"Thumbs Rock, Mom!"

I have missed you guys once again! While hubby was on a golf retreat, I had the opportunity to spend some one on one time with my mom, which is a rare treat. We also had the opportunity to visit my MIL while we were in town for the week - my child is thrilled at having the chance to spend time with Grandma and Mimi and Poppy. He is the only grandchild on both sides of the family - one blessed little fellow!

My travels are over for a while. I have about three weeks left before a new school year begins for me and I can assure you that I have at least three weeks worth of projects left to complete. (But I HAD to blog first!) You understand, right? If you are reading this, please go to www.leighgray.com and read her post today. She is right on with what she shared today - even if you are not a blogger, think of what she wrote about in terms of your conversations with friends.

Anyway...on to why I gave this entry the title "Thumbs Rock, Mom!" We are doing a series in SS on "Knowing Why You Believe." Yesterday's topic was...If you were asked, Is there a God? - How would you respond? What evidence do you have? Very challenging for all of us. We talked about the cause and effect relationship and I was reminded of how each time I teach the unit on creation in my classroom - one darling always raises their hand and says, "But Mrs. S - where did God come from?" and first graders don't like the standard "You have to just have faith that He was already there!" because they will follow with "But how did He get there? If you have children, you know where this conversation is going. (always back to the original question until they get an answer that they are satisfied with)

But the cause and effect relationship is a great way to explain it - the effect is in Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The cause is the Creator - God caused it to happen - you have to have a cause to have an effect. Well, if you know me well enough, you know that I analyze things right down to the elementary level - always thinking about how I can share with both my child and my first graders. I want them to be so deeply rooted in their beliefs that when they encounter someone who expresses the theory of evolution - they recognize it to be baloney!

So as Mom, Sam and I went to the zoo on Friday - we talked about how God designed all of the animals. How He camouflaged the animals to protect them in the wild (He gave tigers stripes to allow them to hide easily in the bamboo stalks, he designed the bodies of penguins (one of our favorites) and sea lions to be excellent for swimming, He designed the giraffe to be able to eat from the tallest branches and gave them and 18 inch tongue to grasp a mouthful of leaves in one swipe, how He gave the elephant a little thumb at the end of his trunk to give him some fine motor ability to pick up an object as small as a peanut) Man, how can you go to the zoo and not marvel at His creation? We had a lot of fun admiring all of the animals.

Well, Sam is a thinker - the wheels are always turning and you never know what thought is going to pour out next. - He analyzes things like his Mom - he is going to be a great husband someday if he continues :) - On the way home, from the back seat of the van - some two hours later, he said, "You know Mom - THUMBS ROCK! - because if God hadn't given me these thumbs to grab things with, I would be just like some of those animals today - pawing at stuff!" Wow - he gets it! I pray that he will always marvel in awe at the world God created.

Do you?

Have a blessed day in the Lord!

Kim