“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

How is your daily reading plan going? The kids and I finished Genesis and Exodus, and I brought them over to the gospel of John while we begin to prepare our hearts for Resurrection Day. I wanted them to follow Jesus through His ministry and watch how He lived. We read a few verses and then talk about them, read a few more and talk about them. When we reach the end of the chapter, we each share what caught our attention or what we learned. I try to teach them how to understand the scriptures and how to apply them to their lives.

If you haven’t done this with your children, I encourage you to try it. Even my 5 year old has learned to look for what she finds interesting and be ready to tell me about it. We aren’t reading from a children’s Bible. At the moment, we are reading from a NIV, but at other times we read from an ASV. By studying together, you learn together. Your spiritual vocabulary grows together. Their language vocabulary grows. Your children learn to trust you to be able to answer their questions, and you know where they are in maturity. My children know that I reference the notes in my Study Bible when we want to know more about a passage, and I make my Bible available for them to look up notes in their personal study. You will all learn more than you expect!

God has been teaching me some really big things lately. Things I’d like to process and share with you, but life is moving at such a fast pace that I haven’t had time to blog. God has been blessing the attendance of the camp where we serve, but at the moment, our family is the only staff here to run things. For reasons we don’t understand, we’ve had trouble finding help. We are praying for full-time staff to join us. Will you pray with us, that God will meet this great need with the people He knows are perfect for the jobs? See, it’s more than a job. It’s a ministry, and it really is all the time. It’s also a very different lifestyle. We are on a different calendar than the rest of the world. When other people take vacation or the weekend off, we are working. When other people work, that’s when we have a day off.

I don’t know about you, but when I am tired and not able to take a break, I am more prone to being critical. Today the kids and I read from John 10. Jesus had healed a blind man on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees were investigating Him again. People didn’t always understand His teaching, and so they accused Him of being demon possessed. They asked Him if He was the Christ, why didn’t He tell them plainly? So, He did tell them plainly. Instead of embracing Jesus, they only wanted to stone Him. Why? Because He wasn’t what they expected. He didn’t appear the way they expected. They expected what they wanted, and He didn’t give them that. He actually gave them something better, but they didn’t understand and their hearts were hard. When they couldn’t have it their way, they rejected Him.

I wonder how many times we have faith for what we expect, but we don’t have faith for what God has actually planned for us?

We know His plans are good (Jeremiah 29:10) and that only good and perfect things come from Him, the Father of heavenly lights (James 1:17); yet, when we don’t get our way, do we ever question whether God is good?

Can we become bitter and focus on what we haven’t received instead of the bounty of grace we have received?

I think that when I have the wrong focus, it is a failure to recognize God’s goodness. I become like Peter, who jumped out of the boat with his anticipation and then sank when he realized what he had gotten himself into. But God is bigger, and He is so merciful that He pulls us back up again. He knows we are like children and don’t have our own answers. He reminds us to take a breath and look at Him.

I have to intentionally focus on God’s goodness, and then nothing else seems as important as simply being with Him. Wherever God leads is good… He promised.

So how did this become real for my children today? We’re going to intentionally watch our expectations of one another… notice what others do well, show gratitude, and offer encouragement. We are going to put away our critical eye, and avoid pointing out one another’s faults. I learned early in marriage that if I wasn’t happy with the way my husband helped me I would just end up doing it myself. Men need to feel appreciated and want a partner they can do things alongside. Children can be crushed by criticism. Sometimes we have to correct, but there’s a way to do it that is gentle and causes them to desire to grow and improve—I have not mastered it yet, but I am also growing and improving.

I am trusting the Lord, that His timing in bringing more staff to this camp will be perfect. It isn’t what I expected, and I don’t know His plans, but I do know Him.

What are you expecting?

Walking by faith and not by sight has a learning curve… but you become more graceful as you go.