Gardening is such a craft of intentionality and patience. One must be careful of the depth and the width of the whole, the quality of the soil and the amount of water. Some plants, like hydrangeas, require one to transplant them during different seasons. Other plants,like orchids, need wire wrapped around them to support them as they grow.
Than there are plants like the Lupinus Texensis , or as all of us know it -the bluebonnet. What a beauty! Growing to 6-18 inches tall, with velvety light green leaves and gorgeous bluebonnets, I loved driving to school when I was a kid, for these covered the fields by the highways in Texas.
These things grow, well, like wildflowers. There’s something unique about the Bluebonnet, unlike the first two flowers, bluebonnets grow in the most poor, and unkempt soil. One would never guess this with its bright, proud bonnets, but it’s true. This flower’s poor soil has never deterred from the lovely form in which it blossoms. Fascinating.
I believe that a small portion of people are like the bluebonnet. Having no control over the soil in which they are planted, sometimes our soils are poor, sometimes- unkempt.
I refer to children from neglectful or abusive families as “bluebonnet children” and empowering the local church to serve as their supplemental family is my calling. But it’s not only my calling, on some level, Church, it’s your’s too.
As we think of the Bible, “we normally think its a book about adults for adults […].” However, over 8,000 times are children referenced. “Biblical narratives include dozens of children. [..]children with Godly parents, and ungodly parents, wealthy children, poor children, rebellious children ,obedient children, children with physical ailments, children with unlikely names and those with desirable names and miracle babies.”
We can flip to the Old Testament and read :
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (CEB)
4 Israel, listen! Our God is the Lord! Only the Lord![a]
5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength. 6 These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. 7 Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up.
Or
Psalm 10:17-18 (CEB)
17 Lord, you listen to the desires of those who suffer.
You steady their hearts;you listen closely to them,18 to establish justice for the orphan and the oppressed so that people of the land will never again be terrified.
We can flip to the New Testament and read :
Mark 10:13-16 (CEB)
13 People were bringing children to Jesus so that he would bless them. But the disciples scolded them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he grew angry and said to them, “Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children. 15 I assure you that whoever doesn’t welcome God’s kingdom like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he hugged the children and blessed them
Or
Ephesians 6:1-4 (CEB)
6 As for children, obey your parents in the Lord, because it is right.2 The commandment Honor your father and mother is the first one with a promise attached: 3 so that things will go well for you, and you will live for a long time in the land.[a] 4 As for parents, don’t provoke your children to anger, but raise them with discipline and instruction about the Lord.
It seems as though the prophets, apostles, and Gospel writers knew what they were talking about. They were aware of the sad fact of bluebonnet children and they were even more aware of God’s call on their hearts to care for them.
Jesus took this call to the next level when he redefined the term ‘family’. Instead of an Old Testament emphasis on ‘clans’ and nuclear family, Jesus emphasized that we are all part of the Family of God. “God alone is the head of this divine family” and we are to love every member of this family with a selfless love.
Just as it’s pointed out in the book james:
James 1:27(CEB)
27 True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us.
The book of James has always fascinated me for; unlike other letters in the Bible, this one is not addressed to a certain person, city, or congregation. Also, there is no reference to a date or time in history when this book was created. Finally, since there were four men in the New Testament with the recorded name of ‘James’ the verdict is still out on which James authored this book.
With great authority, he is holding all Christians, regardless of city and century, accountable to “living out of true devotion, to care for the orphaned and the widows.” This word “Orphan”, which in Hebrew is means ‘fatherless’ and in Greek means ‘comfortless’ or ‘loveless’ appears in the Bible more than forty times.
From this we see that Christ is counting on us to partner with him as we lead these bluebonnet children into a healing relationship with their Creator. What does this look like?
How do we partner with Christ in serving the bluebonnet children in our midst?
I call it the “Triple A” approach. No-this is not an approach to take when your car breaks down. It’s way better! The “Triple A” approach will equip you to be a vessel that showers the Bluebonnet children with God’s grace.
Aware
Know that every moment is valuable and full of potential when it comes to reaching out to these kids.We must pray to be aware of the home-lives of the children we serve. May we be aware of what unique talents or advice we may have that could help to better serve this child. May we be fully present in each moment and aware of any signs, (physical or emotional) of abuse. We must be aware that the child who takes the most patience and prayer is in the most need of our ministry and probably comes from “poor soil”. Give this child extra love.
Advocate
We must be advocates for these children; for sadly they are too often not heard. With implementing a safe sanctuary policy, our new courtyard fense, children’s church, kids’ bulletins, and the amazing work that all of the Children and Family Ministry volunteers do within our five programs -our church family is making some fine strides as advocates.
We strive to send a message of, “Hey, we love you with the love of the Lord, and we are going to work our tails off to provide you with a safe, nurturing church family, filled with loving and equipped Christ-like mentors to guide you as you grow in your faith. Despite the poor soil you may return, here at FUMC you will learn that God’s grace has the final say in how you blossom in life.”
Articulate
As Jerome Berryman teaches, “Religious language gives words, narrative, and parables that help us to make sense of our experiences with God, to come to know God better and to make meaning of what we experience and learn in all of life.” The “littlest of these” require mentors in the faith to prayerfully articulate how the Holy Spirit is moving in and around them. While children can sense that something different is occurring as they enter our church doors (hopefully), they lack the language to claim and capitalize on it. Not to mention the fact that some holy hums could easily be drowned out by the noise of the world.
To best serve the bluebonnet children around us, it is pertinent that we narrate the sacredness of life. Are we presenting them with enough opportunities to share their prayers with us? Their joys? Their Concerns? Are they meeting Jesus in a relative and holistic way when we study the bible together?They are hungry to know God, is our articulation of the Gospels helpful in this endeavor?
The triple A approach:
Be Aware. Whose face have you been seeing as you have read?
Advocate for the Bluebonnet child. Their voices are often not heard, their needs not met.
Articulate how the Holy Spirit is moving in and around their life. They are hungry to know this God that made them, knows them and wants to heal them. They are hungry to know this divine parent who loves.
I recently became a parent and my nineteen-month old daughter is obsessed with pretend shopping carts and baby dolls. No matter where we go- the church nursery, friend’s house, or the Parents as First Teachers center, she will manage to get a hold of a lil’ plastic shopping cart. Then, she will search out the entire place until she has located every single baby doll and has collected them all (mounds of them!) safely into her shopping cart. The rest of her playtime is spent gleefully pushing her baby cart around.
Church, this is what we are called to do. We gotta go get those babies. We gotta seek out those Bluebonnet children and bring ‘em to Jesus. Christ is counting on us; and when we partner with Christ, we bring them hope. The Holy Spirit calls us to act, how will you answer the call?