Taste and See.

We've been busy! Remember in my last post (over a month ago, sheesh!) I told you that I might tell you what we've been doing the last few months?
Here's a small snapshot:
We were asked in July to prayerfully consider becoming leaders of the Children's Ministry at our church. We did prayerfully consider it, for, like, a minute. We knew right away that this was what Jesus, the lover of children, wanted us to do.

We prayed for direction. We liked the curriculum that was being used, but we were feeling nudges to go in a different direction.

In August we hosted our first informational meeting and had record numbers attending.
In September we held our first training meeting for teachers and assistants with record numbers attending.
In October we kicked off our new "program" (for lack of a better word) with a song and a dance (literally) and much fanfare.

Does it sound like I'm boasting? I hope not! But have you ever known that you were in the right place at the right time? That you were born for a certain something? Well, this is just a small piece of that certain "something" and definitely an opportunity that is for us for such a time as this. As we stepped forth in obedience, all the pieces began falling into place. He likes to bless us that way when we obey!

The cooooooolest piece of it all was a tiny little children's book that revolutionized my thinking. As I read through it, I cried and instantly sat down to "practice" some of it's principles.

The book is called "Children, Can You Hear Me?" by Brad Jersak. It is, in essence, a guidebook for kids to learn how to hear His voice daily. It has become a guidebook for me as well. The phrase that struck me the most, was this, "Children hear the Lord easier than anyone else. Virtually the only block that I encounter in them is their parents' own unbelief." Oof, ouch.



Here are some snippets I captured from the description:* Children, Can You Hear Me? trains kids to practice God's presence in their lives.
* Imagine raising an entire generation that hears God's voice every day!

I love that last line. I want that to be true for my children. I want them to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I want them to need to hear from their Creator, Saviour, Healer, Counselor every day. If they catch a glimpse of Him now at this young age, they will never want to turn away. As they begin to taste and see that the Lord is good and that He cares about every detail of their lives, then they will get a genuine knowledge of who He is. He is real. He is LIVING. He is not a dead or dead-beat God.

The following is a portion of one of my blog posts from our ministry website...

"You are the light of the world. You are children of light.

'For all of creation has been eagerly awaiting the day

when God will reveal who His children really are.'

{Romans 8:19}

The time is now.

Whether you are a child by age or a child at heart, you are a child created by God. Created to know Him. To know Him fully and to make Him fully known. How do we get to know our God? We communicate with Him, just as we would a dear, dear friend.

Friend says: 'How are you today?'
We reply: 'Well, ... ' and tell Friend all of our struggles, our hopes, our worries, our dreams.
Friend listens. Friend loves. Friend encourages.
Now it's our turn.
We say: 'And how are you doing, Friend?'
And He replies...
And we listen.

His words to us are life.

We believe God is calling all of us "kids" to be children of His Word.

WE DESIRE: To know the written Word deep in our hearts (it is mighty powerful, ya know!), through weekly memorization.
To know the spoken Word deep in our hearts (it is our lifeline!) by listening to His voice every day.

I know it is one of your greatest desires to see your children walking in His truth. How do we make that desire real? By helping them see that HE IS REAL! He cares about every little detail of their lives! Doesn't He know the number of hairs on their heads?!

His words to us are food.

'Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good

Blessed is the man that trusts in Him.'

{Psalm 34:8}

When our children get a genuine taste of a genuine friendship with Him, they will never hunger for anything else.

Let us daily seek together. Don't forget our challenge to you... Please seriously consider finding one evening a week that you gather with your family and pray, worship, and listen together.

The time is now.

All creation has been waiting for the revealing of the true sons and daughters of God.

It's time for a revolution.

You are the light of the world."

Let me tell you, we are putting this into practice in our family and it is changing us. When your children begin to see visions and pray scripture and dream dreams, then you know that He is on the move. We've also implemented a "Pray & Listen" time in our church kids classrooms. He is not silent, we were just not listening!

I could go on and on about what we've been seeing, but it's almost midnight so, I'll save that for another post. I don't want to be a grump in the morning!

I pray that you would be inspired today.
Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening...

~christa jean