The Jesus Storybook Bible

The Jesus Storybook Bible
Every story whispers his name
by Sally Lloyd-Jones

I first learned about this book on Danny's blog a couple weeks ago. Being a sucker for taking a recommendation from a pastor, I immediately got on Amazon and ordered it. It came several days ago and the kids and I have had a chance to read from it several times. At risk of looking like a sap, I'll admit that I've cried every time we've read from it. (The kids always look at me a little weird.) The author clearly has a gift for writing God's timeless truths in a fresh way. What I love, (and I realize is the whole point of the book), is how every story is loaded with JESUS. Even the Old Testament stories point us directly to God's original plan from the very beginning--our need for a Savior. Even if you don't have small children, I think its worth the ten bucks or so to have for just for yourself. I'll admit, I've already learned so much about relating the OT stories to Christ--stuff I had just never connected before.

I'm writing this because, if I had seen this book in a bookstore among a hundred other children's Bibles, I doubt it would've stuck out to me as anything out of the ordinary. (Not that I'm calling God's Word "ordinary", but you know what I mean.) And I hope it isn't too risky to recommend a book before I've read the whole thing. You see, we haven't exactly gotten past the Tower of Babel yet. Erin and Gabe keep requesting the same first few pages over and over again. They love it! I'm really excited that my kids are enjoying the Bible, but I'm really itching to read on!! Also, how awesome is it that I've "caught" Isaac reading from it on his own several times!! At his age, he refuses to be read to anymore, so its getting harder and harder to force any certain books on him. Praise God, He is voluntarily picking up God's Word to read it for himself!

Lessons from a Canine

I'm a cat person. I grew up with cats and developed a fondness for them. I've always had a cat up until about 5 years ago when our last one decided she was going to poop on my carpet if I didn't let her sleep on my bed. That earned her a free one-way ticket to the Darke County Animal Shelter. I don't handle well pets using the floor of my home as their toilet. It must have left a bad taste in my mouth, (or smell in my nose), as we've never gotten another cat.

Don't ask me why but we now have a dog. It was not a premeditated purchase. I suppose you could call it a really pricey impulse buy. Back in August of last year, we went to the pet store in Richmond to kill a few minutes while we were waiting to see a movie. We never saw the movie. We came home instead with a 10-week-old Cocker Spaniel. She looked me in the eyes and she was so cute and sweet. At the risk of sounding sappy, she stole my heart. Of course, I'd heard people talking before that having a puppy was a lot like having an infant in the house. But come on, how hard could it possibly be?

One thing I forgot to think about--dogs are kind of.......dirty. You must understand, I really, really, REALLY enjoy having a clean house. And smell is crucial too--I love a fresh smelling house! Yes, I have three children and they throw a bit of a kink in that. But I've learned to deal with it, lowering my standards enough so as to not go CRAZY! Over the years I'm sure I've spent many hours on my hands and knees cleaning out of my carpet spilt juice, milk, marker, play dough, adhered-to-the-carpet-raisins found under the couch, and other interestingly gross things. Then there are the body fluids--you know, the ones that have, at one time or another, landed on all of our couches and carpets. For some reason, though, when it comes from your own flesh and blood child, it doesn't seem QUITE as gross--you clean it up, let it dry, and find yourself laying your head on that same spot the next day without much thought. You just sort of get used to their messes because you HAVE to. You know, we can't just take our kids to the pound.

But when your DOG poops all through the house, (like mine did this morning), leaving countless tiny piles of this nasty, soft, green stuff and dragging her feet through it to leave poopy footprints clear down the hallway, through the living room, and across the couch..............I feel like I've had about all I can take! She is not, may I remind you, my flesh and blood. She is not like one of my children, who shares my last name and is required to live with us. She is OPTIONAL. And the OPTION is SOOOOOOO tempting at times like these!!!

It had been just a couple of hours before that, during my quiet time, I was asking God to help me make improvements in certain areas, namely, controlling my reactions when "accidents" happen around the house. I admit, I had things like 'spilt milk' in mind. I sometimes react violently to things like that; it seems like one of those areas I can't quite get a grip on and feel like I'm setting a horrible example for my children. I want to learn to act like Christ would if a child had spilt milk at his kitchen table--with PATIENCE, KIND WORDS, and UNDERSTANDING. But there was no spilt milk today. Just the dog. And once again, I failed to act as I know Jesus would've if his dog had pooped on the rug. I yelled and ranted and whined and pouted as I scrubbed the mess. (One of those moments when my oldest child gathers the younger two together and encourages them to "stay out of Mom's way!")

Thankfully, somewhere in the midst of my tantrum, God was speaking to me, "This house isn't important. This carpet isn't important. It doesn't matter if your carpet isn't new and fresh anymore. It doesn't matter if your couch is stained and even stinks a little. Nor do the numerous marks and dings on the walls matter. Nor the Manwich stain on the kitchen ceiling from 1998 that your husband said he would fix. Nor the scratches all down both sides of the van. Nor the black streaks on the roof. Nor the holes in the kitchen linoleum." IT DOESN'T MATTER, KATI.

