7.8 billion people in the world today. It’s hard to fathom or even comprehend just how vast that number is. You ever take a moment to think about it? Start counting. At a rate of one number per second, it would take approximately 31 years, 251 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes and 40 seconds of counting nonstop to just reach 1 billion. That’s crazy. Now imagine that being the number of people in the world. Can you picture them all as children at one moment. Lindsey and I have a hard time with 4… now imagine from God’s perspective.

This past week my sister in law Kayla met the twins for the first time. Her first question, how do you tell them apart. Being identical, honestly it’s challenging. “Well, Ellie has a more pointed ear and Evie has more of a birthmark over her left eye. That’s about it.” Then we laugh and tell her at times you can’t tell.

I feel horrible admitting to that, but it’s the truth. If the lighting in the room is dim, you seriously cannot tell. I remember always joking with my dad because he couldn’t would mix up at times Travis and I. Or he would call us trosh. (And we don’t look at all alike.

It’s really had me thinking though about God’s perspective on 7 billion people in the world. Do I matter. Does he hear my prayers. How can he tell my voice apart from others. It made me all the more grateful for the passages in Scripture that tell me he knows me by name, he has a plan for me, and that I am His child.

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away… You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:1-2, 13-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Truth. I am a child of God. You are a child of God. Jesus died for you personally. Not just a number or a statistic. He knows you. Every detail about you. He created you as His masterpiece. how incredible is that. You are more.

Years back Kutless wrote a song that captures this thought called Sea of Faces.

And In Your eyes I can see
And in Your arms I will be
I am not just a man, vastly lost in this world
Lost in a Sea of Faces
Your body’s the bread, Your blood is the wine
Because you traded Your life for mine

You are more, and Jesus traded His life for you. So if today you feel that no one cares, no one notices, no one is listening, cling to the truth that you have a Heavenly Father who knows you and loves you.

If you have kids, you understand what I mean when I say the word meltdown.  The uncontrollable crying, whining, kicking and screaming.  And the more you try to talk and reason as a parent, the worse it seems to get.  This past week Eli has been dealing with allergies and Silas has been battling a cold.  Both we have found are triggers for meltdowns.  Whether it is due to lack of sleep, just not feeling good, or for Silas just not understanding why he keeps hacking it has led to a complete personality change for our kids a d a bunch of whining.

The littlest things will now set them off.  Being out of chocolate milk,  asking them to take one more bite of food or it being cut the wrong way for their liking, and who knows what else. This morning it was Eli’s hoodie being dirty and in the wash from him playing in the mud yesterday. Honestly the shirt straight up smelled.  It had to be washed.  You would have thought the world was ending.  He no longer wanted to go to school, instead he kept hiding under the stroller screaming and crying over the situation.  

As a parent I have to keep reminding myself he doesn’t feel good, and doesn’t necessarily understand all that is going on.   That it is only for a few days, that his energy will return, and life will get back to normal.  Silas just keeps saying, “daddy, I don’t want to cough anymore. I know buddy, and it will get better.  I promise.

This week has me thinking a lot about our meltdowns with God.  When we can’t understand the whole situation.  When things don’t go quite the way we think they should.  We look at our kids throwing a tantrum or having a meltdown (as we want to pull our hair out) but figuratively we do the same thing.  Yelling, screaming, hiding, not wanting to talk to God in those moments.  

I can only imagine Him reminding himself that we are just human and not seeing the whole picture.  What sets us off as humans, we get totally overwhelmed with. God is saying I got it here in the palm of my hand.  It’s okay.  Trust me.  But we only see the moment, the thing that set us off.  The “sweatshirt” not being washed that we have turned into a mountain thinking it’s the end of the world.  

How hard is it for us to remember these words from Paul when we are going through our “crisis?”

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Is there something in your life right now that has become your trigger for a meltdown?  In those moments, do you hear God’s voice trying to calm you and reason with you, or are you only seeing your logic in that moment?  

