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Vol. 2007 Issue 10 ~ October

My fourth-grade son came home from school with a project he had worked on.  Sometime during the first week of school, his teacher had asked the class to write their names vertically on a piece of paper.  Then they were to create an acrostic with the letters of their name.

This is what my son wrote:
J esus Lover
A ddition whiz
C areful
K eeper

(He said the “Keeper” was because he keeps, not spends, his money.  In other words, he’s like his Dad, not his Mom, in that regard.)

As you can imagine, tears immediately formed in my eyes when I saw that of all the “J” things in the world that my son could have called himself, let alone the first week at a new school when kids really jockey for friendships and the hunt for status begins, he identified himself as a “Jesus Lover”.  I have a feeling Jesus was pretty proud of my little boy in that moment, even more than I was.

And that got me thinking of two things.  What else can I do to pour into the lives of my children to build that love relationship between them and Jesus?  I want it to start and flourish now.  I want them to start making it their own now.  I’m asking God how I can creatively nudge them toward Him on a regular basis.

And secondly, on a very personal note, if I had to write an acrostic about myself in front of a group of strangers, would any of the letters in my name willingly point out my rank as a follower of Christ?  Or would I be too conservative, too faithless, to let anyone see that about me, to define myself by that fairly distinguishable quality?  I know what I’d like to believe about myself, but I also know what I’m truly capable of. 

So, Moms, what can we do for our children, and ourselves, to build into the relationships we have with God that would make us willingly, even gladly, stand up and call ourselves a follower?  May “Jesus Lover” fit into all our names.

Ó Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2007
Elisabeth Corcoran is the author of In Search of Calm: Renewal for a Mother’s Heart (2005) and Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom’s Weary Soul (2001).  She is wife to Kevin, and mom to Sara, 10-&-1/2, and Jack, 9.  Her passion is encouraging women and the Church, which she fulfills through serving in leadership on staff part-time at Christ Community Church – Blackberry Creek Campus in Aurora, Illinois, and writing and speaking as much as she can.  You can learn more about Elisabeth and her ministry at www.elisabethcorcoran.com. 

Submitted on : 19-Nov-2007