If only we'd try so hard

As I'm sure most of you know there are two little boys in our family that keep us on our toes.  What you might not know is that we've allowed them to have mo-hawk hair cuts and I think we may have unlocked some inner source of energy that was previously untapped.  I'm not sure we can scientifically document this development, but empirical evidence seems to suggest a correlation between mo-hawk haircuts and craziness!
Alex has reached the age now, close to 4, where he has lots of questions about what's going on in the world.  Everything from why doesn't the sky fall on us to what happens if we buy a semi.  Isaac has been at that stage for a few years now and having both of them asking whatever pops into their minds makes for some exciting car rides and very entertaining conversations.  Besides their natural curiosity to know how things work around them they have a great desire to please.  I'm sure this isn't confined to my kids, but they try so hard sometimes to be helpful and to please that they get in their own way.  We have to constantly remind Alex that the fire in the grill is hot and "help" is not opening the lid every minute to make sure the fire isn't burning the meat!  As I look back on their questions, and as I do my level best to answer them without getting too annoyed, even if it is to explain for the 100th time that we have no use for a semi and that I don't know why God only gave us 2 legs, I wonder how our lives would be different if we approached our relationship with God in a similar way.
As adults we lose that sense of wonder and curiosity don't we?  We think we have a pretty good handle on how the world works, we think we have a pretty good handle on how God works, and so we really stop asking questions and that sense of awe goes away.  Of course our certainty about how things should work can get shattered pretty quickly once the roof caves in, but that's a different blog.  Along with losing that sense of awe and wonder about life and the world we also lose a little  bit of that sense to please.  I suppose we're all trying to please someone or prove ourselves to someone throughout our lives, but are we living in a way that would please God?  How often do we even consider what God might think of our actions and decisions?  How often do we stop and ask God a bunch of questions about how things work and how we're supposed to interact with them?
My sense is we don't do it often enough.  We believe we know what's best for our lives, and so we don't invite God into the decision making process very much.  We have become jaded and have lost a part of that awe, and healthy fear, of God so we don't value or seek God's input in our daily lives.  Oh, we'll try and find God when the sky is falling or when we think we have a huge decision to make, but how often do we invoke God in our daily lives?  How would our lives be different if we made God a part of every decision we made?  Ok, so every decision might be a little extreme, but I certainly believe God want's to be a bigger part of our lives if we'll ask God to be.  And the best part is God will never get impatient when you ask the same question for the millionth time!  Don't you think you would benefit from more God in your life?  I know I would!

Something stuck in my craw...

First off...is that how you spell craw?  Anyway, I've been thinking about something lately and I'm going to vent a little bit about it.  So I apologize in advance if this seems a little down beat in any way.  If you're still reading then here we go!
A disclaimer: I am a sport nut.  I watch too much on TV, according to some in our house, and my boys are involved in a lot of sports.  I try to catch as many sporting events as I can, and my children will continue to be involved in sports as long as they enjoy them and want to be, and I believe sports can teach our kids a lot about life...disclaimer over.
Have you guessed what's stuck in my craw?  It's been rattling around in my brain that past couple of weeks... the comparison between our dedication to sports verses our dedication to church.  We will wake up at the crack of dawn to get to our kid's sporting event, but man waking up before 9 or 10 on a Sunday morning can be tough.  We will spend hours upon hours watching practices and games and traveling to sporting events, but taking an hour on Sunday for church and maybe another hour for Sunday school seems like asking a lot.  Even more difficult is finding 15 to 30 minutes a day for scripture reading and prayer...(I'm guilty of this a lot).  I haven't even mentioned volunteering for other activities at church...just how much time does one person have!  We're willing to sacrifice almost anything to make sure our kids have everything they need to succeed in a sport, time, money, blood, sweat and tears, but ask us to sacrifice time and money for church then that's another story.
I know this isn't true for everyone, but I'm willing to bet it's true for more of us then we think.  I know I'm guilty in this too.  Why isn't there more emphasis on church and growing our spiritual lives and serving God?  I don't think very many of our kids are going to go on and earn a living playing a sport.  I can guarantee that those same kids will need God in their lives.  So why don't we put more of an emphasis on building our own spiritual life and that of our children? Is it simply because church/Sunday school isn't nearly as exciting as a sporting event?  Is it because we don't always get instant gratification from a scriptural lesson?  Is it because the church as failed at getting the point across how important a faith life is? 
As with all good questions the answer is probable a mix of all the above.  We don't think we have enough time so we push God to the background, and we hope our kids will figure it out on their own later.  If that's the thought then what would happen if we applied that logic to other areas of their lives?  Oh they'll figure out driving later on their own, they'll prepare for college later when they have more time.  Sounds silly doesn't it.  I think it's easy to push God aside because we know that God will forgive us and welcome us back, so like any good diet and exercise program we'll start tomorrow....well when does that tomorrow come? 
God is forgiving, and God will welcome us back, but God is also fair.  Which means if we continue to push God aside then we'll miss a lot of blessings God has in store for us simply because we ignored Him.  Not to mention anything about eternal life and possible consequences of ignoring God all along.  (My thoughts aren't fully developed down this eternal life road (heaven vs. hell), but I do think we ignore the judgmental aspect of God too much).  Also, if we neglect our end of the connection to God then when we need God the most in our lives we aren't going to connect right away because we aren't in the habit of doing so.  You can't play a sport well if you don't practice, how do you plan to be able to connect and bask in God's presence if we don't practice doing so?  And, our kids pick up what's important from us.  If we don't make church and our own spiritual life a priority why should they?  Osmosis doesn't work.  I would think a strong faith foundation and life would be the best thing we could do for our kids in preparing them for the real world, yet we find it so hard to do so.  Yet we dare not miss that next practice! 
Rant over...obviously I struggle with this dichotomy too...some food for thought!

Sometimes you just have to laugh...

Last Sunday I gave a children's sermon that was supposed to get us thinking about faith and how it might be difficult to explain,yet we can still believe.  I asked the kids if they could explain how gravity works.  I asked the kids what would happen if they jumped off their bed...of course they responded that they would fall to the floor.  Then I asked if they could explain how the force of gravity works.  They couldn't explain it and I don't think I could either. My point was that just like we can't explain gravity we might not be able to explain how faith works either.  But, just because we can't explain or define exactly gravity or faith we can see their effects.  I was hoping to get the point across that we can believe and have faith in God even if we can't understand how all that "stuff" works.  Well, I think I failed.  We get home from church and Isaac has a question.  I'm feeling good because I think the fantastic children's sermon stirred something in him and he has a deep theological question...naw...he wants to know how he can jump off the bed and float up the ceiling!  Yup...figuring out a way to defy gravity is more exciting then faith I guess.
Isaac's question did get me thinking though.  Do we take our faith for granted?  Do we just expect our faith to be able to carry us through the difficult times and always be there for us?  Of course we can expect God to always be there, but if we do nothing to strengthen our relationship the connection on our end might get a little bad.  God never moves.  We instead move away from Him when we neglect our relationship with him.  The trick to keeping our faith alive and growing is feeding and strengthening it at all times especially when times are good.  I have a tendency to let my devotional time slide when things are going good in my life, and then when I hit a rough patch I of course tend to read the Bible and pray more.  Silly I know, and then I wonder sometimes why I can't feel God as well when I think I need him the most.  Well, I've neglected the relationship and it takes time again to tune my soul and spirit to God's Spirit.  Again God's Spirit didn't move away from me, I neglected the relationship and had to rebuild it again.
I need to be better about continually building my relationship during the ups and downs.  How about you?  Can you be strengthening your connection now so it's ready and strong when then the rough patches come?