A View From the Cry Room: Christmas

     The Christmas songs have begun on our radio, and this year I hear a haunting theme over and over. Adults are longing to see the Christmas season through a child’s eyes. Oh, but there are places to go, meals to cook, things to mail… Looking down at my own children, I pause to consider how they do see Christmas.

      During the next several weeks of shopping and decorating and baking and eating, there are new and delightful treats behind every corner. There are smells and colors that we reserve for this time of year, like candy canes, gingerbread and red/green bows. There are special songs and emotions that seem to touch the heart of everyone. Anticipation builds while we wait for family to arrive or gifts to be opened.

     As for my children, there’s even more! They watch colors in church change from blue to white and see special candles shine. They stay up later after “night church” and spend more time with their church family. They smell a Christmas tree and hum favorite hymns along with choirs, organs, and bells. Excitement about the coming of baby Jesus is displayed in every art project or Barbie playtime.

     I guess to see Christmas alongside my children rekindles some simple joys. I can feel excitement, happiness and anticipation that are often overshadowed by responsibility. I can hear the same words of God (that I know by heart) and rejoice anew! I can even taste the salvation that has come, and will come again soon.

A View From the Cry Room

Screaming, scolding, sobbing, shushing… Sunday morning church can be an emotional event with a child. Just last Sunday I held my 21 month old son, Titus, hearing only his angry cry (and not the prayers). In response, my tears were just behind my eyes, welling deeper with every passing minute.

“I want to be with THEM”, I thought, “I want to sit quietly and listen intently, just like the rest of the church.”

My mind wandered to the handful of times when I was on the other side of the glass, but then, years of memories flooded from the cry room or mother’s room or training chapel or even the narthex of our past. Roughly counting, I am coming up on a 10 year anniversary in the little (not so) sound-proof room in the back of the church!

 So is that all it is? Just a little room where the bad kids sit until they can be a respectable part of the body of Christ? Reflecting on my own life in faith for the last 12 years with these tiny Christians, it has been so much more. It is where Karra learned how to hold a hymnal, right side up. Julianna memorized the words of the Lord’s Prayer and when to fold her hands. Rose could hear herself sing and is now obsessed with church hymn tunes. Naomi discovered she couldn’t see what was going on, and quickly adapted to life in the pew. Each of my children had always been a part of worship in these separate little places, as was I.

So the tears subsided, the pacifier comfort kicked in, and both mama and baby began to calm down. I was thankful for the small space where Titus may learn something to move us closer to the live version of church. But I know we will continue to wrestle with lessons of silence and stillness. Then, Pastor appropriately concluded, “The Lord look upon you with favor and grant you peace.” Sure enough, his head on my shoulder, his eyes puffy from tears, Titus affirmed, “Amen!”

How to Study the Psalms

The Book of Psalms is a Prayer Book found in the Bible. It is a beautiful guide to prayer by the very breath of God. Our journey through the Psalms is not unique or new. Christians have prayed these words for thousands of years. Even now, the faith we confess echoes these very words back to God in our own spiritual conversation.

Our Study "Praying the Psalms"  has THREE sections:

(1) Study:
What do these words mean to an Old Testament Israelite? Who wrote it and why? How does Hebrew Poetry depict the prayer? A good commentary (by the direction of your Pastor) is helpful to get at the immediate sense of the Psalm.

(2)What does this mean for me?
This is the point where we jump from Old Testament Israel to the 21st Century Christian. The only way we can pray to God is to pray in the name of Jesus. He is the bridge in our right relationship with God. What kind of psalm is this? How did Christ pray it? Only then we begin to learn how to pray.

(3) PRAY:
Lastly, we pray the Words Jesus has given us. The Lord's Prayer contains every prayer we need to communicate with Our Father in Heaven. Our lessons in prayer flow from the ancient Christian Faith, through the atoning work of Christ, filling our hearts with God's own word and His good and gracious will.

Each week I will post the next psalm so that you can follow along! Focus on one petition of the Lord's Prayer each week.

**PLEASE READ**

Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

 I make reference to this small (65 page) booklet throughout the study. Bonhoeffer clearly explains the amazing connection between Christ, the Psalms, and our prayers. It shapes and guides our discussion of Praying the Psalms!

FULL of it

You may think we are FULL of Grace. You may think we go to church to fill up the cosmic gas tank. You may think that a little more Grace gets us a little closer to God... Well, actually we're full of  %*#! Grace is not a thing, we can't measure it and then get more. Grace is a relationship. He could have held us accountable for our own sin. He could have made us suffer our own punishment. He could have kept his own son alive. But God acts gracefully to us. Jesus Christ's perfect will and work is applied to our account, because God is gracious. We are Graceful ladies because Christ has paid our debt in full.