"He Ordains Praise"

I heard Z singing and playing his guitar during his quiet time today.  By "playing his guitar" I mean strumming loudly.  He was singing a song he made up himself, and I managed to write down two of the verses:

Thank you for creating our world.
You are our king.
We love you, oh God,
And Jesus your Son,
And of course the Holy Spirit.

We will trust you, oh God
We will trust you,
We will trust your son, Jesus.
We trust in you and your Son, holy God
You made your Son rise on the third day.
That was the day of trust.

Now I know I'm biased, but I actually think this is a pretty good song!  Theologically it's way better than half the worship songs out there these days.  In the first verse he talks about the creation of the world, and in the second the resurrection.  This is a great juxtaposition of events, since each is the beginning of a new age.  Secondly, I very much like his emphasis on the Trinity.  And finally I really like the last line describing the day of resurrection as the day of trust, since not only is the resurrection God's response to Jesus' trust in him (Jesus' last words before his death were words of trust -- "Into your hands I commit my spirit"), but also, of course, it is through the resurrection that we are able to trust Jesus.

And of course, I couldn't ask to hear anything better than this coming out of the mouths of my babes.

Kate and the Beanstalk

Last time we were at the library we got Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne.  It's Jack and the Beanstalk with a female protagonist.  Both kids immediately loved it, so much so that they quickly memorized the most famous lines of the book.  Here's Eden reciting them.  They're changed just a little because they refer to Kate, not Jack.

Halloween and All Saints Day

We had lots of fun on Halloween.  Our church was having a party for the kids in the neighborhood, so we trick-or-treated in the church neighborhood first.  We had some funny encounters (like the older, shirtless man, who was smoking a cigarette and let out a wall of smoke when he opened the door.  He also gave each kid a huge fistful of candy), and then a very nice time at the church party.  The party included a chili cook-off, and Nathan won the prize for most creative chili!  I couldn't find my camera, but fortunately Lisa took a few pictures of the kids at the beginning of the evening.

Nathan was some really smart guy, Z was Captain America (we made his shield) and Eden was the cutest frog ever.  Anytime someone talked to her she would just look up them and say, "Wibbit, wibbit," very solemnly.

The next day, appropriately All Saints Day, my Church History students dressed up as their favorite person from Church history.  They were all so well costumed that I was able to accurately guess who each one was (except one) without any help.

Front row, left to right:  Macrina, Joan of Arc, Charlemagne, Adoniram Judson, Martin Luther (who nailed [taped] his 95 theses to our classroom door), an unnamed peasant from the Peasant's Rebellion.
Back row, left to right:  Francis of Assissi, Augustine, and Pope Innocent III (who is wearing boxing gloves named Excommunication and Interdict.  You can see he's aiming one of them at the monarch in front of him, as Innocent III so often did!)

This picture's a little closer, but unfortunately has cut out the unnamed peasant.  Isn't that just always the way of things?

After each person gave a small speech on why we should vote for him or her, we voted on best costume.  The speeches were fantastic!  Each one completely in character.  Macrina said we should really pay attention to her brothers.  Augustine discussed how with our new nature we are now able not to sin and therefore could vote for the right person (him).  The unnamed peasant encouraged us to vote for Martin Luther (apparently the tables hadn't turned yet, which I guess is obvious given that the peasant is still alive).  Charlemagne essentially commanded us to vote for him.  And Innocent threatened excommunication and interdict for anyone who didn't vote for him.   And the winner was Charlemagne!  The guy with the sword always wins.

The Kid Knows Some Spanish

Tonight as I did the dishes, Eden and Z were absorbed with coloring in the dining room.  Eden ran into the kitchen several times to show me her pictures, but Z kept his hidden.  When he was done, this is what he showed me.  He did it all on his own, with absolutely no help from me or anyone else.

He read it for me in Spanish, and the English translation is, loosely, "All of my friends are my friends.  I also like playing with my friends outside. My friends are very good for me. These are my friends"

Wow . . . I'm impressed.

Eden and Martin Luther

Last Sunday in church we had a missionary on furlough speak to us.  At one point he began to talk of the return of Christ and what it meant for mission work.  Eden, who was sitting on my lap, turned to me in great excitement and said in a loud whisper, "He said when Jesus come back!"

I said, "Yes, he's talking about when Jesus comes back -- that's right!"

Eden, literally bouncing up and down with excitement, said, "When Jesus come back I get to pet the little baby cheetah!"

We try to talk about the resurrection and return of Christ regularly and often to Z and Eden, and both Nathan and I are thrilled to see how it is affecting the way they understand who Jesus is and who they are in relation to him.  But talking about Jesus coming back can be difficult, because we're not sure what it will look like, and we're not sure how to articulate what will happen.  But going off of Ephesians 3:20, which speak of God as the one "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine", we encourage the kids to think about the New Heavens and the New Earth with a wild imagination.  As far as I'm concerned, anything goes, as long as it's not directly opposed to Scripture or Jesus.  (For example, imagining getting even with the mean kids at school isn't going to fly.)  So Eden's imaginative picture of the resurrection right now is seeing herself petting a baby cheetah.  

When Eden got excited in church last Sunday, at first I thought it was kind of cute.  Then I thought maybe it shows the questionable theology of a 2 year old.  Then I saw it as really a profound moment, in which my own theology could be sharpened by Eden's theology.

First, how wonderful that her ears are attuned to the words, "When Jesus comes back."  Z has done this before too.  It's like they have radar on that is searching for those words, and when they hear it, all their attention is focused on it.  Shouldn't we all be anticipating the return of Christ so much that even the words that symbolize that idea should instantly focus our attention and at the same time fill us with so much excitement we can barely sit still!

Second, Eden's vision of petting the baby cheetah is almost identical to Isaiah's vision of the restored earth, where "the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.  The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  Infants will play near the hole of the cobra; young children will put their hands into the viper's nest.  They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:7-9).  Eden's desire to pet the baby cheetah is simply the desire for life without fear, without pain, without death; the desire for life with reconciliation, with power, with eternity, with God.

All of which reminded me, because of my tendency to look down on or be amused by the theology of 2 year olds, of the following quote from Martin Luther:  "Now the Holy Ghost does not consider red caps or brown, or any other pomp, nor whether we are young or old, layman or priest, monk or secular, virgin or married; nay, he once spoke by an ass against the prophet that rode on it.  Would to God we were worthy to have such doctors given us."

Stuff

Last Sunday after church I noticed that Eden's eye was a little red a swollen, like this:

I thought she'd bumped it or something.  But the next morning, the eye was completely swollen shut, and upon closer examination I found what looked like a sting or bite in the corner of her eye.  After a quick trip to the nurse and a good dose of antihistamines, we decided not to worry about it.  After a full afternoon of playing in the dirt, this is what our beautiful little girl looked like:

*****************

We had a rainy day today and spent a little while in the backyard.  Z can do this for minutes and even hours.  Who knows what story lines are running through his head.

Meanwhile, Eden looked for an ocean for her baby turtle and sang songs:

"Jesus Loves Me"

"Hush Little Baby"

From the Past

July 2011 -- Learning the alphabet