One thing I love about having three boys is their instant willingness to do anything silly or disgusting. With this commercial parody we did them both!
Granted, Cole didn’t want to have a mustache painted on, but he was a great sport about me photoshopping him in some goofy pictures. In one picture he really is crying. He was in a strange pre-teen mood that day and I was trying to cheer him up by taking some funny pictures. The cheering-up effort didn’t work…
Hudson was a natural. A couple of takes is all it took. He refused to get out of costume or wash off the mustache for the rest of the day.
Forrest took the brunt of the abuse. We spent a loooong time shooting in the bathroom. He was fully aware of how silly he looked but dove in enthusiastically. He wants to make films when he grows up so I try to provide opportunities like this to have fun and walk him through the process.
I overheard a conversation the other day between two people who grew up in Christian homes. Neither of these people are serving God today. In fact, both of them have made choices that would be deemed very un-christian. Teen pregnancy, heavy drinking, and a very obnoxious unbiblical world view were all part of life for them. I understand that not everyone who grows up in a believing family decides to walk the walk. However, it was what was said by one of these people that got me thinking.
“What do you expect when you have religion crammed down your throat growing up?” So is passing your faith on to your children “cramming religion down their throats”? It’s a question I posed on the web site SoulPancake and got varied responses. So your parents made you go to church. They made you go to school too. Does that mean they “crammed education down your throat”? They probably bought you Christmas presents every year. Does that mean cool gifts were “forced upon you”? Please pardon your parents for caring enough about you that they don’t want you to spend eternity in hell. I suppose if they were better people they would have just left you to burn you self-absorbed turd! (Sorry about that. Allow me to regain my composure.)
The point is this: we are all responsible for the choices we make. We’ll all stand before God to give account for the way we lived our lives. Using the excuse “my parents crammed religion down my throat” is just a horrible cop-out. Take responsibility for your own idiotic decisions. We all make them so grow up and stop blaming your parents. As parents, we have a mandate from God to raise our children by the Book (Proverbs 22:6) and we will be held accountable for it. Knowing this, I’d rather have my kids unhappy with all that “God stuff” than have to answer to The Almighty for not sharing The Truth with my children. I fear God more than my three younglings!
As the Body of Christ, we have to think generationally. The church will not end when we pass away. Lovingly nurturing our children to a passionate relationship with Jesus is an awesome ministry and should be a high priority above careers, hobbies, or other fading pursuits. We brought them into this world and we need to show them how to make it safely out! Psalm 127:4 compares our children to arrows in a warrior’s hands. We can prepare them to do serious damage to the kingdom of darkness. This doesn’t happen by itself. Invest in your children’s eternity, even at the risk of them gagging… a little…
Last week I had the opportunity to take a walk though Carlsbad Caverns with my family. This underground group of caves is truly amazing. You have to take an elevator 750 feet below the earth’s surface. The walking path takes you through 8.2 acres of caverns and tunnels. There are bottomless pits, natural “draperies” that look like liquid poured from the ceiling and frozen instantly, stalagmites, stalactites, and massive pillars formed naturally over thousands of years.
Among all this natural splendor I couldn’t help but notice the pace of the large crowd of visitors that day. People were in such a hurry that I often found myself in the way as they moved to pass me. Some tourists weren’t even looking at the formations or reading the information signs. They walked briskly by, chatting about hitting the gift shop before going out to dinner. So much beauty to take in but it was treated like a cheap roadside attraction.
One person who wasn’t in a hurry was my six-year-old son Hudson. His eyes were as big as can be. At one point, he looked up at his mother and said, “This must be God’s majesty”. Someone got it! Amidst our addiction to consume, take, and move on to the next thing, a little boy recognized the awesome picture God painted for him to enjoy. How often, in our haste, do we miss out on God’s majesty, on hearing His voice, or on being used to touch a life?
So what? So slow down, appreciate creation, take less, give more, and ask God to let you experience wonder like a six-year-old.
“Then he said, I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” – Matthew 18:3, 4
Tonight my family and I went to a little Mexican restaurant with the in-laws. It’s my favorite place to eat when we’re in New Mexico. After dessert, I sat there looking at my ten-year-old son fondly. Filled with love for him, I asked him to come close and I told him in his ear how proud I am of him for the way he loves Jesus. I told him how much I love him and how he makes me smile. He paused for a moment, looked me in the eye, and said, “Your breath smells like onions.”
