Beneath the Brush

By Hally Franz –

Parents love their children at each of the developmental stages they experience, but I think it is natural for us to have our favorites along the way. Many love infancy, because it makes for some wonderfully warm cuddle sessions. Others like to observe the wonder in the eyes of preschoolers as they explore and learn new things. I enjoy my children as they have gotten older. Mine aren’t much for snuggling these days, and they are sometimes hard to impress. However, they now express and impress me with their interests, hopes and dreams.

And, then there is the yard work. Perhaps that gives me extra incentive to enjoy this phase of their lives.

My fourteen-year-old son says he wants to be a landscaper. He is also my capitalist. While our daughter may never manage money well, her brother is always ready to earn some. So, on a recent warm day, I proposed some chores to him. Some stepping stones needed to be replaced. Bird feeders to be filled, and a repair to a wind-damaged piece of porch trim. I also wanted dead foliage cut, raked and removed from flower beds.

As I demonstrated the final task for my son, I was once again pleased to see that underneath the waste of winter, there were short green sprouts making their appearance. Hiding below the weathered remains of last year were the starts of new growth—hyacinths and hostas ready to usher in the season. How reassuring that perennial gift of spring is to us!

God’s Word is full of wonderful symmetry, and this is just another example of the poetic truth we find in Him. I knew what I would see beneath the brown brush when I coached my son on his assignment. I’d have been shocked not to see those beautiful, emerald signs of life. I know with confidence they’ll come this time each year, just as surely as I know God’s promise of salvation is real, and He can be counted on to fulfill His promises to us.

When we remove the worn and ragged parts of our being to become Christians, we are made new. That is something we can rely on, too. And, when we awake each day, God has blessed us with another opportunity to serve him better than we did the day before. How blessed we are that God uses stages and seasons, promises and opportunities to show His love and His plans for us.

PRAYER: Most Gracious Father, thank You for the promises provided in Your word, as well as the infinite and beautiful ways that You communicate to us through Your awesome creations. May we receive Your promises and messages, and be made anew each day.

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4 NIV).

Katelyn’s Cross

By Susan Dollyhigh –

Instead of her usual style of bouncing, running, or skipping, six=year-old Katelyn walked into the house after church with her head lowered and forehead furrowed.

“What’s wrong, Katelyn?” I asked.

She looked up at me. The frown remained.

“My teacher told me something sad. Let me show you.”

She placed a white sheet of paper and a box of markers on the coffee table, got down on her knees, and went to work. I squinted, confused as Katelyn pulled a brown marker from the box.

“Don’t watch, Nana. I’ll show you when I’m finished.”

“Okay,” I said, and went into the kitchen to prepare lunch. Within a few minutes, Katelyn appeared.

“Here, Nana. This is what’s wrong.” She handed me her drawing; a yellow sun in one corner, grass sprouted from the bottom of the page, and a big brown cross reached to the sky. Scrawled in childish handwriting were these words: “Jesus died here. So sad.”

I looked at Katelyn and our eyes met. “He died, Nana. Jesus died on the cross, and I am sad. Does that make you sad, too?” She tried to choke back the sadness.

My precious granddaughter had learned what Jesus endured to be our Savior, and the awful truth broke her sweet heart.

“Oh Katelyn, yes, it makes me sad, but I need to tell you the rest of the story. Jesus died on the cross because He loves us so much. He died on the cross for you and for me and for everyone in the world so that we can be forgiven when we sin, or do something bad. Jesus died so that someday we can go to Heaven and live forever with all the people we love. And do you want to know the best part of the story, Katelyn? Jesus came back to life – did you know that? God raised Him from the dead and took Him to Heaven where He still lives today. We can talk to Him anytime we want by praying.”

“Oh,” she said. The sorrow melted from her face. “That’s good, Nana. Okay, I’m going to play.”

Katelyn heard the news, and joy returned to her heart. She bounced down the hallway to her room, all the while singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know….”

Katelyn’s reaction to hearing that Jesus died on the cross caused my heart to ache, and I experienced anew the sorrow of my Savior’s torturous death. But then I remembered the rest of the story, and like Katelyn, joy flooded my soul.

PRAYER: Thank you, Jesus – for the rest of the story.

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:5-6 NIV).

Looking For the Tears

By Cynthia Ruchti –

It wasn’t easy to pull off, but when my two oldest kids were toddlers—Amy (3 ½) and Matt (1)—every Friday my friend and I used their afternoon nap as an opportunity to meet together to pray. With our Bibles open on my dining room table, my friend and I stopped the whirl of homemaking for an hour and focused on praying for our homes, our husbands, our children, our trivial and anything-but-trivial heart concerns.

