Parents Praise Their 5-Year-Old For Praying At Lunch Even Though SchoolTold Her Not To

Link: Parents Praise Their 5-Year-Old For Praying At Lunch Even Though School Told Her Not To
This family is setting an example.
Not the first time I heard this, but it is always very upsetting to hear that little children are told not to pray. Who do these people think they are? Just because they are teachers they don’t have the right to tell a child that prayer is bad (it doesn’t hurt anyone, right?). How come we have to say the pledge of allegiance in school, but can’t say a simple prayer before lunch?
The way the parents encouraged their daughter was awesome. She was obviously struggling with what to do and who to listen to. Something like that should never happen, especially not to a five year-old. I would call that discrimination. It also violates the first amendment, which gives us the right to freedom of speech and religion.
This topic is important to me because I am working on becoming a teacher, and I will have to deal with these kind of things. I know I am not allowed to preach to my future students but can love them the way they are and the way God made them.

"The Love of God" sung by MercyMe.

The Love of God

I somehow had the urge to write something on here today, but I first didn’t know what to write about. Then I knew I wanted to write about God’s love.
In my Bible study group, we talked about John 18:1-27. Many might not see God’s love in this passage because it is about Jesus’s arrest, but while studying it this week I realized that it is all about God’s love.
A detachment of soldiers and some Jewish officials came to arrest Jesus. I always thought this was a small group of Roman soldiers and some Jewish leaders; however, I learned that a detachment consists of about 600 soldiers. In this case there might have been a little less, but it was still a significant amount. It comes to show that they were ready to fight any opposition and rebellion. Jesus and the eleven disciples would have had no chance against them. What is most striking is that Jesus goes before them and asks, “Who is it you want?” (v.4). Why did he do that? Well, if you think about who was there with him and what was about to happen it kind of becomes obvious. He was protecting his disciples. If he had just let the soldiers come closer, they could have arrested them all or the disciples would have tried to fight them, which wouldn’t have ended good either. By taking the first step, Jesus diverted the attention on himself and away from the disciples. He loved them too much for them to get hurt. In his high priestly prayer in chapter 17, Jesus had asked God to protect them in the world and keep them in the world, so they could do what he had taught them. The soldiers told him that they were looking for Jesus. Jesus simply replied, “I am he” (v.6). Now the soldiers were so surprised that they fell to the ground. I thought that was pretty weird because they didn’t believe in God. Jesus words must have been so powerful that the soldiers were stricken with fear and maybe even awe. Who would turn themselves in knowing they are innocent? Only Jesus did that for US. All this happened because God had a plan. He wanted to show us His love. He protected us (or the disciples) from harm and being arrested and gave His beloved son to die for us. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” There is no greater love than the love God showed for each one of us through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Back in the passage, Peter tried to fight for Jesus and cut of one of the soldier’s ear, but Jesus explained that this was God’s will for him, so he was arrested. Later we learn that Peter denies Jesus three times. From experience I can tell you that this is one of the worst things you can do to God and to yourself. I still remember very clearly what happened the day I just stayed quiet. Peter cried after he knew what he had done. He was heartbroken and ashamed. Jesus showed him forgiveness, though, before he ascended into heaven by asking him three times to take care of his sheep. I recently found this verse in Isaiah 43, “I, even I, am he blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remember your sins no more” (v.25). This made me think a lot. I had never thought that God forgets our sins, but it makes sense. How depressing would it be if He remembered all the things we did wrong? If God were human, He would have become a mental patient and been put in a high security mental hospital, where he would spent the rest of his life. God forgives and forgets, This kind of love is unconditional and indescribably amazing.

11 Questions

I know, this is just what everybody else is doing, but I thought, I am going to do this one thing with facts about me.

1. Pancakes or waffles?
2. What do you do when you get angry or frustrated? Do you cry, yell, etc.? 
3. What is your favorite book (aside from the Bible)?
4. A funny story?
5. What’s your favorite candy or chocolate?
6. Do you prefer long hair or short hair? And why?
7. What’s your favorite hobby?
8. What is your favorite thing to do when you hang out with your friends?
9. If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do with your life?
10. What is one thing not many people know about you?
11. What was your favorite class that you took?

1. I would say pancakes, but not American pancakes because they are not that great. You can eat German pancakes with nutella, jelly, cinamon and sugar, or fill it with fruit and roll it up and eat it with your hands. So good :)

2. That depends on where I am, what happened, and who is with me or not. When I am alone, I kind of talk to myself or yell at whatever frustrated me. When I am with family, I will sometimes yell, talk to myself, or just make an angry or frustrated face. When I am with other people, I try not to show my frustration.

3. I don’t have one favorite book. However, one book that I really liked was “Nothing to Envy.” It is a book about North Koreans, who fled the country and tell their stories about life in NK.

4. The funniest things happen at the preschool I work at. Here is one: One day, I was sitting at the snack table with some children when two girls started talking about Christmas.

G: You know, Christmas is not just about the presents. It’s about…
H: Yeah, it’s not. It’s about friends and family. My mom told me that.
G: Yes, mine did too, but it is also about Jesus birthday.
H: Yes, it is the day Jesus was born.

5. What kind of question is that? Candy or chocolate? I love both and don’t have a specific kind I like but brands. For candy it’s HARIBO and for chocolate it’s Kinder and Lindt.

6. I had both and I prefer short because it is easier to take care of and doesn’t bother me as much.

7. Biking, definitely.

8. We usually talk, but I like going bowling, which we haven’t done in a while. Eating is also one of the main things we do together.

9. Finish school, get a job, have a family, believe in God, travel (not in that order of course, especially the last two would be ongoing).

10. I love mushrooms and avocados. I didn’t like mushrooms as a kid and always picked them out of the food. I first tried an avocado when I came to America because we don’t really have those in Germany.

11. One of the most interesting classes in College was an intro to Sociology. In high school, it was Geography.