The 3 Little Pigs

       Once upon a time there were 3 little pigs. The first little pig’s name was Lee and he built his house out of bricks. The second little pig’s name was Amy and she built her house out of sticks. Then the third little pig’s name was Chad and he built his house out of straw……

 This is the story my husband told our children as they were growing up. As you can see he embellished it some. He also added to the ending ….. and when the big bad wolf came to blow down Amy’s house, her daddy drove up in his big red Cadillac, pulled out his shotgun and shot the big bad wolf. (don’t know why he said a red Cadillac, we’ve never owned one)

Jeff’s ending to the story was always one, that he would come and save the day for his children. This was a wonderful concept for our kids to understand that Daddy was their protector. One day we were at the dentist’s office with our daughter Amy,  must of been about 4 then and being the only little girl in our family has always felt the security of being protected and loved, not only by her daddy but by her brothers as well, and this day was no different. It appears that the dentist began a procedure that Amy didn’t particularly approve of. I am told that she sat up and looked the dentist square in the eyes and said “If you don’t stop that, my daddy is going to come in his big red Cadillac and pull out his shotgun and shoot you!” At that point the dentist informed me we might should find another dentist to go to, as he ushered us out the door while handing us names of other dentists to try.

 That kinda put an ending to Daddy’s story telling (at least with that story). What we thought was a positive appeared to backfire on us a little that day and gave us a bit of mixed emotions. I have never been upset with her for doing that, in fact it made me kinda proud. Proud that she had the boldness to stand up for what she believed. But a little embarrassed that she showed her fear through threats to the dentist versus explaining her feelings.

 I am still amazed at Amy’s boldness now at almost 16 yrs old. She has not changed! Some people would be upset. But I have always looked at her determination as a positive, knowing as long as she is focused in the right direction with her determination the devil had better watch out!

 Does that make more work for her parents? You bet! But we know we are raising warriors for Christ.

I wonder though, how many of us have the kind of boldness as she did, as a 4 yr old child?  When we are faced with challenges and opposition that come our way today, do we have the boldness to go before God and tell him our needs? Do we have the faith to stand when all that is around us is falling down?

 The Bible says in Matt 19:14 KJV “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven”.

 Mark 10:15 KJV “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.”

 Amy was bold and didn’t doubt for a minute that her daddy would come to her rescue when she was in need. If she can be that confident with her earthly father, can’t we be as confident in our heavenly father? Can we come to our father with the faith of a child and trust him?

There is nothing more scary at times then the thought of “Are we doing the right thing by teaching our kids at home?” ” Am I really qualified to do this?” Give the devil a chance and he will bring every reason in the book to your mind of why you should not be homeschooling your kids, and if he misses any, you can be sure your in-laws or some “friend” will be sure and point it out to you.

 I challenge you to be confident in your choice. When God spoke to me some 18 yrs ago to homeschool, it was NOT my plan at all and it was nothing I had ever dreamed of. This mom who didn’t even know her multiplication tables herself was supposed to do WHAT???  But I have stood strong even in the hardest of times and trusted my heavenly father for what He promised me He could do through me. Today, as you can see, our children have followed that example and are boldly standing on their beliefs. (and I learned my multiplication tables)

 What kind of faith are you standing on today? Is it the faith of a child? What do you need from God? Whatever it is, know that God your heavenly father is there for you and although the answer for you may not be for him to ride up in a a big red Cadillac and shoot the big bad wolf (or dentist), trust me, He does have the answer and let’s stand on that today. As strongly as Amy stood in front of a grown adult and confessed her faith in her daddy, stand today and confess your faith in your Heavenly Father in whatever need you may have.

Now let’s Pray:

Dear Lord,

We come before you to confess our faith in you today, you alone are worthy of our praise!

We know that your word says that you know how many hairs are on our head, you know when every sparrow falls and you chose us for such a time as this! God, we bring all of our hopes and dreams to you, we come boldly before you and lay at your feet our lives. We trust you to do with it what you will and we will hold your hand through it all. Help us today. Lord ,to be who you would have us to be. To show our children who you really are and let us be the light into a darkened world you have called us to. And in all of it, let us stand with the faith of a child.

Your your name we pray

Amen