Jelly Beans and Jesus

I firmly believe that if jelly beans were around in Jesus' time, he would have adored them.

"Let all the children come to me.  I've got jelly beans and love and hope!"

He would for sure have had a jelly bean parable or two.  "The kingdom of God is like a jelly bean, smaller than any other delectable treat, but full of juicy, colorful goodness that you can't even imagine until you bite into it..."

In the absence of any official words from Jesus about jelly beans, I'm filling in the blanks with inspiration from various sources around the Internet, all starting from the original Jelly Bean Prayer by Shirley Kozak.

So, without further ado, here's a post about putting some theology into the kiddos' Easter treats with just a few easy steps.  Print something here, grab some beans at the store, find some jars in the cupboard, and you are ready to roll.

print me!

Now, I'm all for a prayer and a fistful of jelly beans.  But I like to add an extra, devotional angle to this.  Here's how the jelly bean prayer works at our house.  (If you want to join in the fun, you can click on the card images to download and print them, assuming the technology works...)

We have a big ol' jar of beans decorated with the Jelly Bean Prayer.  On the back of the prayer card is a list of Jelly Bean Activities.

Each morning the kiddos read the prayer card aloud.  Then they each pick out a jelly bean from the jar and place it in their individual jars.  The color they picked determines the Lenten activity for the day.  (They work really hard to keep a balance of colors going.  It's one area of their lives where they practice fairness with admirable consistency!)

print me, too!

Then they look for opportunities to do their Lenten "assignment" during the day.  We usually report back during dinner or before bedtime prayers.  It makes for a great platform for discussion where we saw God in our day.  It's like a Lenten "show & tell."








And because I rarely do anything the same way twice, this year I'm adding a Bible verse component.  We read a verse that relates to the line of the prayer and/or the activity.  Nothing like filling them up with some verses to go with those candy beans.

print me, three!

Wait.

This IS all about candy, right? 

When do they eat the jelly beans?

I'm so glad you asked.  Because this is one of my favorite parts of this activity.

They don't eat the candy until... wait for it...

Easter morning.  It's a delicious practice in delayed gratification.  In seeing how their faith-filled actions pile up.  In witnessing how God fills them with love and grace. They are the empty jars.  And when they tune into God, he fills them with bright and juicy goodness.

Now, I sense you are shaking your head in disbelief.  "My kids will never, ever, not in a million years WAIT to eat those beans."  Did I read your mind?  No, I don't have ESP.  (I wish!!)  I just thought that very same thing when we started this at our house.  But those darling kiddos, they surprised me.  Even my sweet-stashing daughter didn't snitch an early jelly bean.  Not one.  She even counted them all at the end to make sure she didn't miss any days.

I chalk it up as one of God's modern day miracles.  That's the way God works in us and on us.  In our weakness his power is made perfect.  In our jelly beans he shows us his love.

Hallelujah!

It's official: I am NOW in the Christmas spirit, thanks to this video. So charming! I laughed, I cheered.  My heart melted and rejoiced. 

When the consumer crazies and twirling to-dos of the season bog you down, stop and watch this.  May your Advent season be filled to overflowing with the heart and soul of Christmas moments.  Celebrate the simple, the joyous, the miraculous in the humble gift of Jesus' birth.

Hallelujah!!!!

13 | Spilling Joy

This week I'm digging into the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  I need reminders — lots of reminders — to embrace the spirit's gifts and let them guide my outlook and my behavior.  Please join me in these prayers...

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 15:11

Dear Lord,

I woke this morning to furry puppy love, a sprinkling of stars, and soft, fleecy cloud fingers stretching from the southern sky.  You poured joy into my I'm-not-a-morning-person walk.  And when I thought I was content all the way up to my eyeballs, I rounded a corner to — gasp — gaze upon a full and glowing pearl of a morning moon.  You filled me to overflowing.

Lord, help me to always be on the lookout for your gift of joy.  Help me to see it in the small and insignificant routines.  Help me to discover it in the unexpected.  Help me to turn setbacks inside out and find your joy woven in the detours and downturns of my days.  In the dastardly digging dog, muddy up to his armpits... a silly, licky, laughing bath.  In a frustrated homework session with my growing-up girl... an opportunity to embrace and celebrate confusion in route to learning.  In driving forgotten (!!) shoes to school... catching my son laughing, confident, social and comfortable in his classroom.