So recently as our family grew to 4, I built the boys bunk beds.  Eli was super excited and couldn’t wait to have the top bunk.  Even before I got the mattress in place he would climb the ladder and proceed to launch himself off the top onto the mattress below.  Screaming with joy he convinced Silas to try it also.  Next thing you know our 3 year old is also climbing.  The only difference when Silas reached the top, the threshold of having to step over the edge he froze. You could see the fear take over. And just like that Eli jumped into action, climbing up behind him.  Reaching him he started saying to Silas, “it’s okay buddy, God’s got this, you have nothing to fear,” as he patted him on the back.

All I could do was smile picturing Silas flipping over the top.  I was gonna correct him that maybe that’s not quite what God meant in saying, “do not fear.” But then I just kept thinking about the simple concept of faith like a child and that is what he can grasp right now.  

It was definitely a proud moment realizing that thing are starting to sink in,  he is hearing us.  (At times haha). 

But then it got me thinking what if we as adults had that simple grasp of faith also when fear starts to consume us.  Like Jesus patting us on the back saying, “it’s okay, I got this.”  How many of our fears would be alleviated if we understood that God himself is truly with us as we face life.  We can trust the king of kings with our everyday fears.  Nothing we are going through is beyond our Savior.  

“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1:9

So our twin girls are now two months old. Let me be the first to say, twins are no joke. Exhaustion has new meaning in our home, and life is without a doubt different. They are a blessing and bring us incredible joy, but there have been some major changes. Especially for our boys.

We have started noticing it a lot with Eli, craving our attention. Going from being the only child, to gaining a brother in Silas a few years back. Then moving, doing renovations and now twins, he has been through a lot in 5 years. I give him all the credit in the world for how he has handled it, and if it is any indicator he will be an incredible big brother/protector/teacher when he is older. But recently we have seen in his moods and in how he responds, he is craving our attention. Some one on one time with mommy and daddy.

So this past week Lindsey and I talked about it and agreed he needed that. On Thursday I took him out to the mountain after I got off work. It was just a few hours, but man the joy that was had and experienced that day. Getting on his snowboard, sliding down on his belly, playing king of the mountain, and then some McDonald’s after. Memories. Priceless. I could have gone and not even put on my board and it would have been worth it. To get to ride together and teach him though, words can’t describe.

I love all my kids and want them all to know how valuable they are. Not just with possessions, or more toys. But with my time. To a kid time is precious. Not always telling them to wait, or maybe tomorrow, but making time for them.

It got me thinking though, just as precious as that time was for him, it was for me also. To realize and see how much he’s growing. To have conversations to let him know how much he’s loved. To speak to him about Jesus grace. Most important to just have some Daddy-son time.

Now let’s think about that in the premise of time with the Heavenly Father. Do we crave that time with him? Does it affect our mood and actions when we don’t have it? Do we realize he craves that time as much with us?

Looking back at life are you making time for with your Heavenly Father. Allowing Him to have time to speak His truth to you, His love and grace. Take time today for a one on one moment. Just you and Abba, daddy.

Draw near to God, He will draw near to you.

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’””
Luke 18:1-5 NLT

Persistence. To be honest I always thought this was the story of a nag. But when you look at it Jesus uses it as an example of persistence. Having kids I have a new appreciation for it. Last year for Christmas Eli and Silas were going to drive us nuts with their Christmas lists. (as I’m sure I did with my parents). Every day it changed. One day it would be a police car, next a fire truck, next legos, and yet trains the day after that. How as a parent are you supposed to know what mood they will wake up in on Christmas Day. Either you will be the hero or you will get, “dad, I didn’t want that.” The one thing that was consistent thought was that Eli wanted a double decker bus. (Or in his words a 2 by 2 bus). We knew above all else he wanted that bus because it was his consistent day in, day out request. Consistency. Persistence.

