This evening, Dana and I went out to dinner with some out-of-town friends that were passing through the area. The last time we saw them, Adelaide was very young and Miriam hadn't been born yet. After about a half hour of catching up, Adelaide eased into her chatty self. She began telling our friends about her day at preschool and how one boy was not being nice, hit another kid, and would not "listen and obey."
A couple weeks ago during Discovery Hour, Adelaide was asked to memorize the last portion of Deuteronomy 5:27, which says, "we will listen and obey." We work on her verses with her at home and she has really enjoyed learning them.
Scripture memory is a pain. It takes time. It doesn't always come easy. It reminds me of preparing for the Junior High spelling bee. But it changes us.
Eugene Peterson compares reading the Bible for formation to dogs gnawing on a bone. We should get everything out of it. When we memorize scripture and wrestle with its God breathed meaning . . . it does things to us. We get everything out of it. We don't just gain deeper understanding, but we start to think and speak through it. The Word becomes our means of processing and of communicating.
God's Word gave Adelaide a new concept through which she understood her small world. The Word was her window for understanding what happened in her classroom. I yearn to see life more regularly through her simple, yet profoundly wide window.
More and more I understand why Jesus pointed to children as an example of the greatest in God's Kingdom (Matthew 18).
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