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Mollie,
When I was asked to do a devotional for your shower, I knew that it could not be a cookie cutter devotional. I knew that, for you, it needed to be unique and one of a kind. In looking for a devotional idea, I went to your blog and ended up thinking that I would use GLITTER AND GRASS as the theme for your baby shower. I think it's safe to say that no one else will EVER have a baby shower devotional on glitter and grass.
I first looked up "grass" in the Bible. There aren't many verses...one of the first that I came across was Psalm 103:15 which says,
"As for a man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more."
I think we can all agree that what I just read sounds kind of depressing and appears to have nothing to do with a baby. BUT, if you look at the verses before and after it, we begin to see that it is certainly not the case. The verses before it (Psalm 103:13-14) say,
"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for He knows how we were formed, He remembers we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass..."
He knows how we are formed - we can see the beautiful picture of what that really means if we jump ahead to Psalm 139:13-16 which reads,
"For YOU created my inmost being, YOU knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise YOU for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; YOUR works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from YOU when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, YOUR eyes saw my unformed body. ALL THE DAYS ORDAINED FOR ME WERE WRITTEN IN YOUR BOOK BEFORE ONE OF THEM CAME TO BE." (emphasis mine)
These verses show the depth of God's love and care for each one of us and how He has created each one of us wonderfully - knitting us together in the secret place of our mother's womb. It also shows that we are not an afterthought...He planned our days long before we ever came to be. Yes, God certainly cares about grass.
We then also need to look to the verses that then follow in Psalm 103:17-18,
"But from everlasting to everlasting, the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and His righteousness with their children's children - with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey his precepts."
This is a promise that God is giving to those who love him and follow the truths found in His Word. I want us to look at just a few ways that we as parents do that.
Because grass is grass, we have to talk about the first thing I think of with grass...grass stains. Grass stains with little boys are guaranteed. There is nothing good about a grass stain. It is a colored path that marks up and item and makes it ugly, is difficult to remove, and can even, in some cases damage an item.
Sin is like a grass stain. Sin leaves a mark upon a heart and makes it ugly, it can be difficult to remove and it can even damage a heart.
So where am I going with all of this?
Baby Maverick will be so sweet. We will all be in awe of his sweetness. When he is born, we will see his tiny toes and how wonderful he is made and we will all declare him to be "perfect"...but the truth is that even he will be a sinner. We all are. Psalm 51:1 says, "surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."
God knew that sin would enter this world and would begin to stain hearts and destroy lives - that's why he sent Jesus! And that's why he tells us as parents that we are to train up our children in the truths of God's Word.
As believers, training up a child is directing their HEART to God and our central focus of parenting becomes the gospel. We can parent without the gospel and still produce children who are good, obedient and polite...but without the gospel they will never understand the sin of their own heart and their need for Jesus. Because God has entrusted our children to us, it is our responsibility as parents to direct our children - with their sin-stained hearts - to the cross. It is pointing them to the Savior.
I use Chlorox2 on grass stains. It is amazing stuff and I can get really excited about it. When my boys have a grass stain, I wet it with a bit of water and pour Chlorox2 on it. Chlorox2 is blue but when I pour it on the stain, it turns white and begins to bubble up and I know that it is cleaning the stain. I then throw it into the washer and it comes out clean very time. Simply put, parenting our kids to the cross is showing them that just as Chlorox2 wipes out grass stains, so Jesus can wipe out the sin in their life and make them clean.
So how do we accomplish this huge task that God has given us as parents?
That's where the "glitter" comes in. Glitter is defined as: bright, shimmering reflected light, causing the surface to sparkle or shimmer. We become glitter. Glitter is God's glory shining in our hearts, reflecting His goodness.
Mollie, you need to be glitter to little Maverick. Your life needs to reflect Jesus so that he an see and know God's love through you. Glitter seems to make its way everywhere and in everything. You can be glitter to Maverick by reflecting Jesus daily. You need to be in the Word in in prayer and then your heart will overflow the Jesus though your actions; by what you say and how you say it; by teaching him the truths of God's Word and living out the truths in your own life; by teaching him how to worship and praise God; by praying over him and teaching him how to pray; helping him learn to obey; and teaching him how to deal with sin in admitting wrongdoing, asking for forgiveness, and learning how to repent and turn away from future sin. (Bible Study Fellowship)
Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven." But I think it would be appropriate tonight to say, "Let your glitter so shine before Maverick, that he may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven."
Mollie, here is my hope and prayer for you...
...when you see glitter scattered around months after Christmas has come and gone, that rather than becoming irritated or annoyed, it will remind you to be glitter that shines and reflects the light of Jesus so that Maverick sees the love of God in you.
...and when you do Maverick's laundry in the future and see his grass-stained pants, that rather than becoming irritated, frustrated or upset over the grass stain, it will remind you to pray for you little boy's sin-stained heart to accept Jesus as His personal Savior. And if you have the privilege of seeing him give His life to Chris, I pray that those grass stains will forever give you tears of joy...for hidden in the glitter and grass are God's goodness and his grace.
***Giving credit where credit is due. A couple of the ideas for this devotional came from two resoruces which I highly recommend. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp and the children's home training lessons by Bible Study Fellowship.***
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Devotion by Lisa Leland
Shower photography by Ellyn Carson
Have you ever heard about Artificial grass
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