The girls and I were playing in their room today...barbies, kitchen, baby-dolls, and music band. They have a drum filled with shakers, tambourines, symbols, triangle, moroccas (sp?), and a few microphones made with plastic. They rotated turns playing the drum, the shaker, or singing. I of course got to be a part of the rotation! We started with familiar songs from The Donut Man, who is an AWESOME children's worship leader. He has lots of songs that are biblically sound and teach kids the gospel. Anyways- they both started with familiar songs we all knew, and eventually, like most small kids, went into their own lyrics of whatever it was that was on their mind. McKenna began to sing out in an unfamiliar melody (one that was her own) "if you believe in your heart, that Jesus is Lord, and God raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved". She didn't come up with these words on the spot. She knows these words well. The girls learn different verses every few weeks, and this is one of the first ones they ever learned from GaGa. It's Romans 10:9. And they will say it over and over again. They actually get upset if you cue them and say more than the first word, because they "want to do it" themselves. But here came the verse- on its own- up out of the mouth of my daughter. In her spare time. While playing around. Having fun. By default. See the reason McKenna freely sang such saving lyrics without instruction is because that is what she feeds on all the time. When we "worship" (which is actually anything we do with our life- which includes but is not limited to singing along with songs at church, driving in the car, having a conversation with a friend, or even reading this blog) we manifest the things which are in our souls. The things we dwell on and meditate on and think about all day long, every day, day after day. If you focus our attention on a soap opera every waking minute of the day- when you're are away from the tv, I can guarantee your life is probably emotional and melodramatic. If you listen to gossip every time you're with a friend, I can bet you're thinking negative thoughts about people at every chance you get. If you jam along with music that has sexual references every time you drive, I'll guess that when you arrive at your destination you're thinking about the same subject matter. And I'll beg to differ that if you're not meeting with the author of peace, and unity, you'll argue at every frustration throughout your day. What we feed on is what we end up throwing up out of our mouth. Dear Jesus, let me be someone who has your words of Truth deep within me - so that when life comes with moments of uncertainty or in my everyday coming and going I proclaim Your name. When we stuff Jesus in, the only thing we can get out is Jesus too. And that is critical if we want to bleed Jesus to the world. McKenna didn't just sing Truth from a song either- we were doing that to the Donut Man tunes. But she also sang something NEW. The psalmist tells us to "sing a new song". And at three and a half years old, McKenna is doing just that. What's a new song? Singing something to God that isn't already written down. It's expressing the truth of who He is, and how He has changed you to Him from a deep stored up place inside. Thank you God that my 3 year old is already learning to worship you in Spirit and in Truth! I've sung songs, and lead worship for thousands of people in my life- and still the greatest impact is one on one with my kids. If you think for a minute that being a mom is lousy, or isn't "reaching people" for Jesus, you've got it all wrong. Discipleship begins in the home. If you cannot model Jesus to those who see you every day, how can you model Him to those whom you've seen for partial amounts of time? So in the post today- I hope I've encouraged you to hide Truth in the depths of your soul- and the depths of your kids' souls. And that you begin to sing a new song to Lord with the truth you've stored up for a rainy day! ps- everyday is a good day - not just when it rains - to sing to the Lord!
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AuthorBri is the mom to four little people, the wife to a gentle giant, and a lover of Jesus. She's figuring out the best ways to parent by trial and error, and sharing her struggles, successes, and stories with you! Archives
June 2018
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