What if that is what Jesus is teaching us? How many of us our prayers change by the day? Praying for this job, then next day hating that job. One day praying for God’s provision, then the next being upset with how He provided. Praying for a certain relationship, then the next wanting out of it. As humans we are totally like waves tossed here and there in our prayers. Can you imagine being God going, “I have no clue what your praying for.”

I know it might seem like you are nagging God when day in and day out you are praying for the same thing. At times feeling like you aren’t getting an answer. What if He is teaching you in that moment not to give up, to be persistent in making your requests known?

Luckily we serve a God who knows our hearts and what we are asking for even when it is just groans according to Romans 8.

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”
Romans 8:26-27 NLT

“ I told ya so dad.” A statement I remember making as a kid to my pops. How can Eli and Silas be that age already, that they are saying it to me. Where has time gone? Yet here they are starting to say it and having to show me how to do things. What? They are 3 and 5, this should not be happening yet. Yes it may be over random things like working the tv or where there snacks are, but still there is something to them saying, “told ya so.” Like I should have just known it as a matter of fact. Then there is the flip side of it. When I tell Eli and Silas something and they are blown away when something happens just as I said it would. Like daddy is a genius. (Maybe just in my mind.).

It got me thinking about Jesus and the disciples. With Jesus being the dad teaching his kids (the disciples). Think about the scene right after the resurrection when Mary and Mary went to the tomb and the angel spoke, He isn’t here, he is risen, “Just as he said he would.” Can you imagine Jesus sitting in the distance, laughing, going, “told ya so.” Then appearing to the disciples. When they were in shock, going there is no way possible. Jesus going, “I told ya so. Why does this shock you?”

To reiterate the point Jesus had this type of engagement with the disciples multiple times throughout His 3 years of ministry.

Think with me about the raising of Jairus duaghter, The commotion, the wailing, a dead daughter, and Jesus saying don’t worry, just believe. I dont know about you that would be tough. “Jesus, I’ve seen you do incredible things, but medically wise, she’s flatlined. Jesus I want to believe but this is crazy.” Then he goes in the room and tells her to stand up. I can only imagine Jesus in that moment looking around, especially at those who were laughing, going “told ya so.”

Proving himself over and over. That we can take him for his word. I want to believe that. I want my kids to believe that when I tell them something. Where I told ya so isn’t a bad thing, but a trust being built.

As believers most of us can quote Romans 8:28, and we want to believe that “all” things work together for the good. But if we are honest, many would say, “God, I know you said all things, but somehow you missed on 2020.” We being to question and start basing our God relationship on Earhtly relationships where we have been let down. We can’t see the big picture, but I know without a doubt because of Scripture and Jesus proving himself time and again, He is going right now, “told ya so, I’m still God, I’m still in control.”

One final thought for ya with this ideas in mind. Think about the end, when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. How many at that time will be in shock. Even though Jesus told us it will happen. Scripture is clear, in the end God wins. Can you imagine him looking out over the masses smiling, going “told ya so.’

Take comfort in that. Just as my kids can take comfort in my words when they get scared or when they are confused. They can know that daddy is there.

Jesus is with you. Just believe!

There are moments as a parent that just bring extreme pride and joy.  Where your kids do something and you cant help but smile as the excitement takes over.  Moments where you just want to scream and shout, “That’s my boy!”  You know the moments I am talking about, like scoring the winning touchdown, riding his snowboard for the first time or getting that game winning hit, right?  The big moments!  As parents though we are learning it is the little things in life that many times we don’t even think about that can bring these emotions.  Recently it was Silas peeing on the pot for the first time.  He was so excited as he sat there just smiling away and couldn’t wait to give me a high five.  In his mind he had just counquered the world.  For Eli it is learning to jump off things higher and higher.  Now I know for some parents that might seem like a scary idea, but it is what he loves to do.  He will look at me, tell me to move back and then wait for the countdown.  “Ready, set, rev your engines,” as his arms go up in the air like he is riding a motorcycle, “Goooo!”  Then he takes off in a run towards the hillside and launches off into my arms.  “Bungakowa.”  He screams.  (He has it a little backwards still). Such a moment of thrill and excitement.  As I swing him in the air, and then set him down, you can see the joy as he jumps for a high five and again I yell, “That’s my boy.”

