As I sit down to write this first blog entry, I realize that we have a lot of "beginnings" going on with Good News Club at Hyde, don't we? I'm sure that you've noticed some of them by now. New leaders? New meeting time? New meeting place? New blog? We're not confusing you too much, are we? Trust me; it's been a big adjustment for all of us. But man, has it been exciting! I don't know about you, but when things are changing a lot in my life, I tend to get a little stressed out. But through the chaos and instability, one thing seems to always remain clear: I can't do much of anything without God. Change is a great reminder of humility. When things begin to spin out of control faster than we can keep up with, change reminds us that we really have no control. And that reminds me just how big God really is.
Appropriately enough, our first 5 weeks of Good News Club are titled "Beginnings". We started off by looking at Hebrews 11:3, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command,". Why do we have this faith? Pretty simple, when you think about it, right? Just look at the "beginnings"! Genesis 1:1 tells us that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." God created. Out of nothing, God made the elaborate system of life that we now see spinning around us. Thousands of years have passed. People have come and gone. Nations have risen and fallen. Technology advances faster each day. Life. Death. Change. And guess what? We still have faith that after all is said and done, the earth and universe around us, were created by God. Nothing changes that simple fact.
When was the last time that you just went out into nature and soaked in God's creation? When was the last time you just concentrated on something as simplistic as tree in your backyard, the sand on the beach or a bird sitting on a branch? More importantly, when was the last time you did one of these things with your kids? I find that when I experience nature with my children, I get a new appreciation of it's simplicity and complexity as well. Through a child's eye, we get a fresh look at creation and the unconditional acceptance that God was behind it all.
One time I was sitting in the back yard with my youngest son, watching a woodpecker on a branch of the neighbors tree. I began to be astounded at the complexity of the woodpecker and how it's anatomy is so incredibly constructed. I began to rattle off all these scientific facts about how the woodpecker's head is intricately made and how the amount of energy created from each peck should cause the birds head to explode...but it doesn't! There is this delicate system protecting the bird's head: it's extra long tongue wraps around the inside of its head, and it's head has muscles that acts like shock absorbers... they have these ocular protective mechanisms that keep their eyes from popping out, and on and on I went! Then I said to my son, "Isn't that amazing? Wow! How can anything like that just evolve from nothing?" And without hesitation, my theologian son said, "It didn't! God just made it that way!"
God just made it that way. Pretty cool wisdom from the mouths of babes! This week, I encourage you to spend some time in God's creation. Don't make a big deal about it. Just look, listen, smell and talk about what you see with your kiddos. Think about the fact that at one brief point in time, God spoke creation into being and the after-effects are swirling around as we speak, or type, on a complex and intricately made laptop! But this has nothing on the woodpecker!
