Good Friday & Kids

It can be difficult to decide what to do on Good Friday as a family.  Some Good Friday services tend to be to intense and/or difficult for a child to sit through.  Since this is true for my family, I would like to share a couple ways that you can still worship together as a family.

 Canaan in the Desert:  

This is a wonderful prayer garden located off 40th Street, just south of Shea Blvd. in Phoenix.  I have been taking my daughter Sophia for the last couple of years.  She refers to it as the Jesus Park.  Here you can take your whole family through different stations starting with Jesus praying at Gethsemane all the way to His Resurrection.  As you walk into the garden there is a small box with a map for the garden, a guide you can read for each station and a card that your child can color later.

Each station has a beautiful wood carving depicting a scene.  Don't worry they are sturdy and your kids can touch them.  Also, depending on how much your kids can handle take as much or as little time as you need at each station and talk about what you see.  There is no rush.

When you are done, next to one of the buildings they have a box that you can use to leave a donation to assist with maintaining the garden, if you so desire.

Watch the "Gospel According To Matthew - Part 2" on Amazon Prime:

If you can't make it to the prayer garden, I would highly recommend watching sections of this movie.  This movie is the best attempt I've ever seen at bringing the word of God to the screen.  It's wonderful for kids for two reasons that the "Passion of the Christ" is not.  First, the movie is in English.  Secondly, it is nowhere near as violent when it comes to Jesus' flogging and crucifixion.  Moreover, it is word for word from the NIV with the chapter and verse always in the bottom right hand corner of your screen so you can follow along in your Bible.  If it is text not said by a person it is voiced by the narrator who is playing the part of Matthew as an older man dictating his account of Jesus' life.  I recommend watching the whole thing.  Also, the same people did the book of Acts which is also available to watch on Amazon Prime.

However, just like any movie, I strongly recommend that you preview it before allowing your kids to watch it with you.  Some kids are more sensative than others and each parent knows what their child(ren) can handle or not.

I hope these tools help to enrich Holy Week for you this year.

Happy Easter to you and your family!

HE IS RISEN!!!!!

Faith, Hope, and Joy

I have three daughters, but I can only hold my darling Sophia Joy.  The other two, Miracle Faith and Annabelle Hope, are with Jesus.  One thing that we have always been very intentional about is the middle names of our darling girls.  I'd like to tell you about why we chose each starting with the oldest.

Sophia was given her middle Joy name for two reasons.  First we wanted her to have similar character to our friend Joy Chapman who had gone to be with Jesus not to long before.  Joy was and continues to be a testament to joyful living.  She was also quick to pray about all things.  We miss her and look forward to seeing her again someday.  Secondly, we wanted her to have the Joy of the LORD to be ever-present in her life.  This world has enough sadness and woe in it.  So we pray that she learns to fix her eyes on Jesus, so that no matter what happens in life she can still experience joy.

Aannabelle we gave the middle name Hope.  We did this because when we think of her we are reminded of the hope that we have in Christ.  We need not despair for long because we will get the chance to see her and Miracle in heaven.  As the song states, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is shifting sand."

Lastly, we gave Miracle the middle name Faith.  We did this because no matter what happens in life our faith in God can't be moved.  Moreover, we know that God could have healed Miracle, but it was part of His plan that we only got 15 weeks with her.  I know and hope that this sadness will bring growth to me and hopefully my testimony will bring comfort to others.  Lastly, my hope is that how my faith in Christ brought me through this difficult time will help to bring others to faith in Him.

This is my last post regarding my three beautiful girls.  I will forever hold them all in my heart.  One way that I will be doing that is by taking part for the first time in the Choices Pregnancy Center's Walk for Life.  I will be walking in memory of Annabelle and Miracle.  So I would like to ask you pray and consider sponsoring me as I walk for life.  You can do so by clicking below.

http://www.fundeasy.com/m/3800453/

Good Grief

I really enjoy watching the Peanuts movies with my daughter Sophia.  Hearing Charlie Browns catch phrase "good grief" got me thinking if there is anything such as good grieving.  So as I continue my grief journey I would like to add two more things to my last post regarding grief.

