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Palm Sunday is tomorrow, the first hill of the roller coaster that is Holy Week….culminating in the celebration of Easter next Sunday. Most of the thoughts I could post about Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, and even Easter itself…you’ve probably already heard.

So what to post? It definitely deserves something. I think a memory would serve it well.

When I was in high school, I was able to visit Israel, and see many of the sights talked about throughout scripture. Although I was young, the memories are still with me, and I have pictures to remind me of this trip.

The picture above is the “Church of All Nations” (stolen from a website, cause it’s better than mine). Surrounding this church are well-kept gardens of Olive Trees, where it is believed to be the Garden of Gethsemane. Inside the church, there is an altar above what is believed to be the rock where Christ possibly prayed the infamous “let this cup pass from me” prayer. Bearing the weight of suffering for all of creation’s redemption, he was moved to tears.

I think pursuing whatever moved Christ to tears in those hours, would be a good one, especially this week. To have our hearts broken by that which breaks the heart of God. To experience that much of a yearning…with the understanding that if we’re to be a part of what God’s doing, it will take us putting our selves (our families, our desires, our stuff, our plans, our lives) on the altar.

Not that our sacrifice is anywhere near Christ’s….but I think it’s in the same direction.

Aligning our heart with God’s….looks like a dangerous thing. Cause when/if we actually do it…

I suppose we should make sure we’re ready. And let go of “trying to have God’s heart”, allowing God to do GOD’S work IN us. I don’t think I can even reach for that kinda thing on my own. Or something like that.

In any case…I think praying for God to give me that kind of burden for the restoration of His Kingdom…..is a good place to start. And this is a good week for that kind of prayer…

We’re doing a new fund-raiser to bring home Phoebe from Africa, and it’s a Children’s book!  The story takes place in “A Land Full Of Stuff”, and this one involves a young girl who lives a more “simple” life on purpose….which leads to some pretty cool things happening.  I had written this story, and 2 more that go with it a while back, thinking maybe someday I’d get Dave Ramsey or Max Lucado to help me publish it.  But I figure if that happens eventually on accident – cool…until then, this is a great way to let my daughters be involved, and maintain total control/profits!

I simply gave my daughters a list of what each page was about, and they produced and colored all of the pictures for the book!  I’m proud of them, and now they’re addicted to bringing me everything they color saying, “Here dad, we can sell this to help bring Phoebe home!”

Here’s a picture of what they look like:

The first page of the story reads:

“In a Land Full of Stuff,

there was a girl who had little.

While they had tall cakes,

she had cakes off the griddle.”

It’s a great story to discuss with your children and grand-children, why we might make choices to live with less on purpose – both in the moment, and on a grandeur scale.  It doesn’t come out and say anything about Jesus – which you may love, or hate…but I felt like it definitely would be a book He’d smile on.  Just click here to get your copy today!!!

We were driving home from their cousins house, and the chatter was like a hundred geese trapped in a minivan.  Finally I decided to bring a little order to the chaotic excitement by asking what they did all night at the sleepover.  Silence.  One of them speaks up, “Well, we watched a movie.”  Good, I can use that to continue a conversation.  What movie was it?  What was your favorite part?

“Ehhh, I can’t remember.”  I was momentarily discouraged, until they picked up the ball and ran with it themselves.   “Hey dad, do you know what my hobby is?”  I smiled, and said I’d love to know.  “Ballet!”, she said with a huge grin.  Her younger sister felt left out, and joined in, “Guess what mine is dad?”  She’s 5 years old, going on 16 sometimes.  I smiled at her in the rearview mirror, asking what hers was.  I was pretty sure hers would be ballet too.

“Worshiping God.”

I was too excited to know how to respond.  My words were probably something blended between telling her how excited I was to hear what she just said, and talking to her sister about how dancing ballet IS worshiping God also.  We started making a list of all the ways we can worship God.  It was one of those van rides home that make you want to take the long way.

Every once in a while, I wonder what they will do when they’re older.   Will they become teachers, like their mommy?  Will they be missionaries, or pastors?  Will they be professional ballet dancers?   Will they pursue mommy-hood above career?  Will they open a bakery, become a painter, or work at a zoo?

A while back, we asked our oldest daughter what she thought she might wanna do when she was a “grown up”.  Her answer didn’t require a whole lot of deliberation.  “I’m going to be an animal doctor, and I’m going to adopt a girl from China.”  Whoa.  Now I’m not sure what I would’ve said as a 6 year old, (although 1987 is when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came out….so possibly “Michelangelo”) but I don’t think I had the perspective and “world-view” our daughter has already grown.

So will she end up being a veterinarian, and adopting from China?  Who knows.   But the fact that God’s heart for the fatherless is already becoming a part of her heart – makes a dad proud.  Conversations like these make me feel like, whatever God has in store for them, these girls are definitely precious to the Kingdom.  I look forward to a life of helping them discover how God has uniquely sculpted their hearts and minds….