NO WAY! 

No way!!  They are adults!  Adults?  When did this happen?  They should still want me to read to them.  They should be playing with the Roly Poly Bear.  They should be sound asleep, with their head resting on my shoulder.

 No.  I am not talking about my kids.  I am talking about my grandkids, ages 19 to 28.  No more stories to be read.  No more Roly Poly Bear.  No more sleeping with their head on my shoulder.  Six babies that are all grown up, employed, taller than me, and four of the six are involved in serious relationships.  What happens when adult grandchildren came to celebrate changes in their lives?  What happens is that the parents and grandparents sit back and listen as they start to tell stories.

 

They had been warned to prepare a story.  And tell stories they did!  The funny part is that they told everyone’s favorite stories.  Kailyn played hide and seek without telling anyone.  Matthew talked about the goats.  Joshua told how texting can cause confusion.  Nathan told how older cousins convinced him the mints were poison.  The story of Noah blaming his brother (who happened to be in China at the time) for getting the toys out so he didn’t have to pick them up is a classic.  Poor Timothy, the youngest, took the blunt of having stories told about him, but he told about how eating angel food cake caused him to get a broken leg.

Stacia seems to scream if she and Nathan wake up at the same time and are staring at each other.  Megan is temporarily staying at her brother’s apartment and was surprised to find the sink was not attached to the drain.  Bridgette explained how a red marker in the hands of a three year old boy could increase the sales of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.

I am having a round of sciatica and was amazed Sunday.  The grandkids knew we would have stuff for sandwiches, chips, and homemade ice cream.  They knew they were to provide everything else.  And those babies walked in the door with food!  They also jumped into action when it was time to set stuff outside and when it was time to clean up.  And, miracle of miracles, they did not have to be told to put their phones away.  They enjoyed each other.  They listened to each other.  They laughed and told story after story after story.  Then those babies got into cars and went home.  And my heart was filled to overflowing.

Every family has their stories.  The ones that make us smile the minute we hear, “Do you remember?”  Too often today, instead of telling stories, everyone is looking at their phone.  It is also hard to get everyone in the same place, at the same time.  We need to keep making the effort.

Children.. grandchildren.. great-grandchildren.. do not stay young.  They do not stay babies.  They turn into adults.  I do not know what stage of life you are in, but I have a suggestion.  Enjoy your children as adults.  Enjoy your grandchildren as adults.  Sit back and watch them laugh and share and tell the same stories over and over and over.  Allow them to be adults and bring food.  Allow them to be adults and join in the joy of serving each other.  Too often, especially the women want to take care of everything and tell them, ‘No, I will do that.  You go sit down.”  The problem is they are no longer children to be taken care of.  They are adults.

I am thankful we celebrated and it was wonderful to see the adults each grandchild has become.  But I really do miss reading them a story or playing with that Roly Poly Bear or holding them close.

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I wonder if God looks at me and thinks, "She turned out to be a pretty good adult.  BUT she is still my little girl and I hold her close in my heart."

PUNCTUATION IS POWERFUL

How many punctuation marks are there and how good are you at using them?  Do you know the proper place for a question mark?  That one is really easy.  How about an exclamation mark?  Quotation marks can be a bit tricky.  When to use a colon and when to use a semi-colon creates a real problem.  Thinking about punctuation might take you back to the horror of getting your composition marked in red. 

Period:      the full pause with which the utterance of a sentence closes: end, stop

Comma:    a punctuation mark, used especially as a mark of separation within the sentence: a pause, interval

Colon:       used chiefly to direct attention to matter that follows

Yes, I know.  My blogs are full of punctuation and grammatical errors.  Spell check hates my fragment sentences.  I consider my blogs as very, very casual English.  BUT there is a problem with being very, very casual when we read.  We make a comma a period and, therefore, we miss the point of the sentence.  We stop at a colon and do not finish reading the important part.  Or, we do not read the whole chapter and miss the conclusion.

Before going any further, I am sure you are thinking, “But I have favorite verses and you often only use one verse at the end of your blog.”  We all have our favorite verse/verses.  I often go to Psalms 139.  When I pull a verse for my blog, I make sure the meaning in the Scripture is the same as the meaning in my blog.  Now back to how stopping at a comma, colon, or semi-colon can change the meaning of passages.

What if we read Romans 3:9-31 and do not read in the commas, semi-colons, and colons?  Or what if we only read verses 9-11 and part of 20?

What shall we conclude then?  Do we have any advantage?  Not at all!  For we have already made the change that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.  There is no one righteous, not even one.  Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight.

