Hiding the Word in Our Hearts Through Music and Story

One of my daughter's Sunday School teachers sent her a sweet Christmas card, and in that card was a New Year's challenge - to read the book of John in 30 days. We have been doing this together as a family, and today we got to John 6 - the Feeding of the Five Thousand. I just love this story, and it amazes me that no matter how many times we read this account, my children never get bored and tell me how much they love the story.

As we were reading John this morning, verse 35 jumped out at me:

Then Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever go hungry. And no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty."

and then, a bit later, verse 40 jumped out at me as well:

My father wants all who look to the Son and believe in him to have eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day.

Wow. What an amazing promise.

Immediately, the hymn, "I am the Bread of Life" came into my mind and I started singing it for the children - then I went and got our Lutheran Book of Worship and found the music so I could play and sing it for them again. Let me tell you - - I love the deep rooted musical traditions in my Lutheran faith. I love that I can sing scripture, because I've been doing it during every church service since I was a small child. I love that I read the Bible and know a hymn or snippet from our liturgy that says the same thing. I love beautiful music and want to share this with my children. What a great way to hide God's word in my heart, and now in my children's hearts as well.

Here is "I am the Bread of Life" - listen to the words and just enjoy the promises that John 6 offers all of us. (I found lots of versions on YouTube, but I liked this one because its beautiful pictures and scripture.... and.... I love contemporary Christian music, but my favorite Christian music has to be traditional hymns, and works by the Baroque masters)

After we did our reading and listened to the hymn, I remembered we had a book by Max Lucado that is a story based on the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Small Gifts in God's Hands. This is one of our favorite books, and I enjoyed snuggling with my children this morning sharing the story again - and today it seemed to have even more meaning.

I'm linking up today with Rebecca at Mom's Mustard Seeds. Head over to her blog to see how other moms are hiding God's word in their hearts and in their children's hearts, too.

How the Jesse Tree Has Gotten Me Thinking....

This week we have started our own Jesse Tree.... we downloaded everything from A Holy Experience. (Would you believe I didn't even know what a Jesse Tree was until just recently?!?!) I look forward to fully teaching the true meaning of Christmas this year. We have always been what you would call a "religious" family, but I think now that we have time with our children (through homeschooling) and are seeing so many of God's blessings on us, we have grown in our walk with God.

In my Christian upbringing, we were very subdued (I grew up Lutheran, and we are famous for our lack of evangelistic qualities). After I moved to the deep South I met so many people who were so open about their faith - it was comforting to me and gave me the courage to be more bold in my own faith. And yes, even the Lutherans in the South seem a little more bold to me. I'm trying to be more demonstrative about my faith, especially with my children. I have a long way to go, but that's the great thing about our walk with God - it never ends.

Back to the Jesse Tree devotions:

The reading from the very first day of Advent was this:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him -
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:1-2 (NIV)

This reading has really stuck with me during the first part of this week. I keep thinking about the words wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear. Those are some powerful words.... and while I can't write nearly as well as so many bloggers out there, I just want to express to my readers what an incredibly huge and wonderful shoot this was that came from the stump of Jesse.

As we are reading this week, we are taking the journey from NOTHING to the birth of Jesus. And that's what we would all be without Jesus - NOTHING. As I look around and see people scrambling to buy gifts, get their decorations up, mail their Christmas cards, I wonder how many of those people really stop to think about what Christmas really means. How many people are celebrating (in quite a GRAND way) the birthday of Someone they don't even know? How many years did I celebrate in this way? Yes, I've always celebrated the birth of Christ at Christmas, but I know many years it was all about Santa, the gifts, etc... etc.... It is my prayer that this year I can stay focused on the season of Advent, and on the true gift of the season.

In the car today running errands we were listening to Christmas music. The song, "Do You Hear What I Hear" came on. I love this song, and my daughter pointed out that this song "was actually about Jesus". What a keen observation on her part. I think we'd heard so much Rudolph and Frosty type music that she was just expecting more of the same.... and while I don't have a problem with non-religious holiday music, I want to be sure that there are more religious hymns and carols in our house this year than ever before. Here I was in my van, with tears streaming down my face - I guess because the true gift of the season really hit me (funny it was through the voice of Perry Como!).

I came home and found the very version we heard on Youtube. Listen carefully to the words.... I especially love the ending -

"He will bring us goodness and light"

It also dawned on me that it's all about making OPPORTUNITIES to be peaceful and quiet to reflect upon the anticipation of this season. Do I reflect on God's word each day? Do I make time to be alone with God in prayer each day? Do I try to enjoy each day and just take things as they come, rather than being frenzied and short with those around me? A dear friend and I are sending emails back and forth during Advent to keep each other accountable.... today I told her I lightened up on the schoolwork (and if you know me, I'm really hard on myself and my kids when it comes to schoolwork!) and made preparations to have my sweet father-in-law over for dinner. He has been a widower for six years now, and the holidays are difficult for him. If my children learn a lesson in compassion through preparing for Granddaddy to come over, then I have done my job today.

This post is linked to Rebecca, at Mom's Mustard Seeds. Head over to her site and see what other people are saying about God's word today!

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Our Weekly Verse

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and there's lots of cooking, cleaning, and entertaining to be done. I wanted to pause, however, and take time to link up with Mom's Mustard Seeds for the weekly Bible verse. This week I'm sharing our daily verse from our Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory Box:

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 16:3

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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