Eternity

While I try to usually keep things light and happy on this blog - I feel there are so many weighty things in the news these days and I like there to be something upbeat for you to read - today is a less than "light and happy day".

"Teach us to number our days,

That we may apply to Thee a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

Last week, two servants of God left this world and are now spending eternity with the Savior they loved and served. I never met the first one, but the second one I had the privilege of knowing briefly in the two years prior to his death.

1. Elisée Zama was a national Bible translator in Central African Republic until he was gunned down last week. He was trying to get his wife and three kids to safety. CAR has been a place of turmoil for over a year now as fighting continues between the rebels and the government - and, as is often the case, Christians are caught in the middle.

While we have known of this situation for some time because of some dear Bible translator friends of ours who serve in the CAR, I was pleased to see on the national news the article explaining it in more detail; sometimes getting attention from the US media can be helpful in reaching a resolution.

SELEKA (ISLAMIC) REBELS IN BANGUI THIS PAST WEEKEND Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

DISPLACED CHRISTIANS IN BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Don't let a tragedy like this be in vain -- locate a world map, show your children where the Central African Republic is (it's right smack in the middle of Africa!) and locate Bangui. Talk about the Bible translators that are working there.

Some, like our dear friends, the H family, had to leave the country as a result of the violence; others are not able to leave and have suffered. Pray for the people in CAR who are still waiting for Scripture in their language. Pray for the family of Mr. Zama. Pray for the Bible translators - both national and others, like the H family - who are deeply affected by this.

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2. Don Johnson - This past weekend a dear faithful man of God passed away here in Dallas and is now celebrating in glory. Don Johnson is one of the missionaries that I interviewed for Seed Sowers. At the time, his speech was very limited because of Lou Gehrig's disease. So last week, the disease won the battle over his body, but thank God that our souls are eternal and Don is in heaven now. Don's story was significant because he was on the search team for the five missionaries - Pete Fleming, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, and Jim Elliot - who were killed in Ecuador in 1956. Obviously the men on the search team only found bodies and were given the task of burying their friends.

While this is probably the most famous story of martyrdom in recent history, it's not just a story to people like Don Johnson. When I interviewed him and his wife Helen in 2012, he had tears in his eyes as he told me about the life-changing experience, the incredible overwhelming emotions, but the confidence in knowing that God was still in control. There were tears in my eyes too when he showed me his little, handmade, red journal in which he had pencilled details of their search to find the men. Talk about a significant piece of history.

One of our children pointed out this weekend that now Mr. Johnson was in heaven with his five friends! What a glorious thought. But if you think of it, do pray for his wife, Helen, and other people who are mourning the death of this godly man.

Both he and his wife were faithful, soft-spoken, gracious people that I feel privileged to have known.

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While I don't think we should tell our children of everything we read in the news, I do think it is important that have a realistic view of this world. Sometimes it's easy to teach children, "Accept Jesus! He loves you! He has a wonderful plan for your life!" Yet we fail to teach that following Christ means sacrifice. 

That has a very real meaning to the families of the five martyrs in Ecuador nearly sixty years ago, yet Christian martyrdom continues as we see in the CAR and many other parts of the world.

The verse at the top - Psalm 90:12 - is a beautiful one to remember as we consider the lives of Mr. Zama, Mr. Johnson, and the five missionaries. Their lives were not in vain, not wasted. Those are the people who can truly stand before God knowing that they were faithful to the end.

Weekend

Remember when I told you about all the wintry weather we've been having?

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yes, I know what all of my friends and family who live north of Kansas are thinking right now. However, when you're living in a state that has no way of dealing with downed power lines and icy roads, you end up with some interesting results.

In our case, it turned out to be . . .

Visitors! Yes, several friends of ours were left without power for days because of the storm, and some of those friends temporarily joined the Toliver Chaos for the weekend. This particular family just happens to have six boys so it was a fun, busy weekend --

Fortunately, they were able to survive one of my Set-In-Stone-Parenting-Rules --

"Kids need fresh air even when it's cold. Or hot.". 

No, there are no exceptions to that rule.

But we had a wonderful weekend with this dear family and I think they still like us even though they now know far more about the Tolivers than they could possibly have ever wanted to know . . .

So, tell me - since I'm curious and snoopy that way - what's the weather like where you're at and (even more importantly) what's your rule for sending your kids outside?

And the Toliver Kids Rejoice!

"Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow . . ." 

Or at least -- "Let it slushy, sleet, freezing rain!"

Although that doesn't have the same musical ring to it.

We knew last night that the Center was going to be closed today (a dozen salt trucks and zero plow trucks in the metropolitan DFW area = everything is shut down). So we knew that meant John would be staying home today.

But no sleeping in for us (not that we'd planned on it) . . . 

Because we were woken up early by jubilant cries of "It snowed!!!"

For those of you who live up north like we used to, you can't even imagine the excitement at our house.  Last time we had a bit of snow accumulation down here was in 2010. My younger 3 children have no actual memory of snow.

The local weather reports are hilarious as the weathermen try to explain how to drive in these conditions - explaining that if you have rear wheel drive you need to have some weight in the back of your vehicle to keep it from sliding.

And everyone up north says, Well, duh! But that's not obvious to Texans who are used to 70-80 degrees in December.

Look at the poor little Texan baby girl - the shocked look on her face is because her big sister just stuck a snowball in her bare hand.

So now I need to go retrieve the one lonely pair of snowpants in our attic that managed to miss the "Donate" box.

It should be entertaining to watch the children fight over who gets to wear them first . . .

Have a wonderful snowy day!

Note: No Toliver children actually suffered frostbite in the filming of this event.

Children's Book Review: Little Rabbit's Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner (as the plethora of Advent calendars in our home remind me . . . ) and I have a houseful of excited children. Combine that with our love for reading and you can imagine it was a happy day when a box full of new Christmas books from Peachtree came to our door.

Little Rabbit's Christmas by Harry Horse is an addition to the Little Rabbit books, although this is the first one we've read. First of all, I adore Horse's illustrations - beautiful, delightful, detailed and perfectly paired with the text.

Little Rabbit spotted a red sled in the shop window and that was all he could think about. He did some whining on Christmas morning until he realized that his parents really had given it to him. However, as is the way with discontentment, Little Rabbit's attitude didn't improve. Even when Molly Mouse offered to share her snowshoes with him, Little Rabbit still could only think about one thing: himself.

He spent hours enjoying his red sled until crisis hit and there was a problem that he couldn't solve on his own.

Little Rabbit suffers from some of the same things that lots of kids do this time of year - greed and discontent. I am always hesitant to recommend books that display bad attitudes but I do recommend this one for a couple of reasons: Little Rabbit's friends were gracious, kind, and generous despite his rotten attitude; and in the end Little Rabbit discovers that kindness and unselfishness is always best.

As you read this Christmas picture book with your child, enjoy the lovely illustrations and fun story line, but don't waste the opportunity to talk about Little Rabbit's rotten attitudes that nearly ruined the day. Even a normally happy child can get caught up in the materialism of the holiday (okay, so can their parents!), but I strongly believe that we need to teach our children right attitudes, even when it's not easy.

So enjoy Little Rabbit's Christmas, but make sure you're instructing them in the important character lessons too!

From Peachtree Publishers