Unless ye become like little children

During church camp @ Halls Gap in mid-April, we explored the theme of David and Goliath and what we should do with the "giants" in our lives.

Be they lack of self-esteem, the pain of the past, fear of certain things, these "giants" disrupt our lives, hold us back from being all that we can, and keep us paralyzed.

The kids explored the same theme in their program, and one of the interesting things they did was a pebble collage with the word PRAY made of black pebbles and a random pattern of grey/white pebbles around it. So they are reminded that Prayer is the answer when dealing with their own giants.

The kids also did an artistic interpretation of what their "giants" were.

Beth identified her "giants" in words and images: Grumpy. Fussy. Need to be organized.

I was astounded at her self-perception. And all this time I thought my many lectures (and private disappointments) about her mood extremes and her lack of self-discipline were like water on a duck's back. There for a moment - then they slide off and are lost. She's obviously done a bit of reflecting on her own, which I'm grateful for.

Jordanne's work was just as amazing.

She had coloured in what looked like a purple and black tornado right down the centre of her sheet.

When asked what her drawing meant, she said, "The monster in the dark."

"Is that what you're afraid of - the dark?"

"Yes, but I'm not afraid now. Because God is still here."

And she made that faith statement consistently throughout the camp to anyone who asked what her drawing meant.

Even now when the subject of Night and Sleeping and The Dark comes up, she says the same thing: God is still here. And she believes it with all her heart. I know because she no longer fears the dark like she sometimes used to. She simply acknowledges that it is dark, asserts that she is not afraid, and explains why: God is still here.

Children are the best demonstrations of why Jesus said we have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God.

How marvellous and REAL is our God, who talks to little children and helps them understand what adults sometimes fail to grasp.

MS Readathon - The 3rd Year

Fundraising is no joke.

Everyone seems to have a pet cause - Bikes for Bibles, breast cancer, children's cancer, FoodWaterShelter - and which ones you adopt are usually influenced by a personal connection.

Like, your cousin died of breast cancer, so in honor of her memory you organize a Girls' Night In every year after.

Or, while on a missionary trip in S Africa, you learn that the villagers have only one Bible amongst them. So what do you do?

You raise funds of course.

Which leads to two common problems: donor fatigue and fundraising shyness.

Most of us have a favorite charity and limited dollars (and patience) for random charitable causes. I know I feel really awkward - and sometimes guilty - when asked to buy raffle tickets or add $2 to the shopping bill for a children's charity while at the Big W checkout. I say no, then spend the next few minutes rationalizing to myself that I have the right to choose my causes.

And those of us who do have a good cause don't really know how to open our mouths to ask others for money, even if it's for the benefit of someone else.

Why am I talking about this?

Because this is the 3rd year Beth is tackling the MS Readathon, which encourages school children to read as many books as they can while raising funds for multiple sclerosis sufferers. We don't know any MS sufferers personally (although come to think of it, Beth's favorite author JK Rowling mentioned that her mum had MS), and support the event just because Beth loves reading and it's a good way to do good while doing something she loves.

The first year, it was really exciting. She was in Prep and she was the only one her age at school who could read fluently and prolifically.

Now, she's in Grade 2 and the novelty has worn off somewhat.

But this year, her favorite young person - Bindi Irwin - is the Ambassador for MSReadathon. Which I think is going to add a whole new level of zest and zeal to Beth's reading effort.

Go Girl!