Her fingers pressed boldly upon the piano keys. She did not play from a place of loss and weakness, bur rather a place of sweet victory and blessed assurance. She played from a place of complete confidence and bravery. She gave our family, our Mama, and our Great God a love offering like no other. As one of my mom's nearest and dearest friends, Ms. Janice played, "Because He Lives!" It was as if the sermon of her fingers said, "Walk on dear ones, walk on!"
Mark and I desperately desire for our kids to know their God as the God of the WHOLE WORLD, not just the God of the United States of America. We want them to know the grandeur and majesty of a God who is NOT just the God of the American-Caucasian, middle-class, but the God of all created things. In order to push the boundaries of their boxes, we do not "hide" world wide conflict from them. We do not hush their age appropriate questions about ISIS, terrorism, persecution, torture and death. Naturally, when tackling such weighty topics, we then have to be ready to combat some heavy fears.
Fear held my heart in captivity for so long, that every alarm goes off in my body when one of my children say. "I am afraid!" I learned from my own story, that fear is a VERY real and a VERY fierce emotion, that when unchecked can paralyze and control every aspect of our lives.
1. When working with children who are struggling with fear, NEVER EVER ignore the emotion.
Over the weekend, we had SUCH a tender conversation with our kids about fear. One of them shared, "I am afraid ISIS will come to French Camp and hurt us!" Both Mark and I acknowledged the fear, validated how we can TOTALLY understand why this child might be fearful of such a thing, and then we did the ONLY thing we can do as parents;
2. We DID NOT offer false hope!
"Oh baby! ISIS is NEVER coming to French Camp, MS!"
"Oh baby! We will NEVER be harmed by terrorists!"
"Oh come on, statistically you'll die in a car accident long before you die by the hand of ISIS!"
ALL THINGS NOT TO SAY!
What we DID try and express to our kids was this, "Kiddos, we have something FAR GREATER, FAR DEEPER, FAR LONGER, and FAR MORE SECURE than a make believe promise. We can only offer you the same thing our parents offered us, and it's the BEST OFFERING EVER. The only sure thing we have for you is this; JESUS! His presence and the promises in His word, are the firm foundations we have stood on our whole lives, and we want you to stand on them also. Mama and Daddy have faced MANY sorrows and fears, we too had NO IDEA how we were going to survive some days, but God's grace covered us. God's grace was sufficient and went before us, behind us and all around us. It sustained us. There are little girls and little boys on the other side of the world, sitting in living rooms and expressing the same fear you are expressing tonight, and their Mamas and Daddies CANNOT offer them any type of circumstantial relief with, "Oh kids, ISIS isn't in this part of the world!" Imminent danger DOES surround them in a way it doesn't surround us today, and their Mamas and Daddies are offering their kids the EXACT SAME HOPE we are speaking over you, JESUS!
3. Jesus is the only kryptonite to fearful bondage!
Positive thoughts pitter-out, numbing tools leave us naked, reality returns, and we face our fears again. Until we give Jesus access into all the shaking and uneasy parts of our fear, fear will be our master. Fear will boss us, control us, paralyze us, motivate us and make us its slave, and then we poison others with our contagious fear.
One of mine and Mark's prayers is, that we will have the clarity to call out and tear down generational sin that has been allowed to seep through. Fear is one of those struggles we have called out. And ONLY through the grace and power of our living God, we plan to help our children tear down fear.
On Sunday, "Because He Lives" was pinged out on an old, out of tune piano, that sits in a dusty Delta church, way beyond her prime. But nothing old and out of tune was shared in the sacred place of those tired walls.
"How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy He gives;
But greater still the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days
BECAUSE HE LIVES!"
My fake tattooed body just received a new print. Just the last 3 lines. I'm not excessive you know :)
I'm going to place these words, painted on a plaque (made by one of my artsy friends) by my front door. As my children's souls come in and out, I'll see those words and my fear will fade, my faith will rise, and I will not be enslaved and held in captivity.....BECAUSE HE LIVES!
~Sara
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