One afternoon, when the intensity of our love for our children brought tears to our eyes as we bent over our Bibles, I felt a tug on my sleeve. Amy’s nap had ended early that day.

We brought our prayer time to a close so I could attend to my daughter’s little girl needs.

Later that day, I found Amy kneeling on the seat of my chair, her elbows on the table. The thin pages of my Bible rustled like sun-crisped leaves as she turned them.

She knew her alphabet but could read few words other than “No,” “Yes,” “Mom,” “Dad,” “Love.”

“Honey, what are you doing?”

Amy didn’t stop turning pages. “I’m looking for the tears.”

My tears for her on the pages of God’s Word.

“Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

My daughter was impressed—as was I—with a life-altering truth: A caring mom turns to God’s Word and leaves her tears there.

PRAYER: Father God, how often have I neglected to impress Your truths on the hearts of my children? Make me ultra-sensitive to those opportune moments. And as the context of that biblical teaching encourages, may they first be impressed on my own heart.

“Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up,” Deuteronomy 6:7 NIV.

Sitting On A Hill

By Cheri Cowell –

I just heard a news report that parents and young children are not getting enough sleep. I hope they didn’t pay a lot for that bit of research because you and I could have told them that.

My husband and I require different amounts of sleep. I need so much more than he does, but both of us need our down time. We spend that time in different ways, but just like this sleep study suggested, all of us need renewal time. For us, as Christians, we also need God time. Time we spend alone with Him is precious time. Yes, we are to study and pray, but we also need to just sit and be still. We need to listen, and be renewed. Jesus needed that same thing.

I never paid much attention to this passage until this week when it jumped off the page at me. It is not often used at Easter, and is easy to overlook. Just like our need for quiet time with God is easy to overlook, it would have been easy for Jesus to keep preaching, knowing He only had a few days left. How many times have I said, “I have so much to do before I can rest tonight?” Even Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy One Himself, knew He needed to renew each night.

It’s true. Parents, children, and everyone else in America are not getting enough rest. And every Christian can probably use more time to sit on a hill and be still with God.

PRAYER: I praise You today for the example Jesus gave of what I need to do when feeling overworked, overburdened, and overtired. Help me set aside the big to-do list each night, and to spend a few minutes with You sitting on a hill in stillness.

“Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple” (Luke 21:37-38 NIV).

Not Always a Cake Walk

By Hally Franz –

I love Italian Cream Cake. I’ve not made it myself, but Mom still bakes one for me occasionally. I hear it’s not difficult, but involves a lot of steps. I could do it, if I were to take my time and follow the directions exactly. My finished product would likely be just fine.

Some might see parenting in this same light.

My husband’s 4-H aerospace project group is planning to build model airplanes. I am sure they will do quite well with their projects provided they exercise care and diligence. I don’t believe any advanced training is required for that.

Perhaps, parenting is a bit like building a model.

It’s science fair time at my children’s school. They’ve done background research to help understand the experiments they are conducting, and to develop hypotheses based on the research. They anticipate a certain outcome, but only time will tell what the results will be.

Could this be a parenting analogy?

The fact is that we parents want to believe that a simple (or complicated) set of instructions can guide us through the rearing of a happy, successful and Godly child. We bank on the fact that some basic study may be required to prepare for parenthood, but no advanced degrees are required. We optimistically set about the parenting experience anticipating the desired results, feeling confident that things will go as planned.

That isn’t always the truth, though. In most cases, great parents raise great adults. Most of the time, the hours of toil and worry, the tears, the time, the energy and the prayers all pay off. But, just as there are resilient children who become wonderful adults even when they’ve had hard and dysfunctional childhoods, there are kids who seem not to thrive, even under the best circumstances. In both my professional and personal experience, I have known the best of parents who have had much heartache and discouragement along their parenting journeys. It is important to recognize that not all parents are challenged equally.

It’s easy to become arrogant about parenting if we find our offspring have matured into contented Christian adults. Some children, young or old, may spend their entire lives in search of peace. Like the Prodigal Son and King Nebuchadnezzar, some of our children must learn lessons the hard way. In any case, those child challenges are loved as much as the low-maintenance ones.

And, blessed be those resilient parents.

PRAYER: Merciful Father of us all, please give Christian parents encouragement and hope when we face challenges in child-rearing. As You have loved those who are slow to learn, help us to love our children unconditionally, to have patience, and to gain peace throughout the process, even when there is heartache and disappointment.

“For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:24 NIV).

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