the other parents in our group.

First we practiced reciting the Psalm which we’re all getting the down fairly well (except for the confusion about which version we’re memorizing!). Then I asked them what they think the “valley of the shadow of death” might be like. One little boy told an imaginative story about flying and dragons and other stuff I didn’t quite make out, but it sounded exciting.

After that I had the children close their eyes and imagine a time when they were scared or to think about something that makes them scared. I asked them if they’re alone in whatever it is they’re imagining. Everyone answered yes.

Then we talked about how our Good Shepherd is always with us just like the verse says, and we don’t have to be afraid. I also suggested that to be comforted by the shepherd’s staff the sheep have to stay close to the shepherd. But, if a sheep does wander off the shepherd will always go and find it (Luke 15.1-7).

Next I read them the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel 3 out of The Children’s Illustrated Bible. We talked about how scared the boys must have been, but that God sent an angel to be with them and protect them in the furnace.

We closed with a few moments being silent and listening to God before praying together.  The children are all growing in their ability to remain still and quiet which is encouraging to see.