For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. -Hebrews 4:12
Welcome to Family Faith and Fun Fridays!
As the week winds down and I anticipate more family time over the weekend, I often ask God for one good idea that will enable me to bring the Word to life and bring our family together.Usually, the activity overflows out of something the Lord has been teaching me through the scriptures.
I’ve been spending time in the book of Philippians over the past few weeks. And the theme that keeps rising from those words penned in a prison cell centuries ago is JOY.
How does a man unjustly accused and spending his days in stocks and chains write these .words..
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! -Philippians 4:4
And these…
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. -Phil. 4:12-13
I think Paul’s secret can be found two chapters earlier when he admonishes other believers to abstain from complaining.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing,so that you may become blamelessand pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the skyas you hold firmly to the word of life.”-Phil 2:14-15
I doubt Paul was calling his friends to a standard he did NOT practice himself.
In fact, I wonder if Paul’s radical joy was the result of his stringent assault on grumbling.
After all, this is the same guy who wrote:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. –Romans 15:13
This was the same guy who had run into Jesus on a road to Damascusand had never recovered; the Pharisee who had encountered JOY and decided to taste some for himself.
My joyanddelight may be in you, and…your joyandgladness will be of full measureand completeandoverflowing. -Jesus in John 15:12
In the light of Paul’s radical joy, I decided to challenge my kids to a No-Grumbling campaign.
But first I needed to show my children why they’d want to take part in my passionate offensive. I wanted them to SEE what happens to our joy when we succumb to grumbling.
So we played this simple game….
1. We filled a large tub with water and then we hung two smaller sand buckets about 20 feet from our big tub.
2. The hanging buckets were the same size, but on the bottom of the orange bucket, I had drilled five small holes.
3. I divided the kids into teams and told them that we were going to hold a relay race. The object of the game was to be the first team to fill their bucket to overflowing.
4. I gave each team the same sized plastic cups for transporting water and
the race was on!
5. The kids scooped water from the tub and raced across the yard as fast as they could move without sloshing and spilling. Then, they dumped their cups of water into their team’s small bucket and raced back to pass off their cups to their teammates.
6. The bucket without holes began filling up, while the one with holes slowly drained.
7. Eventually, the kids on the orange-bucket team noticed the leaky situation and began to complain about their faulty water holder.
And the green-bucket team declared victory as water began to drizzle over the top of their bucket and overflow onto the grass below.
8. Once the orange team got over the injustice of the whole rigged relay, we pulled out our Bibles and drew some analogies…..
*We read Jesus’ promise in John 15:12 and then I suggested that those buckets we were trying to fill were kind of like us. Buckets were made to hold water. God’s children were made to hold joy.
*Then we considered the orange bucket: Why didn’t the orange bucket overflow like the green one? I asked. The kids stated the obvious- there were holes in the bottom.
So, no matter how much water we pour in the orange bucket, it won’t ever be filled?
My relay racers shook their heads no. *Finally, I asked the kids how much joy we were made to hold.
A second glance at Jesus’ promise sealed the answer. We have been made to overflow with joy. Hmm... I raised an eyebrow and scratched my head. So if my life isn’t overflowing with joy, then what could be wrong? Josh looked at me and then glanced at those buckets. Then he folded his arms across his chest and declared, “If you don’t have joy, then I guess you’ve got HOLES.” *I nodded in agreement and asked one last question: So what do you think pokes holes in our capacity to hold joy? Or in other words... What causes our joy to leak out?
We turned to Paul’s words in Philippians (see the verses listed above) and attempted to read between the lines.
After the kids had all taken turns at naming some possible joy leakers, I asked:
How do you feel on the inside when you grumble? How do you feel inside when you complain? All agreed that the grumbles make use grouchy! I summarized: So if grumbling and complaining make our joy leak out, maybe that’s why Paul tells us NOT TO grumble or complain? In the end, we decided that Paul knew the habit of grumbling would drain us of joy, kind of like the holes in that orange bucket. *How could we could fix that bucket? I asked.
And the kids replied: Patch the holes. So, we did. We pulled out the duct tape and covered up those holes. Then we tried the relay race again.
And this time, the orange bucket held water…. all the way to overflowing! 9. The last question we needed to answer was this- If we can patch a leaky bucket with duct tape, how can we patch the holes that let our joy leak out? What could fix our grumbling spirit and help us to hang on to all that joy that Jesus is pouring into our lives? Hannah squinted her eyes in deep thought and then smiled. Gratitude. I winked at my wise girl and agreed. Praise patches our holes. Gratitude is duct tape for a punctured heart! Josh grabbed the roll of tape and started wrapping it all around himself with an ornery giggle. And then we headed inside to scribble some thanks in our gratitude journals! How about you, friends? What’s your patch of praise today? Wishing you a weekend of OVERFLOWING JOY!
Alecia, I was sent to your blog while doing a search on Google for the word “overflowed” expecting to be taken to a different place. But to my surprise your blog is where the almighty wanted me to land. Scripture you referenced to in your blog jumped off the page at me. It’s been some time since that has happened. Thought you might want to know that God used your blog tonight to speak to a sister in Christ. Thank you and may God bless you and yours
Alecia, I was sent to your blog while doing a search on Google for the word “overflowed” expecting to be taken to a different place. But to my surprise your blog is where the almighty wanted me to land. Scripture you referenced to in your blog jumped off the page at me. It’s been some time since that has happened. Thought you might want to know that God used your blog tonight to speak to a sister in Christ. Thank you and may God bless you and yours
Cindi
So clever!!! What a great word picture!
Thanks, Laura! I love how your family lives FAITH EVERYDAY! 🙂
I love family faith and fun Fridays :).