Lord, I choose your joy over depression, over foul frustration, over dark and stormy skies.  Some days it is the tougher choice.  Some days my grasp on your goodness slips.  Help me to be disciplined in a grateful attitude, a humble heart, a mind set on your righteous will and your perfect way.  Help me to trust in your goodness, which often looks so different from good fortune by earthly standards.  And when I grab hold of your joy, help me to magnify it.  Show me opportunities to share it with others.  Grant me opportunities to spill this joy and glorify you.

Amen.

May you be surprised by joy in unexpected places today.  And may it spill forth from you onto all those lucky people in your midst.

11 | FaithFULLness

"I believe; help my unbelief!"

Mark 9:24b (NIV)

Lord, 

I love you.  I am so grateful to be a child of God, forgiven and set free.  I want to trust you in all that I do, in all that I dream.  I want to live my belief in you, of you, with confidence, joy, and hope.  I want to... but sometimes... too often... I fall into unbelief.

I believe, and I don't believe as much as you deserve.  How can these opposites coexist?  Or are they are not so far apart?  Perhaps my belief and my unbelief are entwined like strands of DNA, creating a code for my faith.  Perhaps twists of unbelief underscore my need to trust you, the blessings of trusting you.  Perhaps these turns of doubt are the negative image that outlines the positive peace of abiding in you, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Lord, help my unbelief.  And use it to remind me to return to you.  For that is where I want to be: trusting in you, living out my gratitude for your grace. 

I see the bare cross, but it is not barren.  It carries our sins, forgiven and forgotten.  It bears new life in Christ.  It shapes the "t"s that bookend trust — trust in you, the God who gave up everything out of love for us.  It points to heaven, pointing to the promise of eternal relationship with you.  Lord, you have given me the gift of Christ's death and resurrection.  May my response — my thanks — be a trusting, believing walk with you, today and every day.

"Genuine faith walks steadfastly with God for the pleasure of His company not for His results."

Beth Moore, Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit

Lord, your faithfulness knows no end.  Your constant presence and goodness is a comfort always.  Your unconditional love clothes the conditions of earthly living with joy and peace.  Great is your faithfulness, which makes my life full.

Help me to lean into your faithfulness, to learn from your faithfulness.  Shape my faith with your Holy Spirit and grace.  Be my sight when I cannot see, my strength when I cannot stand, my hope when my spirits sag.  Be my light, leading me always and shining through me for others.  Make me full in your faithfulness, in my faith in you.

Amen.

9 | Nurture Thy Self

I love that this topic falls on a Sunday, on our day of rest.  Today—every day—I need God's help to be still, to listen to my heart, and to feed my soul.  Join me in this prayer and this effort to nurture our individual selves so that each of us may be the person God intended us to be, and to share that self abundantly with those in our midst.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

 

Dear Lord, 

You know my needs before I even speak them.  You know my heart like no one else.  You know what you, in your omniscience and omnipotence, have in mind for me on this earthly journey.  I matter to you.  I have weight, importance, and significance in your eyes.

As I write this, tears well up in my eyes.  Why do I forget that I hold value?  Why do I put everyone else above me when I prioritize?  Why do I let my cup run dry when I am so frantic to fill the cups of everyone else?  This is so clearly NOT what you have in mind for me.

Forgive me for forgetting myself.  As I nurture my faith in you, as I nurture my husband, my children, and all those you have lovingly placed in my midst, remind me to nurture my self.  I know in my head that there must be good currency in the Bank of Liz before I can invest in others.  Help me to live out this truth.

Help me to make regular deposits love, rest, exercise, positive people, and satisfying activities that make my heart sing.  And when the necessary routine of life depletes my personal holdings — when the laundry and dishes and schedules and work wear me down — help me to re-frame my responsibilities and see how they can add joy and contentment to my life.

Help me to maintain that important balance of nurturing myself and sharing myself with others.  When I tip too far toward my own needs, give me that craving to serve others.  When I tilt too far toward giving my all to others, urge me to find my own slice of wilderness and retreat with you. Show me how to do the things I love in accordance with your higher love.

My best days are those when my soul is full, my heart holds joy, and I am doing your good works.  Nurture me with contentment and peace so that I may always be ready, able, and eager to follow your will and your way.

Amen.

"These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."

John 15:11 (NASB) 

I pray that you are overflowing with the love and joy that comes from nurturing yourself with God's goodness.  How can you invest in yourself today?