Believe In Yourself!

Caroline enjoys books. This is good news, especially since mommy and daddy love books too.

Her favorite book this month is titled, “Things You Can Be: When You Belive In Yourself,” by Benecia Aronwald & illustrated by Jill Weber. Here’s the kicker. This book was given to Lauren by one of her best friends, Lauren “Lovin” VanderMeer. Lovin must have given this to my wife when Lauren started her medical school journey. It’s fantastic for adults and kiddos on many levels. Here’s what I love about this book.

1. It’s both fun and deep! I can see why Caroline is fascinated with the little gem with all of its bright pictures. Of course, it rhymes, which I’ve found to be the magic formula behind children’s books (i.e. ALL Dr. Seuess books!)

2. It’s really spiritually sound while not having any biblical, religious or “Jesusy” language.

There might be some feisty Christians who have an issue with its primary message because it talks about believing in oneself and chasing one’s dreams. The “self” seems to be the primary character in this book. Here’s the rub. There are many Christians who spend quite a bit of time revolted by oneself and others along with slaying the obvious consumer mentality of the narcissist western world while shouting, “It’s not about you because YOU suck!!!,” seemingly loving to revel in the doctrine of original sin and one’s total depravity. Okay, there is a thread of truth in this argument. Still, I’d like to express my thoughts on why an over exaggeration and extreme posture on this depravity doctrine and the sheer sinfulness of humanity can actually get in the way of the gospel message (gospel = good news!). To preface, I’m not discounting sin. Everyone would agree, Christians and nonChristians alike, that humanity is prone to wickedness, evil and filth on any given day. Just watch the news, right?

Still, the fullness of the gospel message is about redemption and getting back to the focal point of the biblical narrative vision, which starts with the words, “very good," referring to US, human beings! We neglect to start with the true source of goodness, our Creator, who fashioned us in his image, making us His beloved sons and daughter. We were actually created to do good works as raging love-aholics who bring peace and joy to this world. 

Yet, what many people hear is, “YOU ARE AN UTTER SINNER! YOU ARE BAD! YOU ARE EVIL. SO, REPENT!” (which, in my opinion, seems to backlash and NOT work due to so many kids within a lot of Christian circles who have entirely left the church altogether). I remember kids in Dominica who would shout out to one another with the words, “YOU are eeeeevil!” I would often come alongside these children (whose dreams and self image were typically shattered) and say, “No, you are beautiful. You did something you should not have done, but YOU are not evil or wicked."

I feel like there is a sin management gospel that has been infiltrated into our world that just doesn’t work. We try to manage our sins like a checking account. And, when we do this, we often focus on our dirt and grime while neglecting to see who we truly are, people of beauty! First off, the sin raging, angry "You are bad!" word is simply a bad gospel message, which is ultimately, NO gospel message. I can give you a list of adults who heard a bad gospel message, and who no longer have any interest in the church due to fear, shame and guilt-ridden tactics. Second, the last time I checked even the apostle Paul (who was hard on himself) said, “It’s the kindness of the LORD that leads us to repentance” (Romans 2:4). Jesus is seen, time and again, leading people to change with kindess, encouragement, coming to one’s side and saying, “You can do this! You are a rock star!” Sometimes, the church can mistakingly give people a half gospel (at best) when we say, "Put your faith in Jesus, sinner!" and neglect to tell them to have the faithfulness of Jesus because they are created in His Father's image! One of the gravest sins (according to 2nd Century Rabbi Akiva) is to tell people to believe in G-d but to fail to tell people that G-d actually believes in them. Yes, YOU can do it! You've got the biggest cheerleader in the entire world on your side. 

Our ‘lil nugget turns 1 on Sunday!

 

I’m going to continue to provide a message in our home of, “YOU CAN DO IT!” & "BE the someone you always dreamed you could be" in the face of a world that is going to tell her, “NO! YOU CAN’T!” I am going to err on the side of grace, hope and unconditional love. She will be available to reach for the stars as she was created to shine bright as the stars in the sky. We are going to watch Cookie Monster videos that make us laugh because it's both fun and deep. Guess what? There’s great spiritual message in Cookie Monster’s videos too. Don’t believe me? Watch ‘em… there are nuggets of spiritual wisdom for my ‘lil nugget on Sesame Street.

Keep reading! 

Keep dreaming!

Keep eating cookies with Cookie Monster! 

Keep telling your 'lil nugget, "Believe in yourself!" because Jesus is saying, "Yes, you can!"