Making Faith Real for Your Girls

 Thanks to Thor*tography for these pictures

As a toddler Bird was perplexed by God's creation. Figuring out what God made was tough.
"Did God make me?" 
"Yes, perfectly."
"Did God make dogs?"
"Yes and even their slobbery tongues."
"Did God make our house?"
"No, but he gave man the brains to learn and to think and to able to make the house."
"Did God make the wood in our house?"
"Sort of, he made the tree that was turned into the lumber that is now the wood in our house." 
And the game went on and on. For months. 


Thanking God for creation is standard practice when we notice it. The beauty of mountains, the sound of a stream, the vivd colors and fragrances of flowers inspire us to praise the creativity of God. But His creation goes beyond the external visible things. The girls and I spent some time praising Him for our amazing bodies last year when Bird was studying the human body at school. Still, the intricacies of our body isn't the end of this creation. Have you ever praised Him for our ability to learn and discover? Yesterday I was reminded to praise Him for the brains He has given man to advance medicine.


Yesterday, gratitude and wonder brought tears to my eyes as I held a creation of God and a receiver of the benefits of modern medicine. Prayer was a natural response to the powerful emotions.  

Lydia shortly after birth at 2 pounds and 2 oz. 

In the last year, our small fellowship group has struggled and wept as miscarriages and a stillbirth shook our small body. Since our dear friend Laura, of beauty role model and flower headband fame, delivered a precious girl at 28 weeks, we've been praying fervently. And after all the tragedies, my girls started to think that having a healthy baby was difficult and rare and were wondering why God had not saved any of the new lives He created. They were wrestling with life's toughest questions. They were hesitant to hope they would ever meet baby Lydia. 


Yesterday, almost twelve weeks after her birth, the girls and I met baby Lydia who is now a healthy six pound baby. I even held her and kissed her sweet head. And the girls, they witnessed life, from the faith that persevered through loss and still praised His name to faith that celebrated the knowledge of doctors, nurses and technology as sweet Lydia finally came home.


My girls aren't old enough for me to give advice on how to help make your kids' faith real. But I know, that sending them to Sunday school every week and getting them confirmed won't be enough. They need to see faith lived out, through sorrows and joy. 


Side note: Starry-eyed and smitten while I stared at Lydia, this song kept going through my head. Maybe it will bless you too: