Power of Self...And My Two-Year-Old

I've had the unexpected privilege over the past several weeks of spending my days at home with my beautiful two year old daughter.  Incredible.

Cuddling, laughing, reading, playing, disciplining, overwhelming, exhausting, training, teaching, praying...there is no area of life off limits to her.  She is all consuming!  During this time I've witnessed her begin to thoroughly tap into her inner inability to share, restrain and simply exude kindness around every turn.  She's unlocked the power of self.

Interesting isn't it?  There are untold numbers of books published on unlocking our self-will, self-power, self-realization...and my two year old discovered it naturally and adapted quite quickly.  Yet, it's this very self-powerization that has simultaneously unlocked the ugly: whining, disobedience and all the belly-sliding-across-the-coffee-table-tantrums self-power affords.

To be honest I think she's been a bit selfish since the day she was born.  Needing food.  Needing changed.  Needing bathed.  Needing cuddled.  Needing clothed.  Needing loved. Needing, needing, needing!  And now a whole new area of needing has been unlocked:  her toys, her plug (pacifier), her snack, her space, her show, her story, her daddy, her mommy...

I love her.  If you have kids you understand that taking-part-in-creation-sort-of-love.

I'm not sure we need help discovering our inner will, unlocking our inner power, our hidden-strength.  It appears to be quite natural to want to reach out and grab what's 'mine.'

No, she's got that down.

It seems that my divine role is to steer that very realized power.  To shape and clarify for her the very purpose of her abilities, her awareness, her desires.  It's my role to train her to both harness self-control in order to enjoy her strengths, and realize that actual power is first of all external, it's a gift, it's the Spirit of the Living and Active God who endows, fills, realizes, powerizes.

That her very breath was from the start His.  That it's the Pneuma who sustains her heartbeat now.

Nah, she doesn't need anyone telling her how to unlock her inner-self...she's got that down and honestly it's naturally self-centered.  If you know a two year old you know what I mean, OR better yet if you know a 32 year old who continues to act on the power of the inner self without restraint you know just how absurd that inner compass really is.

Yet there's so much beauty as well right?  She's absolutely adorable, she growls like a monster, throws her hair back, laughs at random, draws us into her world and shares what brings her joy...so how does this parallel reality factor into that other ugly inner power?

I have an incomplete thought...

Self(ishness) tends to be about absorbing, about taking more and more from others for personal gain.

True Beauty on the other hand, while inherent in who she is as an image bearer of God, is an immediate display of all that is selfless.  I wonder if it works a bit like this; the beauty my little lady offers benefits me and those who witness it.  Her sweetness, laughter and intelligence cause me to delight in her and her Maker as I realize her blessing upon us.  Her beauty in all it's facets offer those around her something to delight in and thus fosters more beauty: laughter, smiles, joy.  While her selfish nature causes those around her to close up, step away, tune-out...

Scripture both teaches and demonstrates this personal, familial, social beauty in action through healthy 'one another' living.  A community that supports, cares for, prays for, equips, shares, disciplines = loves, those around them.  And this is all powered by the eternal/external Holy Spirit who when invited into our lives enters in and transforms.

Beauty is mysterious.  But it's a divine mystery sourced in the Creator.  Beauty offers something other, something more, something for us all, something to lean into.

Self is also mysterious.  It's also a divine mystery sourced in the Creator, yet tends to be realized on our strength, smarts and inner person hood.  It tends to either force people in or out.  It's divine mystery dissipates and is swallowed up by the mere physical, lustful and sensational.

Regardless the people group, social structure or belief system around the world it appears that at some point every group notes that the individuals self-power, selfishness, self-desires might actually do more harm than good and so ought to be suppressed.

On the other hand, every group, culture, people, system will acknowledge, invite into and celebrate the one who controls the self, offers more to life, invites others in to experience joy and beauty and simply share in all seems right.

Maybe it's true, that every good gift truly is from the Lord, an overflow of His being.  That beauty is all around us, in many forms and ultimately unites.  That true self-realization involves releasing what we think we know, what we desire in our guts, to the very God who gives desire, to the Spirit who fills to His fullness those who seek His reality.

An incomplete thought...not a treatise, not a defining document...a thought.  We know the sweetness of true beauty because we also know bitterness.  Others know a soured life because they've tasted that sweetness.  However you see it, there are very real, very sourced powers at work.

Oh, and if you're able, I'd recommend spending a couple months at home with your kids and witness a microcosm of Gods universe at work.

Discipling a Kindergartner

The moment my wife broke the news that I was a father-to-be I immediately started pondering ways I might communicate the truth of the God of the universe to that little creature growing in her belly.  Income, shelter, clothing, college-fund, retirement...none of these entered my mind in that season.  I wanted to find the special sauce to the spiritual development of my little dude.

Now, five years later, I've discovered, created and chosen a few key practices that my wife and I enjoy utilizing as we disciple our children.  I make no effectual promises as to the long term fruit of these practices...I mean, he's only five at this point!  Here are a few:

• Story/History:  We read, tell and invent so many stories that sharing another Bible 'story' allowed for no 'set-apartness' in his little mind.  Instead we began sharing the 'history' of Gods works, people and movements.  We note our past, our ancient family lineage, the histories associated with the Creator through Christ.
• The Bible Says:  I've nothing against this phrase in and of itself.  The Word is living and active, it breathes Truth, fosters wisdom and develops healthy discernment.  While my children will begin to understand the value and worth of Scripture over time, I much prefer to say 'Jesus said,' 'Paul said in his letter,' 'the Prophets taught,' - the Bible says a lot of things, but to my kids it's another book on the shelf.  I'd much rather him envision God proclaiming these truths and not simply another book on his shelf.
• Modern Parables:  As Jesus promised in Johns Gospel we know that the Spirit will offer remembrance and understanding as it comes to Him and His life and teachings.  That said, as it pertains to Jesus' method I like to point out aspects of nature, social interaction, household work-projects etc. as elements for modern parables to teach Truth.  Sure we're always reading and discussing Scripture - yet making it personal in the moment regularly provides immediate context for crazy questions and revelations.

My son regularly asks for 'God Stories.'  He's aware that God has moved and is moving and wonders what He's up to both in the past as well as the present and so on the walk to school, in a car ride to Target, sitting in a hot tub on vacation he's always prodding for more.

What do you do that fosters a healthy discipling of your kids?  How are you creating an environment that fosters a regular interest in the Gods work through time and space?

Of course my kids are young.  They will rebel, stumble, turn away, grow, mature and hear and know the truth of Christ.  That said, while I proclaim no magic pill in discipling my kids, success is not going to be in the distant outcome but is current through the intentionality of walking Deuteronomy 6:4-9'style with my chillin's.

Enjoy the road.  Share your practices, techniques, tools and joys with one another, it's a long, tumultuous and ultimately joyful parenting journey.