Some people might think I am nuts, but I truly believe in positive reinforcement with our two boys.  Lettting them know how much the little things in life mean to Lindsey and I.  Whether it is getting their colors right, learning new words, using a slide, etc… it truly is about the little things.  We want them to know how much they mean to us, each and every day.  Do they have their moment where they disappoint or frustrate us?  Oh yeah, of course they do, but I dont eve want our kids to think that we don’t find joy in them.

So the other night, as I was putting Eli to bed, praying over him, thinking back over the day and the things he had done, God hit me with this.  That same feeling you have towards your boys, I have towards you.  That same thought of, “That’s my boy,” is the same way I see you my child.  I couldn’t help but smile.  The reality and truth that I have been accepted and adopted into God’s family is a game changer.  Think about it.  God screaming and shouting over me and you.  “That’s my boy,” or “Thatta girl.”  Can you just imagine?  The creator, God himself, looking down on you, as his child.  If that can’t get you excited you better check your pulse.  Are you breathing, or is this just another moment of ho hum, yeah I heard this before.  Please take a moment and truly understand that you are God’s adopted!  God’s child!

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “ Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:14-16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Daddy.”  You can cry out to him, saying, “ABBA, Daddy.”  That is personal!  And that is how God sees you who have put your trust in Him.  Check it out in the Message version and I will let that speak for itself to finish out today’s post.  Take a moment and just cry out to Him.  `

“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:15-17‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Exodus 20:13, “Thou shall not lie.”

Tell me the truth.  Be honest, don’t lie to me.  Tell me what really happened.  These have become common phrases in our house recently.  As Eli gets older and his reasoning and vocabulary becomes stronger we are starting to deal with an issue I believe every parent does, lying.  Isn’t it crazy that of all things that need to be taught to a child, lying is something they just know.  We dont need to show them how to do it or teach them what a white lie is, they just pick it up.  The truth is if it isn’t handeled correctly or dealt with appropriately early on it just seems to get worse.

So the other day I was playing in the garage with Silas as he raced down his track on the his Lightning McQueen car.  As he’s going all out no hands full speed ahead for him, I hear Eli start running towards me.  “Daddy, Daddy come quick there is something wrong with the hose.”  In my mind I am thinking that maybe he just loosened it and it was leaking or that the nozzle got stuck on.  As we approached though I noticed it spraying out the side all over the house.  So I ask him, “Eli what happened?”  His response without even flinching, “Silas did it.”  Knowing that Silas was with me I was intreigued to see where this was going.  “Silas did what bud?”  He then looked at me, held out his hand to show me a nail.  “Silas put a nail through the hose, Dad.”  At that moment I started getting frustrated.  “Eli, tell me the truth.”  Knowing our 2 year old Silas could not put a nail through the hose I started asking again.  “Please be honest Eli.”  This time he changed his response.  “It must have been mommy, yeah it was mommy.”    Now  so you know Lindsey was still at work at this point.  “Eli, You still aren’t telling me the truth.  I think we need to go to timeout for a little bit to think about what happened.”  With that his face dropped, and he just mumbled, “It was me, how long do I have to sit for?”

At first I started thinking to myself how could he just lie to us like that. Then I started thinking how often do we lie to get ourselves out of a jam, or to diffuse a situation. How often do we just not say anything hoping someone else will never find out. I had my own personal incident the very next day. I was working on our front foyer putting down flooring. While on the front porch cutting the tile the jigsaw jumped on me, knicking the side of my thumb and then Linds new metal chairs. My first thought and I am ashamed to say was to move the chair to the back and cover it up, hoping that she would never see it. Yet as I thought about it I couldn’t help but think about the incident with Eli just days before. How could I have that thought? Why would I try to deceive her? I need to just be honest. Guess what, she forgave me. Yes she was frustrated at first, but accidents happen and forgiveness takes place. Honesty, confession, forgiveness. I believe are all three foundational words in marriage and in parenting. These are all words we want both our boys to learn.