By picking some verses, parts of verses, and stopping mid-sentence, these verses sound like doom and gloom.  No hope whatsoever.  Using just these verses to make a point or present a message would be wrong.  Why?  Because the meaning of Romans 3 is completely distorted.  Please read the whole chapter where you find sentences like this:

·       The righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

·       There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Comma NOT a period) and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 

·       For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 

There is no doom and gloom in Romans 3.  Yes, we are all sinners, BUT God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement.  That is LOVE.  Jesus shed his blood.  That is SACRIFICE.  God is the God of Jews and Gentiles.  That is ONE GOD. 

When reading the Bible, read the whole chapter.  Know what happened at the end of the previous chapter and see how the chapter carries to the next one.  And, don’t change the punctuation.   Stopping at a comma means you might only read the doom and gloom and not find the redemption.

PS:  How many punctuation marks are there in the English language?  Good luck finding the exact answer.  There are 14 or there might be approximately 14.  There are 16.  There are 26.  Take your pick.  Plus, watch out for the decision on using the Oxford Comma.

 

Ouch

Who moved the footstool?  Who put it in my way?  As if having sciatica wasn’t enough, I stubbed my toe.  Is it broken?  I do not know, but it sure is black and blue and it hurts!  Woe is me.  Woe is me.

There is one problem with my opening sentence.  I know who moved the footstool.  There are only two of us and … and … (big sigh) I am the one who moved that footstool.  And it is a big footstool.  It is not as if it can hide.  But (Funny how often we use the word “but.”) But my mind was on at least three things and the aforementioned footstool was, obviously, not one of them.  Turn around, move foot forward, and contact.

If you are laughing, it is okay.  Laughter is good for us.  As a matter of fact, a very good friend, Sharon, and I had lunch the other day and I am surprised they didn’t ask us to leave.  We got the giggles.  We laughed out loud.  Very loud.  We had tears.  All because I told two old stories.  But (there is that word again.) But aren’t the old stories sometimes the best?

Many, many moons ago, I left hubby in charge of the kids and off I went to a meeting.  When I came home, they all began speaking at once.  Kittens.  Yarn.  Fireplace.  Giggling and laughing.  Finally, I got them to slow down and tell me the story about the kittens.  Trying not to laugh and giggle, they began:

“The two kittens were playing and daddy had a bright idea,” one said.  The other picked up, “He tied their tails together with yarn.” Back to child one, “They were so fun to watch.  They were rolling on the floor and batting at the yarn….” Bill chimed in, “It was funny, until …”

“Until what?” I asked.  They all three said (as if they had rehearsed it), “Until the log fell in the fireplace.”  “And then?” I slowly asked.  Laughing and looking at each other, “And then the kittens ran in opposite directions with the yarn holding them back.  It was hilarious.  The yarn was pulled tight.  Dad used his knife to cut the yarn.  The kittens went flying!”

With that my friend, a cat lover, began to laugh.  Picturing this, she laughed harder.  If you tell a cat story, you have to tell a dog story.

The kids were older and we had a Saint Bernard: Priscilla.  Prissy was a neighborhood favorite with all the kids.  I would look out and there would be someone’s child, quietly petting our dog.  But the story I told Sharon was about the day I was working in the garden.  I could hear the kids laughing and they were in the basement.  I wasn’t sure what they were doing, but they sure were having fun.  Then the back door opened.

I heard, “Mom.  Mom.  Look!”  Five kids filed out the door with the Saint Bernard bring up the rear.  AND — are you ready?  AND the Saint Bernard was dressed in long johns.  Shirt on the front.  Pants on the back, with her tail sticking up through the fly.  And I laughed until the tears flowed.  I wished I had been there to watch them put their dad’s long johns on a very big, very patient dog.

By now, Sharon was literally leaning over in the seat.  The waiter looked our way.  Diners were wondering if they could move to other tables.  Tables away from two old ladies laughing so hard they had tears.

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.  Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 8:15

Laughter! Joy!  What a wonderful gift God has given us.  Today find joy.  Find something that makes you laugh until the tears roll down your cheeks.

LEARNING FROM ALL AGES

You might want to grab something to drink or nibble on and get comfy.  This got a bit longer than normal.

I hope you have enjoyed the series on learning from all ages.  It is true from those in the Bible and those around us. 

LAUGHTER

Who doesn’t love a baby?  But they just lay there.  They cannot really teach us anything.  Sure, we can read about Isaac, Moses, and John the Baptist and learn.  But we know the rest of their story.  What about the babies here and now?  What can we learn from them?

