BSF Sharing Day Testimony

Today was Sharing Day at BSF. Our last meeting for the book of Isaiah. I had a few friends ask me for copies of what I shared with our group and so I am posting it here. I left out the names of my children on this space for safety reasons.

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I'd like to share with you today about how God has used BSF in my life and in the lives of my three children ages 3, 2 and 6 months.

I'll start by saying that a few years ago, I fully planned on waiting to share God with my children. I would teach them right from wrong and a few little songs and verses, but for the most part, I didn't want to burden their minds with all the weight of the Bible & God. I truly believed that they couldn't handle it all. That was the plan. I drew the line in the sand before my little ones and told God to stay put on the other side until I gave the all clear sign.

Then BSF happened. My eldest boys, age 3 and age 2, lovingly call BSF "BEEF" and they would chant that name on our way to and from BSF. They started learning about God. They started learning about the Bible.

In the fall we began Isaiah. J and I prayed to God and asked him to help us make BSF a priority for ourselves and our children. We prayed that He would protect our quiet time.

I was 5 months pregnant when our study of Isaiah began. After week 1 of the study, my little baby boy started fussing and trying to make an early entrance into this world. We had conceived our boy three weeks after I had a miscarriage and we found out I was pregnant while I was in the hospital after a bad accident. The Doctors had told me then that the chances of having a healthy baby were slim. Once the pre- term contractions started, we went to our ultrasound appt, bracing ourselves for terrible news.

Our little boy was perfect, completely healthy! But I was told that I had to stay flat on my back for the remainder of my pregnancy.

I begged to have one outing once a week.

They grumbled but agreed.

I picked BSF.

Every week, my husband would help me to the car, pack in our little toddlers and drive us to BSF. He would help see us to our classrooms and then come back for us after the lecture.

My baby grew every week in the quiet stillness of my room that had me nearly clawing at the walls with boredom. But once a week, we would go to BSF and he would hear the sounds of hymns, discussions with my group and Barabara's lecture. It was the light and joy of my week. With each false labor and early contraction I would pray, "Lord, please protect my baby. Help me and the boys get to BSF this week so we can learn more about you."

Every Monday my womb would contract and contract, keeping me awake and nearly breathless. But by Tuesday night, the Lord would move his hand and quiet my body, just in time for BSF.

So we kept at it. I felt constantly challenged to share more with my boys. God used BSF in a mighty way to show me, without question, that my children needed no protection from him or his word. Even the difficult passages of Isaiah, like our lengthy history studies with Hezekiah, were no match for Jesus teaching my sons. I caught my eldest boy, playing a super hero game one day. The villain of his game? Someone called "Snacks-on-ribs."

WHO? I wondered for some minutes till it hit me. Sennacherib! O how the mighty king had fallen!

My two year old would wander around the house saying things like, "Jesus is my friend."

Every night before bed we would lead the boys in prayer saying "Jesus, fill me with your Spirit and help me to walk in you ways."

We would catch them singing songs we had never taught them.

The two year old would sing each day, "good morning God this is your day, I am your child, show me your way."

Last week as I walked my three year old to the car after his lesson, I asked what he had learned about.

"The new heaven and the new earth!" he replied.

"What will it be like?" I asked.

"It will be BEEF every day!!!!! I'll get to play with Mrs. Debbie and Mrs. Alice in a forest with Jesus and have sprinkled cupcakes!"

Yes, the boys were experiencing great love and joy.

On Wed. November 3rd, after 77 hours of labor, our baby was born peacefully in our home at 2AM. I jokingly told my husband, "He made it in time for me to go to BSF later today." My husband and our midwife responded by threatening to strap me to the bed.

The next Wed, my seven day old baby and I came to BSF. He remained with me for my discussion group and lectures for 10 weeks. All the while the older boys attended their classes and kept learning and growing. God had all ready broken so many of my little boundaries, but he was about to break the biggest one yet.


One day, when Baby was 10 weeks old, he started fussing in his crib. I leaned over him and tried singing a few nursery songs without any response from him. For whatever reason, I switched over to a few hymns. I began singing, "Join all the glorious names" which was our hymn last year during the John study when I was first pregnant with him.

He stopped crying, looked me right in the eyes and let out a string of coos and gurgles. He began kicking and wriggling and smiling. He recognized the song.

I switched over to "Immortal, Invisible." He shrieked with joy! I wept at the wonder of my God. My tiny boy, surrounded by the voices of hundreds of women each week, had learned to worship. He had felt God's love.

Our God who can measure a spread of mountains with the tips of his fingers. A God who sees our oceans like a tiny drop of water in a bucket. A God who looked at the line I had drawn in the sand and mercifully, ignored my foolish arrogance and walked right over and into the lives of my children.

3 days later I heard the baby crying in the front room, as I walked in his direction I caught the tail end of a little person's conversation with Jesus.

".....help him not to be sad or scared or hurting, Jesus. You always keep your promises and you'll be with him. Help my little brother. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."

I walked in and saw my three year old kneeling over the baby. His eyes squeezed tight, his little face titled heavenward.

It all changed for me that day. I prepared myself to start teaching my children in a whole new way. I started praying that God would give me wisdom with my words and energy to teach them as often as possible about him.

Barbara told us a few weeks back that we are not responsible for the consequences of our obedience.

Well, I decided to obey and began to Deuteronomy 6* our household. Coming, going, sitting, standing, binding his word on my heart, wearing it on my forehead, tying it to my wrists.

Guess what?

The kids are ok.

In fact, they are more than ok. They know Jesus.

This year for Easter, I prayed something different.

Lord, I am going to obey you and share your story with my boys. I leave the consequences of this in your hands. Help me, guide me, and give me wisdom.

(You can read our Easter story here)

We saw the first evidence of a consequence for our obedience four days after Easter.

The three year old woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night. Before I could even start comforting him he said, "Mom, Jesus is here. He is taking care of me. He has victory. Jesus is with me."

Thats his motto now after a scary thought or bad nightmare: "Jesus is with me."

My challenge for you concerns the little person in your life. Maybe you have set a boundary or limited God in some way. Maybe you are scared of presenting it the wrong way. Know that God is mighty. Mighty to save and mighty to handle your little lamb. Mighty to give you words and full of grace for the days when you feel exhausted.

I found that my children learn about God in a way that I can't anymore. They are free from so many of the worlds lies and bindings still, their innocence allows them to soak in truth so much more deeply. They drink to the dredges of the well and are filled completely, while I alternate between drinking so fast that I choke or sipping so cautiously that I thirst. I encourage you, open the well to your children. Do it freely and do it soon!

Thank you to my children's leaders. Thank you for your love and prayers and support. Thank you for your loving, guiding hands. Thank you for filling my son's mouths with the word of God. You have planted seeds in their lives and all ready I see the saplings of truth sprouting, rooted firmly in God's word.. Thank you so much.

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Deuteronomy 6:4-9

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.^[a]5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.