It was definitely a learning moment in our house.  Not only for the boys, but also for Lindsey and I.  It challenged us to think about the times in marriage when truth must be spoken, even if it might hurt.   It challenged us to open our mouths to speak even if it is easier to remain silent.  It also taught us about our faith.  To confess before God.  It’s not like He doesn’t know already.  How freeing is it though to get hints off your chest that maybe you have been trying to hide or conceal?  There is a peace that comes from being open and honest.  May there be consequences, absolutely, but there is freedom with a clear conscience.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Anyone else remember the excitement those three words used to bring when you would open up AOL and hear the ding, and then the monotone voice, “you’ve got mail.”  There was something about it.  Thinking back, I am not sure if it was the excitement of mail or the reality that you were finally connected after waiting for what seemed like an eternity to actually connect after all the random noises the dialup connection used to make.  Maybe it was mail from your girlfriend, or a happy birthday message or someone who was new to email just saying hi and testing it out.  Either way there was a thrill to it.

How about when it was near your birthday and you would run to the mailbox to see if you got your long awaited card from your grandparents.  Inside you knew it contained just enough money to go get that new lego set from Toys R Us.  Oh the anticipation, the joy in getting mail.  Nowadays even the post office sends you an email telling you what is coming in your actual mail that afternoon.  Kinda ironic right.  An email to show you an image of your real mail.  You see the package you have been waiting for that you ordered offline.  You know it is coming that day, but then it seems like the hours drag on as you wait.  Yet still the excitement for when you get home.

I say all this because Eli is the same way.  At 3 years old he loves going to the mailbox with me each day to see what’s there.  Some days he will be like, “Just Junk dad.”  Others he will get all excited, “Wow that’s a lot of mail dad.”  He doesnt realize most of it is still just junk or bills, he just knows that we received something.  So Lindsey and I decided the other day, because of his excitement and thrill of mail that we would surprise him.  We went to Walmart, picked out a couple cards and then wrote personal notes of how much we loved them for our 2 boys.

The excitement it brought to him was incredible.  When he opened the mailbox and saw his name on the envelope. “What’s it say bud?”  With joy in his face he started screaming, “Eli, it says Eli.”  And what about the other one?  “Silas got one to.”  And then before even opening them, he took off running towards Linds.  “Mommy, mommy, I got mail.”  It was totally worth the few bucks spent at walmart to give him that moment of joy and now cards they can hold onto.  A simple reminder of our live.

Now thinking about this the last couple days makes me wonder if we get the same thrill and joy from opening God’s word.  Each and every morning we have the opportunity to receive a message from God himself.  A message of Him whispering, “ I love you” straight to your soul.  He wants to speak with us, and to us.  Would it bring us more thrill if maybe He made the noise of a bell before it and a deep audible voice saying you’ve got mail?  Maybe if he sent it in a letter with postage on the front?  How about in a package sitting in front of our door for when we get home?  Would we have that same passion and anticipation or have we allowed God’s Holy word to just become part of our schedule, even mundane in our lives?  What if we still had the thrill like Eli did saying, “Mommy, Mommy, God spoke with me today.”  It might seem a little crazy to think about, but again is this what Jesus meant when he said to have faith like a child?  A simple joy and excitement.  God’s word can truly be like receiving mail each day.  When you spend time in it and allow the Spirit to have a chance to speak, you might be surprised with what He has to say.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.- Psalms 1:2

Is there a joy, an excitement, a passion for His word?  God wants to speak to you, to pour into you, to send you a message.  Are you ready to listen?