Where is your desire?

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of being involved in a baptismal service which included a very special six year old who calls me Nana Sharon. Although he may not have my DNA, in every way that counts, I AM his Nana and this very special relationship with him and his brother means more to me than I can tell you.

After the service, my husband and I were talking about the fact that when we have gone on mission trips with college students, there has been a significant amount of young people who have been re-baptized on these trips stating that they did it when they were a child but didn't really know what it meant. Most of the 26 people baptized last Sunday were around the ages of five or six and we discussed the level of understanding these precious babies would have about this decision. Here was our conclusion and why.

A number of years ago, our daughter, who is mentally challenged, began to talk about being baptized. Understand that she is on about a two year old mental level and communicates mostly with one or two word sentences so when she started saying "my turn" and "'-tize", we pretty much treated it as just another one of her obsessions. We ignored it for about two years until she began to get almost frantic about it. She would stand in front of the baptistry after church services, point and say, "my turn." The pastor finally came to us and suggested that we go ahead and allow her to be baptized. He convinced us that in whatever capacity she was able to understand, she had the desire to do something that she saw as important. We agreed and have never regretted the decision.

I told that story to explain why I feel that desire is one of the most important components in our Christian walk. Does a young child fully understand what it means to ask Jesus to be Lord of their life? Probably not but then neither do I sometimes. Do they have a legitimate desire to live fully for Christ? I believe that to be absolutely true. Nobody is perfect but if we sincerely desire to be Christ-like, I truly believe God will honor our efforts, no matter how young, old or mentally capable we are.

So the question is: Where is your desire? Do you desire to be the best you can be for your Savior? Then take comfort in knowing that God will take our desires and turn them in to something wonderful.

The Best Kept Secret

Okay everybody, I'm going to let you in on the best kept secret of New Covenant Academy. Come closer so I can whisper it in your ear...are you ready? It's called...car line.

Yes, now my secret is out and I'm sure there will be a stampede to come and help me! But in case you haven't got a clue what I'm talking about, let me enlighten you. It is my distinct privilege to stand in the driveway each morning and help children out of their cars and into the school building. And let me just tell you, it is the highlight of my day!

To see those smiling faces come bounding out of their cars, shouting greetings to their friends, then go running into the building, is the greatest way to start your day. There is something so inspiring to see such innocent joy. Granted, my cheerful "Good Morning" is not always met with equally cheerful responses but some are just not morning people and that doesn't deter me one bit.

Somehow all is well with the world when I can see these sweet faces so excited about what the day has to bring. It reminds me of two Bible verses:

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17
"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Can you think of a better reminder on the proper way to approach your day? That's why I find this particular duty such a delight. Well, except on rainy and cold days. Then there are other verses that come to mind...but that's for another day!

"Be Not Afraid"

As some of you may know, we just added a new member to our family--a mixed breed dog named Jayda who we adopted from a shelter and is afraid of EVERYTHING. Hissing cats, barking dogs, crunching leaves, moving shadows--you name it, she's afraid of it! Just about the time she was starting to relax with us, something happened that set her back several days but had us laughing so hard at the impossibility of ever recreating the events that occurred.

While my husband and Jayda were walking in front of our neighbor's house, a squirrel climbed up the down spout and ran across the roof right above where they were walking. The squirrel had a big green tomato in its mouth and just when it was parallel with our dog, the tomato slipped from its mouth and went careening down the roof where it bounced off the gutter and landed square on Jayda's head causing her to jump, yelp, and take off running. My husband thought it was so funny, he called everyone in the family to tell us the story! Jayda was not so amused.

Isn't that just the way it is with life sometimes? Just when we think we've got it made and start strutting confidently along, somebody beans us in the head with something that sends us scurrying back to a place we think is safe where no one can hurt us. And if we would take our cue from my new dog, we would stay in that safe place for an extended period of time, not taking a chance that something else might cause us to be frightened.

Fear is mentioned in the Bible 326 times, almost one for every day of the year. God knew that being afraid would be our own worst enemy and chose to address it so many times, in so many ways. Over and over again he says, "Be not afraid." So where do you think Satan will attack us the hardest? Where our greatest fears are, of course. Some think the answer is to never put ourselves in a situation that Satan might be able to use. My answer is just the opposite and I don't say this because I am such a courageous person. I say this because I have learned over the years that serving the Lord will bring me so much farther than cowering from Satan's possible attacks. I have learned that you don't deny the problem; you deny its authority over you. Ambrose Redmond says, "Courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that there is something more important than fear."

So get out there and serve the Lord...but watch out for squirrels with tomatoes!

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7