So first to have good grief you must run head long into that pain that you are experiencing like I stated last time.  There are two more essential things that get me through grief, and they are as follows:


1.  Don't Run from Grief/Pain:

• Express emotions.
• Don't be afraid of how others might react to your grief.
• There is no shame getting help.  Get counseling and/or join a support group.  That's why God gave us the Church.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4, NET)

or

Admit your pain and Jesus and the Church will surround you with love.

2.  Don't live in your grief:

Once you face the pain don't get so lost in grief that it becomes your new identity.  In the first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 we meet Commander Sisko.  He is accused by the worm hole aliens of living in the grief of losing his wife.  His grief had consumed him and it's not until he is confronted with this fact that he is able to move on with his life.  Sisko's loss became his identity without him even realizing it.

I'm not saying that you won't ever experience sadness over missing someone  That is normal and to be expected.  However, you don't have to allow that void to define you.  Especially if you have Jesus in your life you have everything that you will ever need.

   “Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.” (1 Thess. 4:13, NET)

or

When you're sad, look to the cross for hope.  

3.  The Joy of the LORD is your strength: 

Lastly, and most important, before tragedy ever finds you in life you must learn to make Jesus the sole source of Joy in your life.  Because if it comes from any other person or thing grief will smack you so hard it will be difficult to get back up again.

"Count it all joy when you experience various trials." (James 1:3)  

or

If you have Jesus, it doesn't matter what's going on around you.

"Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5b)

or

Sadness is temporary and short compared to the wonderful love of Jesus.

"Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10b)

or

If your Joy is found in Christ alone, then nothing can overcome you in this world!

So right now I challenge you to start making daily worship and celebrating Jesus a daily habit.  You will be able to see the effects in your life almost immediately.  And, it will certainly be a source of comfort and the only thing that will remove the darkness that seems to surround you.

With that I would like to leave you with the song Joy of the Lord by Rend Collective.

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

I have never cried so hard as I did on December 8, 2017.  That was they day my wife delivered our daughter at only 15 weeks.  As I held her tiny body in my hand I saw every possible moment in her life that she would never have a chance to experience.  And even now I would give anything just to hold her once more.  She never got to breath a breath this side of heaven, and I can't wait to hold her again in heaven.  What follows in this post and the next couple to come are going to be my journey through grief and how God has and continues to bring me through.

But first, like the proud daddy I am, I have to share a picture of my beautiful little girl Miracle Faith Farris.  My 5 year old daughter, Sophia, said she is doing the pledge of allegiance and looks like a jelly bean.  So that is our nickname for her.  She is our little jelly bean.

With that stated, in the hospital the Holy Spirit truly illuminated the understanding of a verse I always had glossed over and thought was just stating the obvious.  The verse is from the sermon on the mount and states,

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  Matthew 5:4

It seems obvious that those who mourn would find comfort in Christ.  However, God reminded me that not all those who mourn look to God for comfort.  But even bigger...the Spirit showed me that to often we have a tendency to run from grief and pain, so if we do that we don't allow ourselves to properly mourn, and if we don't mourn properly...how can we be comforted?

So I let it all out.  I didn't hold back the pain or the heartache that I was feeling.  I fell to the ground on my knees rocking my sweet child and I let the Holy Spirit communicate with God through my bitter tears and sobs.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."  Romans 8:26-27

So I want to encourage you, if you are going through a hard time, please don't run from the pain and sorrow.  Instead, run full speed into it with God at your side.  Because even though there will be days that you don't want to get up in the morning because of sadness and pain Christ and His church will be there with you.  They will bring comfort to you and walk with you through this valley of pain.  Don't ignore it because it won't go away until you face it head on.  Don't let grief destroy you...instead allow God to use it to make you stronger and more effective in His Kingdom.

I'll have at least 2 more posts on this subject coming...until then I want to leave you with a song that has brought comfort to me and expresses quite well the emotions I have been feeling.  Thanks to Tracy Lessard for sharing it with me.