Friday, October 06, 2006

I Want To Know You (In The Secret)

Knowing God is not always easy;
probably one of the biggest hurdles is the difference between "knowing" Him
and simply "believing" in Him.
In James 2:17 it says that faith without action or good deeds is of no value.
As we desire to know God better, one question we have to ask ourselves is
do we just believe in God or are we seeking to know him more?
-liner notes in WOW 2000 from Sonicflood (about I Want To Know You (In The Secret))


I was filling my car with some old Christian songs this a.m. and as each song came on, I was reading the liner notes from each performer about the song. The words from Sonicflood were so thought provoking. I am pretty familiar with the Book of James and I the concept that faith without works is a dead faith. I don't struggle with how that fits in with the concept of God's overwhelming and unearnable grace. I feel that if you truly believe, that belief will drive you to act.

But, I had never thought about this in the context of my personal relationship with God. I never thought about how "believing" without actively working on the relationship was a dead faith. I knew this in my heart all along...but I love that I now know it in my head and that it has been tied in with the writings of James.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Let Go and Let God

My youngest, Lizzie, started kindergarten this year. I was certain we would have some adjustment issues with her, but didn't expect problems like the ones we have dealt with for the first two years of Maury's public schooling. See, Maury turned out to have ADD. We have spent all this time getting his medication just right so that he can make it through most days without being a terrible disruption. Lizzie...well, I was expecting her issues to be with talking too much. I also thought she wasn't quite as ready for the academic stuff as Maury had been.

I was wrong. Lizzie is actually performing in the top of her class. And, it's not talking too much that is the problem. It is screaming. Not following directions. Hitting. Squirting classmates with juice. Climbing the walls in the bathroom.

Last week, she hit the low point when she was sent to the principal's office. The worst thing about that was that she REALLY acted out when she was told to go to the office. Nope. The punishment of it was not enough to scare her straight even for a moment. That night, we told her that she would not be allowed to attend a school carnival if she had another day where she was on "red" or had a note sent home. We also offered some positive reinforcement to her if she stayed on "green" the rest of the week.

She came home the next day reporting that she had been on "red". She hadn't even made it to her classroom that day before she started acting up, in fact.

So, this Monday, I went to the bus stop feeling worn down by her. (I haven't even mentioned that she was getting in trouble on the bus as well.) What could I do? I had met with her teacher. I was trying to reinforce things at home. I was talking to her morning and night about it. Nothing was getting through.

Nervous and discouraged, I got in the van and prayed. "Lord, Fill them up. Amen."

I should have done that sooner. Why didn't that ever occur to me until then? I'm not with her during her school day. God is. He always is.

She hasn't gotten on "red" yet this week. And, I am praying every morning for them after they get on the bus. My prayer is more elaborate now, though. It is one that starts with praise for God...then asks Him to please do it again!