Sunday, March 22, 2009

Pourin' Out My Love

A couple of weeks ago, a little girl at the preschool where I work started hugging her teacher. Her teacher said, "Stella, what are you doing?" Her response was, "I'm just pourin' out my love on you." I think my mouth kind of dropped over. Probably without even realizing it, this little girl gave me a clear picture of (part of) who God is. God doesn't need a reason to pour His love out on us- He just does it, no questions asked. And wow, did I need love poured out on me this past week.

Monday night, David and I received some disheartening news that brought us to our knees in surrender. Only God could get us out of this. The turnaround in 24 hours was amazing- God's grace through and through. It was exhausting going from extreme worry to extreme praise and excitement. I don't have words for what God has done for us- just that He is GOOD! His faithfulness to provide for us is mind-boggling. I felt God's love being poured out on me for sure!

Not to mention, as the new music and spanish teacher at the preschool, I am constantly being loved by those kids. I've gotten planty of hugs, I love you's, and one little special needs boy said to me the other day, "Miss. Sarah? You're a sweet girl!" God is using these little kids in ways that they don't even know!

In His Mercy.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Sunshine Day

Well, it feels like Spring here in Geogia, at least for the time being. The weatherman says it will get cold again. Maybe straight hair season is not over quite yet=)

David and I spent the afternoon running errands. We ran over to Target, Best Buy, the dry cleaner's, and then grabbed some lunch. I sat at the table with David and was suddenly overcome by emotions regarding our upcoming move. I guess I never really stopped to think about what it would be like to be a pastor's wife. The truth is, I got spoiled this time around. Because David is THE staff and there wasn't really an office for him at the church, it meant he could work from home. It meant he could eat lunch with me when I got home from work. It meant he could help cook dinner and go grocery shopping with me in the afternoon.

I'm excited about our move, but I have my fears. I keep thinking that it is going to be a tough transition. He'll be on staff and won't be around as much. am I being selfish? I am so grateful for our time together here and I am excited for what the future holds, but it is so hard to just trust that even though our schedules will look different, we are still on the top of each other's priority lists.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and in all your ways acknowledge him."

In His Mercy.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

The Apple- 3 in 1?

I went to a preschool conference on Friday. One of the workshops I went to was about how to incorporate faith-based lessons in the classroom. One of the ideas she gave us was to take an apple and explain to the kids that our Trinitarian GOd is like an apple. Well, like any good Asburian, a red flag went up. In a worship class I took as Asbury, we discussed how analogies like this are borderline heretical. To say that God is like an apple is modalism. God does not function in 3 different modes, but the three persons work together as a unit. The leader of this workshop made it sound as if we gave the kids this analogy, then we will have taken care of the "trinity problem." Why do we feel the need to squelch a child's sense of wonder? If as adults we don't fully understand the trinity, then why are reducing God to an apple to appease a child?

This is a problem with a lot of today's children's curricula: it's simplistic and takes away the chance for the child to ask questions. One of my biggest pet peeves is when VBS teachers or children's ministry leaders take a curriculum and read it verbatim. They get flustered when a child asks a question that the pages in front of them don't answer. When did we stop speaking from the heart? When did we start disallowing a child's freedom to be curious? What we need is open-ended curriculum that allows for the innocence of a child to remain past their Sunday school years....

In His Mercy.