Thought Provoking

Last night Dad got home from work and asked if I would bring Autumn to seminary this morning at 6:20. He said he wanted to use her as an object lesson for the class he was teaching. I asked him what it was for and what he was up to and he just said it had to do with Matthew, Chapter 2 in the Bible, b/c they are studying the New Testament this year. I read it, last night when I went to bed, but couldn't possibly imagine what he would need Autumn for.

So, this morning I got up at 5:30, got ready, got her ready, and we headed over to the church. We got there, and the lesson was about the Nativity. Dad had everyone split up into groups of 3 and told them they had 3 minutes to draw a picture of the Nativity. When the 3 minutes was up, he had everyone turn to Matthew 2. He said if you drew a stable, then that was minus 1 point. Jesus was born in a cave, not in a barn or stable like most people think. He actually got to see where Jesus was born when he went to Jerusalem in June. He also said if anyone drew the 3 Wisemen at the Nativity, then that was also minus 1 point. The Wisemen didn't come until 2 years after Jesus was born. I knew that, but a lot of the kids in class didn't. It's interesting how much the Nativity has become commercialized and how people just think of the Nativity the way it is portrayed by stores and Christmas cards, etc.

Then Dad came to the back of the room and picked Autumn up and told someone to read verse 16 & 18 which say: "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Verse 18: In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. "

Then he turned to me and asked, "How old is Autumn?"
I answered, "19 months old."
He asked, "So if she lived in Bethlehem during that time, what would have happened to her?"
And I answered, "She would have been killed!"

He then handed her back to me, went to the front of the class, and started to cry. He bore his testimony to the kids that these are not just stories in the Bible, but these are real events with real people. He pleaded w/ the kids to really study the New Testament this year and put themselves in these situations and make it real to them and make it come to life for themselves. The Spirit was so strong, and I was sitting in the back just bawling. It's not fair that I get a double whammy of the crying genes. Both my mom's side of the family and my dad's side of the family are big criers when they feel the Spirit. It just really touched me and let me tell you, I will NEVER read those verses in the Bible the same way again. Any time I read those verses I will think of the lesson I learned today and how much it touched me and I will really think of how those families must have felt when all of their children were killed.

After class, Dad and I talked. He was saying how wicked King Herod must have been to feel so threatened when he heard from the Wisemen that they were seeking the newborn King. He automatically thought of his throne and that this "King" was going to take over his kingdom. I had never thought of this before, but I wonder why Herod had all the children under the age of 2 killed instead of just all the boys. B/c there's no way that a girl would have become "King of the Jews." I asked my Dad why that was and he said he thinks it's b/c Herod was so wicked and didn't care, he just wanted all the children under 2 killed so there wasn't any chance at all that the "King" would survive and take over his thrown.

One funny thing now that I look back at it was that while Dad was holding Autumn and starting to get emotional, she was just sitting there munching on some pretzel sticks and drinking her bah bah w/ no clue as to what was going on and that she was part of such a powerful and poignant moment. She had just grabbed a huge handful of pretzel sticks before he picked her up and they were poking out all over in different directions out of her chubby little fist. What a kid!