Home Church

We've been home-churching for several months now.  At first it was a reaction to never seeming to be able to make it to church.  If we didn't have out-of-town guests, we had a sick kid.  If we didn't have a sick kid, we had some other reason we couldn't go.  Finally, instead of surrendering and not getting any churching into our kids, we opted to home church.

The initial decision was kind of a knee-jerk thing.  Someone, maybe me, pitched an unholy fit about the kids not getting the Bible stories they need to "train them up" in the way they should go.  Darling grabbed a Veggie Tales off the shelf, popped it in the DVD player and we had church.  We watched the video, talked, prayed, and home church was over.

I kind of liked it.  I kind of liked that I knew exactly what the kids had learned in church and I liked that we had the same lesson to discuss all week.

A few weeks ago, though, Veggie Tales became too animated for us.  Big Kid and Middle One know all these videos by heart, so using them as church material wasn't exactly keeping them attentive.  So, on date night, Darling and I stopped at the Christian book store and selected a couple books to help us.

So far, so good.

~ G

God Is Bigger

The song floating between the ears today doesn't come from the list of timeless classics, but from our friendly vegetables. As in Veggie Tales.

"God is bigger than the boogeyman. He's bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on tv. Oh, God is bigger than the boogeyman and He's watching out for you and me." In case you'd like to look it up, it's "Where Is God When I'm S-cared."

Seems like when we're grown-ups the boogeyman takes many shapes beyond the shadows in the closet - cancer, grown-up worries, grown-up problems. Seems like today's inbox has overflowed with friends forced to deal with their current version of the boogeyman. Who knew vegetables could transcend the fears of children to the worries of adults?

In the past few weeks, news of divorces, new cancer, old cancer, not-going-anywhere-with-a-small-chance-of-survival cancer, money trouble, parental worries, career worries, and more have flown at those I love.

So I worry. I pray. I give the worries to God. Then I grab them back to worry over them again. Then I remember to pray and give them back to God. It's shocking what a slow learner I am.

Today, when word arrived of yet another 35 year-old friend who had been diagnosed with cancer, the song started in my head. It may seem trite. It might seem disrespectful to sing a tune that bounces when sorrow and worry crumble around your feet. At the same time, isn't this what God has asked us to do? Does he not ask us to trust Him? To know He's bigger?

Doesn't He say in Romans 5:3 that we should rejoice in our suffering? Granted, rejoicing while suffering doesn't seem like fun, nor is it easy. But what if rejoicing doesn't mean having a party, but rather holding the knowledge that He has it - that because He is who He is, we're okay? What if singing a little song lifts our hearts enough to find some joy?

So, if skipping around in my head to a Veggie Tales tune brings me joy, then it is what it is.

Sing on!

And thank you Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki for bringing Bob and Larry to "life." God worked a message through you.