I've come to prize things these days that I probably didn't even a few years ago. Some of them are predictable. Others, perhaps not. Some have cliche's built around them, others are more proverb-worthy. In any case, I find myself attached to things and situations that I value and look forward to more and more. I'm going to write about some of the things that have caught my attention lately that fall into this broad category.
Most recently, my eldest son had been in a bookstore with me one day. He pointed at a basket of beaded string bracelets and asked me what they said. I told him they said "GOD CHASER". "Oh", he said, "is that like 'Christ follower'?" I knew he had heard that phrase in his church class called Inner Mission. I think it's a wonderful way to teach children. In fact, I think it's appealing to adults too. In any case, I told him it was and I left to look at other parts of the store.
A few minutes later, he came back to me and asked me if we could buy 6 of them. "Six? Why six," I asked. "Because I want to give them away," he said. After examining their 25-cent price tag I told him "Sure, I'd love to get those for you".
So, we made the purchase (along with a kid-focused worship CD, which I'll probably talk about later) and went out to our van. I asked him how he planned to give the bracelets away, thinking I'd hear a predictable list of names of friends from church or family. I was wrong. He said "Here's yours." "Mine?" "Yep," we bantered. "You're one, right?" "Yes, I am," we discussed. "So am I. So is mommy. So are [our friends we were with]. So is [his younger brother]." "True," I said. "[His baby brother] can't have one. He's too little," he said.
So, at this point, while I agreed with the concept and was more than a little moved that he had thought this out so thouroughly (and I hadn't picked up on it), I wanted to discuss the idea of "God Chaser" and gauge how much he knew about this idea. Turns out, he'd been giving it quite a bit of thought. He relayed to me that this meant that it meant that he (and all of us) were trying to follow God and Jesus. He even kinda got the concept that they were "the same but different".
Of course, this lead into discussions around Christianity and salvation and what that meant. The idea of ASKING Jesus into his life is not clear. He sees it as an act of obedience, which it is - but that's a later step. He'll get there. He's still sorting it all out, but the boy's been working hard on this - or maybe it's better said that God has been working on him.
As you might guess, my prized possession is my ugly pink, orange, and yellow beaded bracelet that says "GOD CHASER" in block-shaped beads. Ugly or not, it's a symbol to me of my son's journey, his seeking, and hopefully his finding the Master in his life.
Later.