PREAMBLE

PREAMBLE

“Teach a child in the way he should go;

And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

These words taken from Proverb 22:6 speak loudly of the responsibility of parents and caregivers to the children entrusted to them. In these modern days with the advent of such a large and diverse selection of electronic gadgets, our children are bombarded with so many distractions from every direction that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with their spiritual development.

We as adults, often overwhelmed by the demands for survival, are guilty of neglecting our responsibilities of ensuring our children’s growth. We are losing sight of the fact that at this stage children are at their most receptive phase for absorbing information and unless we make an effort to help them, they are likely to acquire wrong information from other sources.

I believe no one is better equipped or better placed to do the job than the parent or the caregiver. By making use of every opportunity to teach the words of Jesus Christ, to read the Holy Bible as well as by setting personal examples we can build our children’s faith and offer them alternative examples to live by. In this way we can prepare them to deal with the many and varied temptations they will face in life as they go forward.

These stories under the banner “The Old Lady and Ana” grew out of a discussion I had with my cousin Starr Sabga during which we lamented that our children are not being exposed to reading and discussing the bible as we were. We both felt that as a result of this we are missing a very important opportunity to expose them to God’s words and running the risk of losing them.

The stories are strictly my interpretation of selected passages from the Bible based on my Christian education and on my own life experience. They are meant for the younger child, as examples of how we may use day to day experiences to learn about God’s word. They are by no means exhaustive but I trust they may serve to get other parents and caregivers to do the same.

If this happens, then I would consider myself fully rewarded.

Friday, March 19, 2010

1. THE OLD LADY AND ANA -PSALM 23 (The Psalm of David)

She sat comfortably in her favorite chair, her bible opened at her favorite spot, Psalm 23,
The Psalm of David. As she began reading the first verse, Ana her 9 year old grand daughter came bouncing in. Gramma she asked, why are you always reading that book?
Smiling sweetly, she replied;

“When I read this book, I listen to God speaking to me through his words. Every line in this book has a message from God, if you listen. She continued, Look at this passage, it is called Psalm 23, the Psalm of David”.






Ana came closer and together they read the first line;




THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD,



I SHALL NOT WANT.








The old lady paused for a moment, then spoke:





"Just like a shepherd who takes care of his sheep, providing all their needs, so too, God is
Assuring us that he will provide all our needs, care for us, protect us and guide us. We must believe and trust that God will always be there for us”.






HE MAKES ME LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES,
HE LEADS ME BESIDE QUIET WATERS,
HE RESTORES MY SOUL.










With her hands resting gently on Ana’s shoulders, she continued:





“Again like the good shepherd who takes his sheep to good pastures and provide water and rest, God will provide us with places where we are sustained and refreshed and where we can lift our spirits when we are down”.

HE GUIDES ME IN THE PATHES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE.















Holding Ana’s hands, the old lady continues;





“Like a good shepherd who keeps his sheep from straying away, so God will be there to guide us in the path of a true Christian, whenever we falter."






EVEN THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY



OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH,
I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, FOR YOU ARE WITH ME,
YOUR ROD AND STAFF COMFORT ME.










Smiling knowingly, she stresses to her granddaughter;





“He reassures us that there will be no need to be afraid for he will be present in our worst
hour, always guiding us and supporting us. He will always be faithful to us’.






YOU PREPARE A TABLE BEFORE ME,



IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES.
YOU ANOINT MY HEAD WITH OIL,



MY CUP OVERFLOWS.










Raising her voice slightly she assures Ana,





“Like a faithful caring father, God provides us will all our needs in spite of our enemies around us, and he continues to bless us with overflowing bounties”.






SURELY GOODNESS AND LOVE WILL FOLLOW ME



ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE,
AND I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF MY LORD FOREVER.










With her hands firmly clasped, the old lady paused for a moment to allow Ana time to absorb the information and then she concludes,





“And after all of this, be assured that with God’s blessings, your life will be full of Goodness and Love and with a promise that you will live in his house for eternity”.





At this point Ana, eyes wide open and overwhelmed with awe, looked at her grandmother, and slowly said;





“Gramma thank you for helping me hear God speaking to me. Can you please ask him to come back soon”.





With great joy and happiness, the old lady replied;





“Yes Ana, very soon”.
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