A verse, a prayer, a laugh...

When my two older children were young, I used to read them a bedtime story, a Bible story and pray with them every night. On evaluating the effectiveness of their Bible knowledge, I felt that I had done a good job of getting Bible stories into their heads, but felt I had failed at getting Bible verses implanted in their minds.

After the birth of our last child, to address this inadequacy, we invented the “A verse, a prayer, a laugh” ritual. We used this mainly in the car on our way to school activities, waiting in drop-off lines, etc. It seemed to be fun and effective, so that’s what I’m going to post on today’s blog.

        
   The Verse:
“You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and You listen to their cry,  defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth may terrify no more.”       Psalm 10:17&18 (NIV)

  
   The Prayer:
Thank You, Lord, that You see all the things that weigh upon my heart.
Thank You that You hear me, and You desire to encourage me today.
Thank You that You are my Defender,
and You do not wish for me to be terrified of anything that faces me.


A few Laughs:
From real “Headlines” quoted from September 2010 Reader’s Digest:
   “FLOOR COLLAPSES AT WEIGHT WATCHERS MEETING”
    “FUNERAL HOME BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO DOWNTOWN”

      One more laugh from Jean Tate out of 09/09 Reader’s Digest:
“My sister and I decided to reframe a favorite photograph of our mother and father from when they were dating, some 60 years ago. After removing the picture from the frame, I turned it over, hoping to find a date. I didn’t. Instead, my mother had written, ‘128 lbs.’” ….I guess I identify with this - starting back to 1^st Place 4 Health tonight.