“What Really Happened at the Hagan House!” (God card #4 – Blanket/Mr. Bear)

We are focusing on God card #4 this week – God is our Blanket/Mr. Bear. I believe God comforts me.

For our children, blankets were very important when they were young. Nap time would not happen unless the blanket was present! For Carson, his Mr. Bears were also very important. He actually has 2 Mr. Bears. They were were given to Maya and Ada as a baby gift, and they never took to them. When Carson was a baby, I put them in his crib more for decoration than anything else. But as he grew, I began noticing he would wake up from a nap with them in hand. I began calling them his Mr. Bears, and it stuck. Ada and Maya are not exactly happy with this God card, because I failed to put Ada’s “Teddies” and Maya’s “Jared” in the name, but they also have special people! I don’t know what the thing is in house – perhaps a blanket or an animal. I even still have my “Pooh Bear” from when I was young. These “friends” bring us comfort in times of sleep and sadness.

And in these verses on God card #4, Father God promises to do the same – comfort us in time of need!

This morning, we had some breakfast, and then told the kids we wanted to have some church. Ada in fact was not that excited about it and said she didn’t really want to have church. We asked a few questions and gave her feelings some time and space. We didn’t correct her but just gave her a safe moment to express herself. All the while, I am praying to myself – “Father, give her a heart to want you. Draw her to yourself. Help her see her need and your answer!” Then, Ron says to the kids, “Guys, on quiet days like this, I need to hear from Father. The questions and doubts rush at me. When the schedule stops and I have time to look around me, I see all that is wrong or not yet returned on our investment! And I battle! It is God’s words that redirect my mind and quiet my heart. I need church today, and I want to have it with you.”

We first prayed asking Father to give us a word or picture as we read the verses. We invited him to our table and asked for his voice.

Then we read the God card, statement and verses. We just went around the table passing the God card around everyone reading a different verse. After we read the Mark verses, we asked the kids if they remembered the whole story and all talked through it. Ron and I marveled at the words of “fear and faith” and talked through how that story met some of his questions of the morning. When we read the Matthew verses, I told the story of the first time those verses penetrated my heart. I was reading them for a New Testament class at Baylor and in my studying, his promise of rest just knocked me off of my feet! And so it would go. Read a verse, stop and start, tell a story, remark about a word – just taking time for the verses to matter!

After we read the verses, we each got a piece of paper and chose a verse to draw. We just drew pictures responding to that verse.

We then presented our pictures and explained what we drew. We put them next on the family board and ended our family time with a prayer.

Before we prayed, I just asked everyone to think about the week and how you might need to remember this truth. What will be your conflicts or challenges this week? Where are the places you are going to need to remember his promise of rest? Pray into that. We just went around the table, and everyone prayed. This time is so important to give everyone a chance to respond. A simple conversation – meeting Father as a family!

So, this is a God card discussion! Honest words from a Daddy about his questions and doubts, a decision to gather around the table together with the Bible in the center of our conversation, an icon important to them that already holds a meaning, a statement correlating that icon to the truth of God’s word, verses all through the Bible that promise this truth, opportunities to talk and draw making real the verses in our life, and a prayer giving it all back to Father and a commitment to move through our week with this truth in our mind and heart!