I don't know of anywhere in God's Word where it says we should take pride in our homes. Yes, I know its important to care for the material blessings God gives us, but are we to shine them, and stare at them, and forbid children to touch them, and TREASURE them? I know of only One who is worthy of being treasured. Lord, thank you for using something so silly as my dog to remind me of this.

I'm still going to strive to do better at reacting to these messes. Whether its the milk being spilled on my newly mopped floor, or the dog relieving herself where she's not supposed to, or whatever tomorrow may bring, I'll continue to trust that the Lord CAN and WILL teach me to behave more like Himself in these moments.

Oh, and one more thing--just for anyone who might happen to find themselves in this situation: Resist the temptation to strap your 3 yr old in his car seat naked, on your way home from the pool and having forgotten to bring dry clothes along, thinking you'll save the car seat from getting wet. Apparently the whole nakedness thing can throw your child off a bit and give him the idea that its okay to pee right then and there while strapped in the seat, spraying the back of the drivers seat, passenger's seat, your husband's Bible, your pool bag, the box of tissues you keep in the vehicle, and the CARPET!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH! Now I have a house that smells like dog and a van that smells like pee! (But it doesn't matter, Lord!)

Sorry for all the references to bodily waste in this post. As you all know, its just part of life. Granted, a much bigger part of life than we would choose for those of us with small children or dogs.

Grace and the Ice Cream Cone

I suppose opportunities come along all the time to teach our children about God's amazing gift of GRACE. Only once in awhile do we actually recognize them.

Let me back up to supper time last evening. I had conjured up some sort of concoction involving pork, rice, tomatoes, and the kicker......ZUCCHINI. Although Erin tolerates a variety of vegetables, zucchini is definitely not on the list. Now, we have a rule around our house, and Matt and I are known to be pretty strict about it--if you don't finish your supper, you don't eat again until breakfast the next day. We try to avoid this as much as we can, as it usually means for an evening of "I'm Huuuuuungry". So, we encouraged her to eat. We pleaded with her to eat. We enthusiastically ate it ourselves and went back for seconds. Both Isaac and Gabe managed to finish theirs. But Erin picked around at hers, working hard, gagging, drinking lots of water to get most of it down. In the end, in the bottom of her bowl sat that little pile of rejected zucchini.

Later, I mentioned going to get some ice cream. I must have said it out loud before it occurred to me that Erin wouldn't be allowed any. But once the words are out, you can't take them back. The boys had already heard me, so there was no turning back. That's when I looked over at Erin and saw the disappointment all over her. She knew the rules.

Normally, I'd consider myself a tough-love, no-nonsense kind of mom. For some reason, last night was different. Maybe it was the way she was genuinely trying to hold back the tears, but failing. A parent can usually tell when a child is crying in order to be manipulative. This was clearly NOT one of those times. She was just plain heartbroken. Because when you're 5, missing out on ice cream can truly seem like the end of the world. I saw her pain, I understood, and I hurt with her. All of the sudden I found myself looking for excuses NOT to go.

Eventually the boys won out and we found ourselves on our way to Arcanum. The place we normally go was closed, so we sucked it up (literally, at $4 a gallon) and continued on to Greenville. The muffled sobs coming from the backseat the entire time made the trip seem a lot longer. Matt and I discussed, quietly, (in our special secret code we have to use with children present), how we were going to handle this. Now, don't get me wrong here. We weren't considering "giving in" to a whining child. She wasn't whining. She was just unable to hold back her very real emotions--emotions that spill out when you wish you'd done things differently, you can't change it no matter how much you want to now, and its time to accept the consequences. My heart was moved with compassion. One, because I've been there. Two, because I simply love her and wanted to take away her pain.

Erin didn't deserve ice cream. She didn't eat her supper, after all. That's the RULE. There have been plenty of times before when we've stuck to our guns and carried out the punishment as planned, with a child in the backseat crying for ice cream. But this time God nudged me. He let me know that this was a good time to teach my daughter about GRACE. I shared with Matt what I was feeling and he understood. As he got out of the van and went to the window to place our order, I gave Erin a quick-course on grace: We sin. We deserve death. Jesus took our punishment for us. God gives us LIFE instead of what we deserve. GRACE. (All of this, of course, in 5-yr-old style.)

Matt got back in the van and handed Erin an ice cream cone. Undeserved, thus truly appreciated. The smile and simple "Thank you!" she gave her daddy was priceless. She didn't even complain about being given plain vanilla, when everyone else got their choice of flavor. (Whew! I was praying she wouldn't whine and make us regret our decision.) She seemed to get the point and ate her ice cream happily and thankfully.

This is storybook parenting here. It doesn't go down like this very often--where you try to teach your child something and they actually cooperate with a right attitude. Though I don't know if she consciously put two and two together--that our little spiritual talk had something to do with her ending up with an ice cream cone. I guess its God's job to "put it together" inside her spirit, and I trust He'll give her the understanding in time.

Lastly, I must say that, while I think it is so important to show our kids grace at times, we also must be careful not to overuse this approach. MOST of the time, we should stick to the rules and let our children experience natural consequences of their actions. In instances involving outright disobedience or disrespect, I believe its always appropriate to discipline carefully. This was less crucial of an issue--merely childish dislike of a certain food, and we felt it was an appropriate time to demonstrate grace. God, give us the wisdom to know the difference in these times.