Jesus Loves Me More-ther

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I like it when my husband says to me, “I love you.” Frequently I will ask him, “How much do you love me?” and he will reply with,  I love you elventy-times-seven. Then I will ask, “How much is eleventy-times-seven?” And his answer to this question has always been the word, MORE. I get it! I am loved.

How much does Jesus love us? How much does Jesus love me? That is a finite question with an infinite answer because the love of Jesus will never stop and His love for me is infinitely more. 

It was almost three o’clock and the sky was black,–as black as the gloom that hovered over the little group clustered around the cross–when Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” What was finished?

Only Jesus knew the full weight of the words He spoke. Jesus, our great High Priest, had become “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”–and in so doing He had finished paying the ultimate sacrifice for His people’s sins.   Pursuit of Joy by Dr. Paul Kooistra 

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Philippians 2:8

One of my favorite blogs to read is written by my friend, Amy. The blog is called, Frankly Journaling, and you can find it here.Amy asked her children, “How much does Jesus love us?” and the answer her young son, Colsen, gave is profound…”More-ther than the house is big; more-ther than the city is wide.” He gets it! He is loved.

I remember hearing my mom play this timeless hymn, “The Love of God” (by Frederick M.Lehman)  on the piano when I was a child. The following lyrics resonate…


Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.


Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure–
The saints’ and angels’ song.

I’ve been overwhelmed by the love of God. I am continually overwhelmed by the love of Jesus. This photo communicates another answer Colsen gave when his mother asked him, “Are you doing alright?” He responded, “I’m doing VERY alright!  I’m more alright-er than the sky is blue!” 

Thanks to Bethany and Taryn for this photo
Jesus loves me more-ther and I’m more alright-er than the sky is blue! 

Everyday Wonderment

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one of seven blue herons

I appreciate these photos of a family of blue herons. I wish I had my video camera to capture all seven of the birds flying and swooping about. Their voices were amazing to hear.  Usually, there will always be one or two blue herons on the pine tree so seeing seven magnificent birds was incredible. (I don’t have a camera lens able to zoom in close enough to see all of the birds in the trees) If my camera had the power of the binoculars I use, the photos would be amazing as I discovered that several of the birds were young herons learning how to fly and soar and swoop. As soon as a young heron would land on a branch, the mature heron would squawk and coax the young one to go again and again and again. At one point, the mature herons chased away other mature herons from perching on their trees. I’ve seen a Mocking Bird fight another bird out of its territory but this was the first to see a great blue heron showing dominance over another great blue. Now multiply that by two because there were four mature birds announcing their presence. Watching the action and hearing the squawking sounds and flapping of wings reminded me of a scene from a movie about dinosaurs with the pterodactyl defending its turf.

I hope I never take for granted the everyday wonderment of observing God’s creation.

I couldn’t help but think of Matthew 6:26: Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

Ah! How the Lord values us! That is the “everyday wonderment.”

Praying for You, Children’s Ministry

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“Tosha walking down a winding path full of uncertainties and high Austrian Mountains ahead, but one he knows will lead him home, for it’s daddy’s path and Tosha knows & trusts me completely.”
~photo credits and used by permission: David Beatty
One photograph that is filled with thousands of words. This is the first of many notes to come using some of those words; the first of many thoughts that come to mind when I look at this photo. 
A little boy walking blissfully on a path that twists and turns. The towering mountain in the distance looks ominous, yet there he goes, holding his sticks, walking confidently. The path twists and turns and he cannot see what lies ahead around the bend, but he is unfettered by fear and anxiety. He knows that his father is with him. He knows that his father chose this path for him to explore. This is an adventure!


 This is my adventure, too. I’m like that little boy who is walking on a path of twists and turns…named Children’s Ministry. I see the mountain ahead and wonder if there is anyway to go around it or if necessary, will I have the wits and strength to climb up it. Sometimes there is confidence and unfettered resolve to charge ahead around that bend of unknown but often that confidence and resolve is stumbling along that path, tripping on the stones and ruts along the way. There is a bit of fear and anxiety when I face the mountain of details…the mountain of staffing needs…the mountain of time needed to give…

I know my Father is with me. I know my Father chose this path for me to explore. I am confident that I am on the right path. I begin to pray with confidence. I am praying for myself, though. It’s all about me again. Here I go again, needing everything and everyone to orbit around my needs…including God. Children’s Ministry is not about me. Children’s Ministry is all about children, ministering to children for the glory of God. Children’s Ministry is about serving families and becoming a servant leader with many volunteers. Children’s Ministry does not belong to me. 

My prayers shift to praying for you, Children’s Ministry. There are other people on that path in the photo. I imagine them in front of me around the corner leading the way.  I imagine them trusting God to lead them down this same adventurous path that I walk on.  I imagine them following me; looking up at that same mountain and praying for Children’s Ministry too. 

 …while we might commend this duty by quoting innumerable examples from the lives of eminent saints, it is enough for the disciple of Christ if we say that Christ in His holy gospel has made it your duty and your privilege to intercede for others. When he taught us to pray, he said, “Our Father,” and the expressions which follow are not in the singular but in the plural–“Give us this day our daily bread.” “Forgive us out debts”; “Lead us not into temptation;” evidently intending to set forth that none of us are to pray for ourselves alone…”
~from the sermon “Intercessory Prayer” delivered on August 11, 1861, by Charles H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London
Praying for YOU, Children’s Ministry! 

Created to Dance

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His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence…Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power. ~Psalm 21

“In Christianity God is not a static thing…but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.”

~C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“God must have created us to invite us into the dance, to say: If you glorify  me, if you center your entire life on me, if you find me beautiful for who I am in myself, then you will step into the dance, which is what you are made for…

You are made to center everything in your life on me, to think of everything in terms of your relationship to me…That’s where you’ll find your joy. That’s what the dance is about.”

~Timothy Keller, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus

 God has invited me to dance. Filled with joy…for the glory of God. I’m dancing.

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