These Boys

The boys are here. One is in bed after I read the Bible story of Creation to him. The younger is with his mom in her rocking chair getting sleepy. She is a great Mom. The boys are six and two years old. They are the best kids that a man can receive as a gift from the Lord. Psalm 127:3-5 says:

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. (NASB)

(My wife just walked by with the little one taking him to his crib; awesome sight!)

These boys truly are gifts. They are given to us by the Lord Himself. They came to us after their mother passed away from leukemia. Their father decided to relinquish his rights realizing that he could not adequately take care of them. All the while, these two gifts were waiting. They were waiting to be loved, these boys.

Our six year old asked me today, “Dad, have I told you that I loved you today?” I answered, “No, Son, not that I can remember.” He quickly said, “Dad, I love you!” These boys, these two precious boys, these two gifts, these two sons of mine have come home. This is their home. This is where God planted them. These boys.

Sunday Review, December 16, 2012 – Living a Life of Service

Bearing others burdens…

Paul begins to tell us in Galatians 6:1-5 what loving your neighbor looks like by helping them carry or bear their burdens. First, he tells us how to love someone who is living in sin and how to help those who have been caught in sin (6:1). If you are walking by the Spirit, living by the fruit of the Spirit, then you can help the one caught in sin. Second, Paul tells us how to love someone who is burdened with any kind of burden (6:2-4). When we come alongside someone else who is struggling with love and gentleness, then we fulfill the law of Christ: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Finally, each of us is to take responsibility in bearing our own load (6:5). But what is our load? Simply this: Walk by the Spirit, live by the Spirit, love by the Spirit. (You can listen to the message here.)

These Little Hands

“My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth…”

His hands are perfect, this little individual. He uses them to play. You can see him on the floor in the living room pushing his cars around imagining the city that he has built. The cars go “swoosh” as they race along the streets of that city. And all the while, I am watching his hands. Such an incredible thing his hands are. When he was in his mother’s womb, in the secret of that womb, God was ever developing him. At one point, God sewed him together. But his hands — these little hands — are beautiful.

You can see the fingernails. Sure, he’s a boy, and he has dirt under his fingernails. Those nails allow him to scratch his itch. His fingers are used to run through his hair when he feels the need to spiffy up a bit. He taps them on the table sometimes as a joke waiting for his lunch or dinner. As he’s in the car in the backseat he will touch the glass as he is pointing to something that is interesting to him. And all the while, these little hands, wave to people who are passing by.

These little hands are used to grasp his football. He throws it and it bounces everywhere and the next thing you know, he’s at it again. Picking up the ball and throwing it some more. After his bath, he’s checked over by his father. His father looks at the beauty of God’s creation. He looks at him and notices these little hands. And as he is looking at them, he sees the designs of his fingerprints. They are his fingerprints. No one else in the world, out of seven billion people, have his fingerprints. They swirl. They leave smudges. They are his print in the world.

As I look at these little hands, I cannot help but think:

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You….Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. (Psalm 139:13-18, 23-24)

These little hands — this little man — are perfect.