I went to a lecture last night. It's a requirement for my Torrey program that I have to go to a certain amount of lectures every semester. This one was lead by Dr. Sanders. I was exhausted going into the lecture. I'd been on campus since 8 that morning. I worked from 8-10 am ( and I am not a morning person), had back-to-back glasses from 10:15-1:15, worked my second job from 1:30-4:30, then had Torrey class from 5-8 pm. So, by the time I sat down in the lecture room at 8:15, all I wanted to do was curl up in my own bed.
But then, Dr. Sanders introduced his topic.
Every night, he reads through the Bible with his 2 kids-- ages 7 and 9. They've read almost every chapter of the Bible starting with Genesis 1, all the way to the Psalms. But how do you teach your kids about the Psalms and keep them engaged? There aren't epic battles, crashing walls, floating zoos, or crazy plagues in this book. So, Dr. Sander's kids are drawing a picture every night that depicts the Psalm that's being read. Cool, huh?
This just made me think about how beautiful the Bible is and how even children can capture the emotions behind it.
9-year-old Freddy decided to give his drawings a common theme: the color orange and desert animals. In each one, Yahweh is portrayed as a mighty desert eagle, and the Psalmist is a striped armadillo. When foes surround the armadillo (a snake and coyotes), the eagles hovers above to carry him to safety. Isn't that such a true portrayal of David's heart in the psalms? God is right there to swoop in-- a mighty eagle.
Little Phoebe, who's only 7, also captured the Psalms through her art. My favorite one was her depiction of the verse that says, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" She put those words, in her faltering, child-like handwriting across the majority of the page. Just lots of blank space and that one scrawled verse. And then, in the corner, was the drawing of a small cat. Just a tiny kitty sitting there in the corner, all alone. From the marker of a 7 year old who doesn't yet know what it means to be forsaken, she captures the emotion perfectly.
Some of the drawings were so funny! For the verse "Serve me in fear", Phoebe drew a waiter serving a table saying "ahhhhh" in fear:) And my favorite: one of the Psalms said something like, "My God delivered me, He preserved me from my enemies." So Freddy drew the eagle driving the armadillo away in a mail truck (He delivered me), and then a picture of the eagle carrying the armadillo in a ziplock baggy (He preserved me). So cute:)
Anyways, all this got me thinking about the heart of children and how, no matter the age, the Bible can be understood. Yes, it's a confusing book sometimes, but we can still feel its impact on our souls. We can feel the beauty of His Word. We know at a young age that God is mighty. He can save us. He leads us beside the still waters. He favors us because we're His children. He blesses us and protects us. There's so much we can learn and know, even at a young age.
I just realized that I can't wait to get older and older and know more about God's character and His word as I keep growing up. But I also want to hold on to that child-like beauty and simplicity.
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