Family Time

My daughters and I love the dinner theater.  This magical concoction of drama combined with the fantastical element of singing and dancing is something near and dear to our hearts.  Due to a melodramatic mother who grew up performing and singing in plays and musicals as well as singing in the church, both McKenna and Peyton developed an honest love of all genres of music and theater.  Within an hour’s drive of our home in Wyoming, the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse beckoned our names on many occasions.  We enjoyed shows like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Bye Bye Birdie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and The Will Rogers Follies, to name a few.

On those evenings, our family time was some of the most special to me.  Seeing the delight in their eyes as the actors leapt across the stage while hitting those soaringly high notes was mesmerizing to me.  Hearing the frantic chatter about the 143 highlights from the evening’s performance all the way home was its own kind of melody to my ears.  Those moments with my children are some of the greatest memories I share with them.

I imagine the feeling I get as a mother who has just enjoyed those special times with my girls is the same kind of feeling that God the Father feels when I’ve spent time with Him.  God delights in spending time with His children.  When I am reading in His Word, I’m connecting with Him.  I’m reaching out to my Heavenly Father for conversation and communion.

I was never one to open my Bible daily and read the Word.  It was something that never held my concentration.  My Bible knowledge was often gleaned from what I learned in my Christian school elementary days or what my pastor preached about in our church sermons.  I knew a lot of stories/lessons, having grown up in a Christian home.  What I ignored was the personal growth you could gain from opening those delicate pages and soaking in the knowledge and truths of our Creator.

I now crave to know more.  I marvel at how God parted the waters for the Israelites, not once but TWICE, and they still had a hard time believing; I’m astonished at how similar I am to them in the idea that God has shown such amazing miracles in my own life, yet I still find moments where I trust more in myself than in His ways.  I hear the desperation in David’s voice in Psalms, and I see myself crying out those same poems, pleading with God to be my Rock and my Fortress.

I know it can feel like an overwhelming task.  With 66 books and thousands of verses, it’s hard to know where to begin.  I felt the same way. You can find Bible reading schedules often times in your Bible.  The YouVersion app has reading plans.  I found mine through my sister-in-law, Sandra.  (It’s a free download on http://www.bibleclassmaterial.com, if you’re interested.)  And before you begin reading, pray.  One of my favorite and earnest prayers is to ask Him to remove the scales from my eyes so that I may see what Jesus wants me to see.

I tell my Bible study group, Table 8, whether it’s 10 minutes or an hour, spend some time with Jesus.  Open the Bible.  Let the words penetrate you, absorbing into your soul.  Those words will come back to you in moments of need, trial, and success.
Our Father desires to spiritually feed and commune with His children.  Allow Him that time.  Allow yourself to be embraced by His Word.  The family time is so worth it.

~Erin

Proverbs 4:20 My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings (NASB).