Loving God and Dirty Rice

One of my favorite foods in the world in DIRTY RICE! I love to make it, smell it, and mostly eat it! I just had some today for lunch with Jamison. And then we split a pizza, but that's another blog waiting to happen! Man, I love dirty rice. It's even better with green tobasco, but again, that's another blog waiting in the wings to be written!

This week in Kid's Church we're finishing up our "Finding Nemo" series. I love the part when Marlin (the Dad) and Nemo finally embrace! Nemo tells his Dad that he doesn't hate him, and then they both proceed to tell each other "I love you!" It's always blessed my heart alot when someone tells me that they love me. And not just because they think that's what they're supposed to say! Because they really mean it!

In the Bible, Paul and Silas had been thrown into jail because they had sent the demons packing from a girl who made alot of money for her "agents". They could have been depressed or upset, or even mad because of their circumstances. Especially in the dungeon! They weren't just locked up, their feet were in chains! But what they were doing is the remarkable thing! They were telling God how much they loved Him! They were worshiping and doing it loudly! We know this because the Bible says that the other prisoners were listening to them! Before the night was over, there was an earthquake that shook all the doors open, knocked off Paul and Silas' chains, saw the prison director almost take his own life because of the assumed "prison break", he and his family come to Jesus because of Paul and Silas, etc... It's a remarkable story of what happens when we love God and those around us!

Joshua 23: 11 says, "So be careful to love God." Careful? Yes, carefully! Are we sure that the people around us can see that we love God by the things we say, do and believe? Does it ooze out from us? When I eat my dirty rice, I'm CAREFUL to get every last piece of rice and meat. I'm careful not to spill it from the pot I've been cooking it in! I carefully put the "large" spoon up to my lips and enjoy! That's right! A LARGE spoon!

So, be careful to love God! Show him how much you love Him by the things you say and do this week and, if you get a chance... try some dirty rice. If you don't like it... bring it to me!

Asking for Directions

In "Finding Nemo, part 3" this week, Marlin doesn't want to ask for directions. He's nervouse when Dory starts trying to speak whale and asking the big fish for directions to Sydney. At one poit she exclaims, "WHAT IS IT WITH MEN AND ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS?!" Marlin is no different than most men!

It is a family joke now, but every time we went on vacation, my Dad always found a dirt road somewhere during the trip. It was pretty funny! He would get lost, not ask for directions, find the dirt road, and then somehow, miraculously find the right way. He was always proud of himself! But it took alot longer than it should have! Not a good idea with a car full of people who got car sick! :)

Hebrews 4: 12 says, "The Word of God is living and active...!" When we need spiritual directions, the Word of God is ready! The Word of God is living! For being a book that was written many generations ago, it is still alive in this generation! And will be in the coming generations too! But mostly, it is active! If you've ever known a 3 year old, you know what "active" is! It's all over the place! It's full of energy! Yeah baby!

When Josiah became King when he was just 8 years old that was amazing. But when the workers found the Book of the Law and read it to him many years later, what he did next was even more amazing. He had it read to the people and together, they decided that they hadn't been living God's way long enough! They decided right then and there to follow the Law again. It's never too late to start following God's directions. The loser might tell you that it's too late for you, but that's just wrong! It's never too late to start doing the right thing.

When Dory and Marlin followed the directions of the whale, it seemed to Marlin that the whale was trying to eat them. But Dory said, "He says to let go!" And when they did, the whale gushed them out right into the Sydney harbor! We need to trust God's Word even more than that! It's alive and active! Yeah!

Memory Lapses

OK... This week in Kid's Church we'll be talking about MEMORY LAPSES! In Finding Nemo, Dory has, as she describes it, "short term memory loss". But when the time arises for her to remember what's on the mask, she does it! Amazing! She keeps repeating it over and over again... P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney! Yeah for Dory!

There have been a few things over the years that I've forgotten. Important things, like...

1. Paying my bills
2. Eating right
3. Telling the people that I love that I love them.
4. Pumping the gas after paying for it.
5. The stroller outside the car at the Mall when we were leaving to go home.
6. The pizza on top of the car.
7. Changing my underwear.

The list could go on and on and on...

Psalm 105 verse 5 says, "Remember the wonderful things He has done..." Oh... yeah... note to self. Remember the wonderful things that God has done. Not always easy. It's often because we're too busy. Or too lazy. Or too mad at Him. But when we take the time to remember... it's always encouraging.

I'm sure Jonah was remembering inside the belly of the big fish. He was praying and remembering better days. Days with sunshine. Days with fresh air. Days without stomach acid burning his skin off. OUCH! I certainly hope it doesn't take something like that for me to stop long enough to remember how great God is!

OK people! That's it for now! Remember!! NO MEMORY LAPSES WHEN IT COMES TO REMEMBERING HOW GREAT GOD IS!!!

Finding Nemo, part 1

This week in Kid's Church we'll be watching "Finding Nemo" (at least the first 25 minutes worth!) In this section, Nemo is excited about the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! But his Dad, Marlin isn't! Learning is hard work! In the Bible, we read a story about Jesus when he was 12 years old. He had gone with his parents to Jerusalem for a feast, but after his parents had been traveling back with the large crowd of relatives (they thought he was with another part of the family), they realized that Jesus wasn't with them. They probably FREAKED OUT! They went back and looked for him for 3 days!! When they finally found him, Jesus was at church! He had astounded the priests with his questions and answers! Now that's a student! Our kids are growing physically! Some of us need to stop growing physically! (ME- I'm wide enough) But there's always time to grow wiser!! (Read Luke 2: 52)

Some of my favorite stories come from school! When I was in 2nd grade, Alex Bravo came out to the playground and told all of us in Mrs. Donaldson's class that we didn't have to go in when the bell rang! YEAH! We could play alot longer! YEAH! When the bell rang, a bunch of us ignored it! We just smiled and thought, "We don't have to go in! Yeah!" A few minutes later we heard Mrs. Donaldson's voice. It wasn't her usual happy voice either! "What are you kids doing?!" she yelled! We tried to explain the situation to her, but she didn't want to hear any excuses! Then we all lined up outside the room and waited for our punishment! This was back in the good ol' days of "whacks". Some of us cried when we got our whack, but not Alex Bravo! In fact, he was sitting quietly in his chair watching us get our whacks and laughing at us! A bunch of us learned something that day! And it was the HARD WAY! :)