Isn't everyone pretending they're alright
Isn't everyone about to fall
Isn't everyone playing beautiful tonight
Isn't everyone about to fall
We're all playing beautiful
But we're about to fall
True, isn't it? This song, About to Fall by The Wrecking, played over and over in my head last Tuesday night.
I was sitting on a stool in my church's sanctuary, along with six others. We had gotten together that night to merely worship our Father; to lift praise up to Him and bring focus to Him. Our pastor was among us, and he started off by asking each of us how we got to the point where we could worship--and do so in pure love. The responses amazed me.
Each one there shared a story about their faith. Some talked about growing up in the church but recently making decisions for Christ while others shared the pain they'd gone through apart from the church. Some had been involved in the church but had pushed God away, unable to see past their pain to the loving God waiting for them. But each person, myself included, had something in common: Struggles. Pain. Questions. Among the things shared were depression, anxiety, lying, cheating, and tears.
It really got me thinking. How many people do I talk to every day that are harboring their fears, their pains, their struggles? How many people have avoided facing these things? And what really struck me was that everyone is about to fall. Satan has so distorted this world, and he seeks to harm us in any- and every way. He desires our ruin, especially the ruin of us Christians.
Thankfully, in John 16:33, Jesus gives us encouragement and comfort:
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
We all are indeed about to fall. We all need a Savior, Someone to rescue us. We all need the love of our Father, that we may experience that love and then in turn love others.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
His Kids
Our Sunday school classroom was relatively peaceful yesterday morning, being as we only had a few 4-6 year-olds running around playing with baby dolls. The lesson was about baby Moses being taken and cared for by Pharaoh's daughter, and each child was to pretend to take care of a doll upon entrance to the classroom. One little girl and I were wrapping her doll in a blanket, and the others were either pushing theirs in a stroller, "burping" it, or giving it a bottle.
All of a sudden, I heard wheezing and sobbing from the open door behind me. I turned to see one of the 2-3 year-old aids with a little boy next to her, almost choking between sobs and sucking on his hand (quite literally his whole hand). The poor girl didn't know what to do, so she had brought him to his sister's room in hopes that he'd calm down.
"Can he stay in here with you?" she asked. "I think he misses his parents..."
"Absolutely," I replied.
The little guy, whom I will call Joey, shuffled in and stood by the other teacher's side. The aid left the room, and the other teacher in our classroom tried to help Joey relax.
First, she tried talking to him. When he wouldn't respond, she brought over a snack and offered it to him. He merely looked at it and continued wheezing and sobbing--with his hand in his mouth. The woman told him to sit down and he looked at her, petrified. Finally she lost patience and looked frustratedly up at me.
"Will you please go take him to [the Children's Ministry Director]? I can't take it anymore."
I picked the little girl up off of my lap and set her on the chair beside me. "I'll be back," I reassured her before walking over to where Joey was standing. I wasn't about to take him to the Director, since that would mortify him and he'd freak out even more, but I decided we would take a walk around the church and see what happened.
"Alright, come here buddy," I said as I scooped him up and set him on my hip. "Let's go for a walk."
We walked around the first floor of my church, admiring the murals on the walls and pointing out each animal we could find. The first few minutes he spent wheezing, but after we found some animals he calmed down a little bit. A few minutes after that he was still trembling and sucking on his hand, but the tears had stopped streaming down his face and he was looking around at the walls. We kept walking until I thought he was ready to go back to the classroom, and then I explained to him that we were going to watch a video later in class and learn about a "really special and famous baby." He liked that idea.
When we arrived back at the classroom, the other teacher was showing the kids pictures in a book about the fact that God is with us no matter where we go. I looked around the room to see a few more faces than where there when I left. The kids were having fun taking turns naming places where God was with them; "The ocean!" Underwater!" Fishing!" When I eat!" "At church!"
Soon it was time to go down the hall to the Media Room, where we would watch a video and sing songs. We got all the way through the video before one girl, Hannah, had to go to the bathroom. Since I still had Joey attached to me, I whispered in his ear and asked him if he'd want to stay with the class or come with Hannah and me to the bathroom. He opted for the latter.
The bathroom, much to the kids' delight and the teachers' dismay, has foamy white soap that looks great just about everywhere. Hannah pumped a mountain of soap onto her little hands and rubbed them together. "Look! I'm really white! Oh, I just love this stuff!" Joey was giggling now, watching her having so much fun with the soap. He kept mumbling things, but I couldn't understand him since his hand was still lodged in his mouth. I asked if he wanted to wash his own hands, hoping he'd say yes since it was obviously an enjoyable activity and his hand was covered in saliva. He said no.
Hannah returned to the soap dispenser and created another mountain. "Come on, Hannah. We need to get back to the room now or we're going to miss the songs!" I told her. She just smiled and kept playing with the foam. We finally did get out of there, and returned in time to learn the song.
