Monday, April 19, 2010 Redux - Hawley, Pennsylvania

It turns out that we're staying practically on the banks of the largest lake in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania - Lake Wallenpaupack. I'm not sure that this is significant in any way, but I thought I'd share my vast knowledge. The Poconos region of Pennsylvania is a major destination for both commuters from Philadelphia and New York City, as well as a vacation hot spot for the same folks. It certainly is beautiful. I can't even imagine what it must look like in the fall when the leaves change. Hopefully, I won't have a chance to find out!

Bible time with the kids each day has taken on a more fixed routine. I've 'borrowed' the words and lyrics to our favorite Bible-oriented kids CD - Why Not Sea Monsters by Justin Roberts. Once again we're beholden to our friends Gary & Christine, who first introduced us to Roberts almost eight years ago and his CD Great Big Sun. The guy writes clever songs with simple, catchy tunes. We love the Why Not Sea Monsters CD because he combines these musical elements with Old Testament stories. The kids can sing along to Bible stories, and they love it.

There is a New Testament CD as well, but we haven't listened to that as much. The Old Testament CD has some hauntingly beautiful tracks on it (Make That Two, Where Were You?, Ruth 1:16-17), as well as songs that the kids like to sing (Giddy Up Gideon, The #1 Fellow, Nothing Much in Tarshish). We can't recommend the CDs enough, and it's nice to have them since all of our Arch books are in storage in Camarillo due to space constraints in our Mini-Van of Doom.

Since I've been lugging my guitar across the whole country, it's nice to actually feel the fingers beginning to hurt from actually playing it a little each day. We sing a couple of the songs the kids choose, and then I ask them all to name someone that they want to pray for. It's great to be praying daily for the family and friends (and pets!) we've visited or left behind in the last few months. Story-wise, we're working our way through the Old Testament, and today we wrapped up Deuteronomy.

It started out with the story of Moses bringing water from the rock. I told them how God was disappointed in Moses' disobedience, and the consequence was that Moses wouldn't lead the Hebrews into the Promised Land. Alec wanted to know what happened to Moses, which provided a nice segue to the end of Deuteronomy. The kids were pretty impressed that God buried Moses Himself.

The stories have been good the last few days - manna in the desert, wandering in the desert, water from the rock. In our own wanderings it's reassuring to look back to how God provided for His people in their wanderings - how He always has provided for His people in their wanderings. Sometimes our wanderings are physical, traversing a region or a nation in search for a home. Sometimes the wanderings our spiritual, emotional, intellectual. He's there in all of them. He has promised that He will never abandon us, and we should always take that seriously. It's just harder to remember when we're in the midst of our own personal wilderness. Oddly enough, that's when we need to remember it most. It's nice to know that in singing with children and sharing the Bible with them, we as parents and grandparents are fed and sustained as well.

God is so good!