A Baby in the Story
Dearest Friend,
Our family has a bedtime routine that we engage in every night: After dinner a warm bath is started. Once clean and dried off we choose a book for story time. We then have a time of prayer and solitude. And we finally end with a Haitian lullaby. These moments are some of my favorite moments to experience with them.
For story time these past few nights we have been reading The Jesus Storybook Bible written by Sally Lloyd-Jones (I highly recommend it). It has moved me so much that for today’s thoughts I would like to share some excerpts with you. I hope you are as moved as my boys and I have been.
“The Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far away country to win back his lost treasure… You see, the best thing about this Story is---it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name He is like the missing piece in a puzzle--the piece that makes all other pieces fit together…”
“In the beginning, there was nothing. Nothing to hear. Nothing to feel. Nothing to see...Like a mommy bird flutters her wings over her eggs to help her babies hatch, God hovered over the deep, silent darkness. He was making life happen. God spoke. That’s all. And whatever he said, it happened...God looked at everything he had made. ‘Perfect!’ he said. And it was. But all the stars and the mountains and oceans and galaxies and everything were nothing compared to how much God loved his children. He would move heaven and earth to be near them. Always. Whatever Happened, whatever it cost him, he would always love them. And so it was that the wonderful love story began…”
“Before they left the garden, God made clothes for his children, to cover them. He gently clothed them and then he sent them away on a long, long journey--out of the garden, out of their home. Well, in another story, it would all be over and that would have been the end. But not in this Story. God loved his children too much to let the story end there. Even though he knew he would suffer, God had a plan--a magnificent dream. One day, he would get his children back. One day, he would make the world their perfect home again. And one day, he would wipe away every tear from their eyes...Before they left the garden, God whispered a promise to Adam and Eve: ‘It will not always be so!’ ‘I will come to rescue you! And when I do, I’m going to do battle against the snake. I’m coming back for you!’”
(Genesis 1-3)
Abundantly With Love,
The Anonymous Wife