Joey mumbled something in his already quiet-now-quieter voice. I asked him to take his hand out of his mouth, and he obeyed and announced he'd like to get down off my hip and participate in the song. I set him down and watched as he stood by the wall for a couple minutes. After the first song, though, he started doing the motions along with the rest of the kids. As it turns out, he did a wonderful job the rest of the morning and (as far as I know) didn't shed a tear again.
I wonder what God sees when He looks at us. How often He picks us up and walks us around to comfort us in our times of need! How often He shows us things to brighten our day! He knows we, His children, need Him as our Father. He sees the whole picture--He knows that things aren't as unconquerable as they may seem to us. He's willing to take a walk with us, to talk to us and comfort us no matter what's going on.
The time I am blessed to spend with the kids each Sunday shows me more and more about Him and His love. He is our Father and we are His children, and He has gone the greatest length for us. What a great God we serve!
All of a sudden, I heard wheezing and sobbing from the open door behind me. I turned to see one of the 2-3 year-old aids with a little boy next to her, almost choking between sobs and sucking on his hand (quite literally his whole hand). The poor girl didn't know what to do, so she had brought him to his sister's room in hopes that he'd calm down.
"Can he stay in here with you?" she asked. "I think he misses his parents..."
"Absolutely," I replied.
The little guy, whom I will call Joey, shuffled in and stood by the other teacher's side. The aid left the room, and the other teacher in our classroom tried to help Joey relax.
First, she tried talking to him. When he wouldn't respond, she brought over a snack and offered it to him. He merely looked at it and continued wheezing and sobbing--with his hand in his mouth. The woman told him to sit down and he looked at her, petrified. Finally she lost patience and looked frustratedly up at me.
"Will you please go take him to [the Children's Ministry Director]? I can't take it anymore."
I picked the little girl up off of my lap and set her on the chair beside me. "I'll be back," I reassured her before walking over to where Joey was standing. I wasn't about to take him to the Director, since that would mortify him and he'd freak out even more, but I decided we would take a walk around the church and see what happened.
"Alright, come here buddy," I said as I scooped him up and set him on my hip. "Let's go for a walk."
We walked around the first floor of my church, admiring the murals on the walls and pointing out each animal we could find. The first few minutes he spent wheezing, but after we found some animals he calmed down a little bit. A few minutes after that he was still trembling and sucking on his hand, but the tears had stopped streaming down his face and he was looking around at the walls. We kept walking until I thought he was ready to go back to the classroom, and then I explained to him that we were going to watch a video later in class and learn about a "really special and famous baby." He liked that idea.
When we arrived back at the classroom, the other teacher was showing the kids pictures in a book about the fact that God is with us no matter where we go. I looked around the room to see a few more faces than where there when I left. The kids were having fun taking turns naming places where God was with them; "The ocean!" Underwater!" Fishing!" When I eat!" "At church!"
Soon it was time to go down the hall to the Media Room, where we would watch a video and sing songs. We got all the way through the video before one girl, Hannah, had to go to the bathroom. Since I still had Joey attached to me, I whispered in his ear and asked him if he'd want to stay with the class or come with Hannah and me to the bathroom. He opted for the latter.
The bathroom, much to the kids' delight and the teachers' dismay, has foamy white soap that looks great just about everywhere. Hannah pumped a mountain of soap onto her little hands and rubbed them together. "Look! I'm really white! Oh, I just love this stuff!" Joey was giggling now, watching her having so much fun with the soap. He kept mumbling things, but I couldn't understand him since his hand was still lodged in his mouth. I asked if he wanted to wash his own hands, hoping he'd say yes since it was obviously an enjoyable activity and his hand was covered in saliva. He said no.
Hannah returned to the soap dispenser and created another mountain. "Come on, Hannah. We need to get back to the room now or we're going to miss the songs!" I told her. She just smiled and kept playing with the foam. We finally did get out of there, and returned in time to learn the song.
Joey mumbled something in his already quiet-now-quieter voice. I asked him to take his hand out of his mouth, and he obeyed and announced he'd like to get down off my hip and participate in the song. I set him down and watched as he stood by the wall for a couple minutes. After the first song, though, he started doing the motions along with the rest of the kids. As it turns out, he did a wonderful job the rest of the morning and (as far as I know) didn't shed a tear again.
I wonder what God sees when He looks at us. How often He picks us up and walks us around to comfort us in our times of need! How often He shows us things to brighten our day! He knows we, His children, need Him as our Father. He sees the whole picture--He knows that things aren't as unconquerable as they may seem to us. He's willing to take a walk with us, to talk to us and comfort us no matter what's going on.
The time I am blessed to spend with the kids each Sunday shows me more and more about Him and His love. He is our Father and we are His children, and He has gone the greatest length for us. What a great God we serve!
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