I am a mom.
I pack my children's lunches on most mornings before we run off to school together.
Yesterday my daughter was getting a water bottle out of her lunch box before we even left for school. When she saw what I had packed she exclaimed happily, "Mom, thanks for buying us a Lunchable!"
A warm sensation filled my heart! I did not make lunch for the purpose of my children thanking me. I was almost surprised at how much it touched me the way she expressed herself with such gratitude. My children are in the habit of saying, "thanks" regularly, so I'm not really sure why it hit me so hard yesterday morning. Perhaps it was because making lunches is such a "daily" thing -- it is not a special event.
It made me contemplate how often I give God thanks in the "daily" things. Do I just take it for granted that I am going to wake up, that I am overall healthy, that I have a great family? I know that God does not need me to let Him know that He has given me a good gift. He has no insecurities about whether He is doing a good job being "God of the universe."
However, I DO need to remember that God is the giver of good and perfect gifts. I need to see His giving in the little details of the "daily." I need to cultivate a grateful heart in the ordinary.
I needed to learn from this "Lesson of the Lunchable" about paying attention to my life and giving thanks for all of the ordinary gifts God has given me each day!!!!
29 August, 2007
12 August, 2007
Summer is ending for me! On Tuesday I go back to work.
The last few weeks have been a great end to our families summer. I went to "Kid's Camp" with our church's children's group. It was fun to see 3rd through 6th graders worshiping God and learning how to stand firm in Him.
After that we left the following day to be a part of a mission trip in Chicagoland, USA. This was not my fist mission trip. I have spent spring break twice at Daytona Beach on a mission trip. I have also spent a summer at Daytona Beach. I have spent a couple of weeks in Russia three times. I have spent a couple of weeks in China. I spent a few weeks in East Germany (before it was rejoined with West Germany) and I have spent a summer in Czechoslovakia (before it was the Czech Republic) followed by a little over a year in Prague, CZ. So, I considered myself a mission trip veteran.
To be honest, our trip to Chicagoland was by far the toughest trip I have been on in regards to reception. In Eastern Europe and China, people enjoy visiting about spiritual things and don't seem to feel threatened by them at all even if the totally disagree with you. On the beach, college students who were much more interested partying would still take time to chat. In Chicago people seemed to have no interest at all in spiritual things. It was such a perfect illustration of what it says in 2 Corinthians 4:4:
"In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
One response we received when we invited their children to a Bible Club or their families to a Block Party was, "We know what you are doing, and we are not interested."
We know what you are doing -- sounds like we were doing some illegal activity.
I am thankful that my two children - 9 and 10 - were able to see this attitude to the gospel. It opened up the conversation to talk about the fact that people need Jesus all over the world.
We are blessed to know people that God has called to serve Him all around the world. We are thankful for our friends who are serving Him in Batavia, IL!!!!!
The last few weeks have been a great end to our families summer. I went to "Kid's Camp" with our church's children's group. It was fun to see 3rd through 6th graders worshiping God and learning how to stand firm in Him.
After that we left the following day to be a part of a mission trip in Chicagoland, USA. This was not my fist mission trip. I have spent spring break twice at Daytona Beach on a mission trip. I have also spent a summer at Daytona Beach. I have spent a couple of weeks in Russia three times. I have spent a couple of weeks in China. I spent a few weeks in East Germany (before it was rejoined with West Germany) and I have spent a summer in Czechoslovakia (before it was the Czech Republic) followed by a little over a year in Prague, CZ. So, I considered myself a mission trip veteran.
To be honest, our trip to Chicagoland was by far the toughest trip I have been on in regards to reception. In Eastern Europe and China, people enjoy visiting about spiritual things and don't seem to feel threatened by them at all even if the totally disagree with you. On the beach, college students who were much more interested partying would still take time to chat. In Chicago people seemed to have no interest at all in spiritual things. It was such a perfect illustration of what it says in 2 Corinthians 4:4:
"In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
One response we received when we invited their children to a Bible Club or their families to a Block Party was, "We know what you are doing, and we are not interested."
We know what you are doing -- sounds like we were doing some illegal activity.
I am thankful that my two children - 9 and 10 - were able to see this attitude to the gospel. It opened up the conversation to talk about the fact that people need Jesus all over the world.
We are blessed to know people that God has called to serve Him all around the world. We are thankful for our friends who are serving Him in Batavia, IL!!!!!
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