Addressing the heart

In recent days I've been spending some morning time hanging out in the Gospel of Mark.

This morning I was struck by some emotions that I saw in Jesus in Mark. Jesus could perceive his enemies' emotions even before they verbalized opposition to him.

Mark 2:1-12 tells of Jesus' healing of the paralytic man carried by 4 men & lowered to Jesus through the roof. Verse 8 says that "Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them..." Verse 6 says that some of the scribes were sitting there "questioning in their hearts."

Mark 3:1-6 tells of Jesus' healing of the man with a withered hand. Verse 5 says that Jesus looked at the Pharisees "with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart." Anger and grief are combined here in Jesus' reaction.

On Monday we started a home schooling program for our children. This year we plan on having our 2 older kids do 4 days of a French home schooling program offered by the CNED, a program authorized by the French gov't. Then on Fridays, we have them in a special program for home-schooling families. We've never homeschooled before, as our kids have only done French public school in Paris until now.

I think this time we invest in our children this year will be important in all our lives. We've already seen how home schooling allows for better use of time than public school, as we can field questions right away & make corrections immediately. I expect that our kids will come out academically stronger this year because of our home schooling investment in them.

I started reading Tedd Tripp's "Shepherding a Child's Heart."

In summary of what I've already read today, Tripp writes:

"There are 2 issues that feed into the persons your children become: 1) the shaping influences of life, and 2) their Godward orientation. Therefore, your parenting must be addressed to both these issues. You must be concerned about how you structure the shaping influences of life that are under your control (many things are not, e.g. death, and so forth). Secondly, you must be actively shepherding the Godward orientation of your children. In all of this you must pray that God will work in and around your efforts and the responses of your children to make them people who know and honor God." (pp. 24-25)

Tripp points out that children have a Godward orientation that either follows God or idols. Thus, even in the best environments, kids can still choose to not follow God. Or under terrible environments, some kids still choose God.

This will be a year of getting to know our kids better and hopefully being part of shaping their hearts.

Good & perfect gifts

Tonight I went with my family to the Colorado Rapids vs. Houston soccer game @ the Dick's Sporting Goods Center in Commerce City, CO. It was an excellent evening together.

It was a reminder of the kindness & generosity that we've felt this past month since we returned to the U.S. on a planned 1 year Home Ministry Assignment. We had a number of things up in the air when we arrived, including housing in the Denver area. We knew that we should spend time in this area, but didn't know how all the details would work out.

2 weeks ago God provided housing for us even when I was in Michigan & my wife & kids were in South Dakota. It came through a friend of my brother & sister-in-law. He was renting a place to a soccer player on the Colorado Rapids. This player's family had to return to their home country on August 15. My sister-in-law somehow found about an opening in their place from August 15 through mid-January 2011, which is exactly the time that we need housing here.

After moving into this place on Tuesday, we met our landlord on Wednesday. He's on the pastoral staff at a local church in this area, as well as being chaplain for the Rapids' team. When he found out that we liked soccer, he offered us tickets to tonight's game.

I've been meditating on the Gospel of Mark the past few days. This morning I was struck by Jesus' understanding of His own identity in relationship to God the Father. At his baptism, a voice from heaven said this was His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased.

At the game, we enjoyed perfect weather, an easy 3-0 victory, some good munchies, and lots of live entertainment. It was my whole family's first professional live game, except for me, who has already been to a lot of professional games. A good memory created together.

Back in the U.S.

2 weeks ago, we were packing our backs & getting ready to get picked up to go to the airport for our Paris-Denver flight.

That feels like much longer than 2 weeks now. It's been a busy time of the 5 of us adjusting to an 8 hour jet lag, as well as getting settled in in different ways. I dropped off my wife & our kids @ her parents' home in western South Dakota over the weekend, then drove back to Colorado.

Every day has been full of activity.

On Monday I met with a pastor of a young church in Denver. He suggested some great books to read about leadership. I started "Leadership Challenge" by Kouzes & Posner. So much that I want to learn this year away from the Paris field.

But now it's off to bed.