We certainly can learn to laugh.  Babies make the cutest faces.  We shouldn’t, but we laugh when they pucker up, trying not to cry, and that ole lower lip is quivering?  We receive great joy when they lift their head, look in our eyes, and smile.  And I don’t care what the medical community says…it is not gas, it is a smile.

A BASKET

We can learn to trust.  A baby recognizes the face of a loving mother and the sound of a father’s voice.  They trust them to provide for needs.  In a crazy world, we can find people to trust.  Family, friends, neighbors, and our church family. 

SILENCE

We can learn to be silent and listen.  A single voice or sound can be heard when we are silent and when the world around us is silent.  Silence is getting harder and harder to find.  Music.  The phone.  The TV.  Video games.  Talking just to fill the quiet.  For some reason we find silence threatening.  But, it is in the silence that we can hear God’s voice.

A VOICE IN THE NIGHT

Silence – a great lead into hearing a voice in the night.  If you have children, you totally understand hearing a voice in the night.  A parent, at least mothers, because dads seem to sleep through chaos, can hear the slightest sound right before a child gets sick or the click of a door that opens after curfew.  The voice in the night also might be an older child reading to a scared brother or sister.  Or a parent listening as their almost-adult child asks for advice.  To hear these voices, we must be listening.

A LOST BOOK

I am not exactly sure how to tie in a lost book.  I doubt if any of us has found a book as important as the Book of the Law.  Well, maybe we might find something else from our past to pass to the next generation.  We might pass on a very old school bell.  Our grandson graduated from Ball State University and will be teaching history.  My grandmother taught school 1901-1904 and her school bell is now in the possession of said grandson.  He also received items from Bill’s mother, who taught school.  A lost book or a very old school bell can use the past to touch the present.

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

Everyone knows what it is like to wait for a knock at the door or to hear an unexpected knock.  The table is set.  The turkey is in the oven.  The potatoes are peeled and the green beans are bubbling away.  Then you hear it.  Knock.  Knock.  Someone runs to the door and shouts, “Grandma and grandpa are here.”  And you realize that little Johnny left them standing on the porch.  He was so excited.  Then there is the other knock.  The one no one wants to hear and the door no one wants to open.  We will leave that door shut as long as we can.

AN ANSWER

Where do you go when you have a question?  Do you stop someone on the street and hope they know the answer?  Or do you seek a wise advisor?  Of course we don’t stop a random stranger.  We go to someone we trust. 

A JAR

“Did you hear the latest about ‘you know who’?”  “Yes.  I couldn’t believe it.  Shush…behind you.”  And with a smug smile, you nod and do not speak. 

Oh, the people we consider not worth our time and the people we consider beneath us.  They sound different.  They look different.  They smell.  They will never change.  They do not belong…. The Samaritan woman was an outcast – an outcast by community standards.   And yet, Jesus asked her for a drink.  Why don’t we do that? 

This one stumps me.  I am not sure how to tie the Samaritan woman to the society we live in.  Until – until I see someone talk to a homeless person or a family taking items to the thrift store or food being put in a food box outside the library or a church doing a service Sunday and helping the community or two children, oblivious to community standards, only seeing a friend.

PASS IT ON

This one is easy.  TELL THE STORY OF SALVATION.  LIVE YOUR LIFE SO THE LIGHT OF JESUS SHINES THROUGH. 

TRUMPETS AND CYMBALS

There are so many ways to discover the gift of faith.  We can read the Bible and go to Bible studies.  We can worship in church.  We can attend Sunday School.  We can sing.  Music is such a part of worship.  Music is the glory of God told using trumpets and cymbals and pianos and drums and guitars.  Listen to the words.  Open your heart and let the sharps and flats and treble clefs and whole notes and all that other stuff that a musician understands sink in.  Make a joyful noise!!!

HANDS

Oh, the miracle of hands.  How can anyone look at the hands of a newborn baby and not say AMEN.  Hands can bless and reach out.  Hands can give comfort and the joy of feeling a gentle touch.  Hands can work and hands can rest as a prayer is said.  Hands are a miracle and are best used as you obey God.

A CROSS

A cross is an instrument of death or the CROSS can be the instrument of receiving eternal life.  Which cross a person claims is a personal decision. 

LEARNING FROM ALL AGES

As I reread learning from all ages, I realized this can be taken two ways.  We can learn from those from past ages, the creation of mankind to today, and from all ages, young to old.  We can learn.

Or we can be a grumpy, know-it-all, who gets mad/aggravated when a sweet little child breaks off your favorite rose, brings it to the door, and, with an adorable smile, says, “I got this just for you.”

THE END