Blessing - BREAKING - Giving

"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.

"Bring them here to me," He said.

And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Matthew 14:13-21

After the wedding my hubby decided it was definitely time to get back to our family routine. It was a tearful ceremony for him. He/we love both those kids, so we teared up out of joy. But I know we also felt moved because of the vows made and the commands the Bible gives about how husbands ought to lead their wives and wash them daily in the water that is the Word of God.

Newborn life is so crazy. It takes us awhile to transition. We've been sporadic about our prayer time. And we haven't had any dinnertime family worship for months. So Monday evening after dinner, we busted out the children's Bible for family devotions. Dad decided to read "Feeding the Five Thousand" to us.

The kids sat in rapt attention as Bry told them about the boy who brought a sack lunch that had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. But there was no food to be found in the rest of the crowd. A crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children, so probably 20,000 people. (The kids eyes got big.)

The disciples told Jesus to send them away, that there was no food. But Jesus told them to not send them away, but to find some food and give it to them. The kids loved how Jesus told everyone to line up and sit down. (Sounds like when we do "school!")

"How'd He do that, Dad?" when Jesus blessed the food and then broke it and somehow every single person ate enough to make their bellies full. With baskets and baskets of leftovers! It's a miracle! Jesus takes what we offer up to Him and multiplies it so that others can be blessed and edified.

Just like when...

Last Monday after an evening of family photos we grabbed a bite at Burger King. We were all chowing down on some grub when a guy came over to chat with Bryan. I thought he was somebody Bryan had met at the office. But Bryan had never met him before. He was so friendly and just gushing over our family and how blessed Bryan was to have such a big, beautiful family. The guy's name was William and he kept telling us again and again that he loves us and Jesus loves us. (He was a little tipsy.) The kids enjoyed his company and I chatted with him while Bry took one of the kids to the potty. When Bryan came back, William went back to his chair. He kept getting up to refill his coffee and so I peeked over the plants to see if he was eating. No food, just coffee and water.

So I asked Bry to go up and order him a meal. He was so nice, ya know? So he shared some of his fries with the kids and we gave him info on where to find RCF and when the service times were and made him promise us that he'd see us again.

The next day we drove to Bandon, since Lauren wanted to spend the day at the ocean. The first thing we did was pull in to a family style restaurant to fill our bellies. We ordered from the kids menu for our 4 children with teeth... mac/cheese and ham, mac/cheese and ham, mac/cheese and ham, grilled cheese and fries. Bry had a lunch portion of calamari steaks/fries. I was still car sick and the only thing that sounded okay to me was a baked potato. But they only had mashed potatoes on their menu. So I ordered those and ate a few bites (only to realize to my dismay that they were INSTANT -- Idaho girls do NOT eat instant spuds -- yuck).

As we were "enjoying" our meal (you with kids know that it's a circus trying to keep the kids sitting, eating like humans and not baby animals, to not quarrel, to not gawk over the booth at other diners, etc etc), a lady stopped by our table on her way back from the restroom and commented what a beautiful family we had. And how she had grown up in a family of 9 and so she could relate to our family of 7 dining experience. But "God bless ya," she said, "family is such a gift. Enjoy each other."

And when the waitress checked in with us the final time to make sure everything was okay and did we want dessert, she also told us that our check had been paid by another customer who wanted us to have a great day together.

WOW. Jesus just showed up and covered a $50 meal ticket for us. Thru that lady. We were like way blessed and way blown away. Lauren thought that was so cool. Yay, God! She got to see Him at work in such a tangible way.

So back to Monday evening...

We were able to remind the kids that one night we bought William a meal and the next day Jesus bought us six meals because of that nice lady. And how Jesus multiplied the food! Kennady was so excited. It was so cute, she said, "Thanks, Dad! For telling us that Bible story!" Like her little soul just got watered.

So then we asked what each of the kids were thankful for. And most of the time it's a toy they're currently mesmerized with and don't go anywhere without. But this is what they said:

Kennady: "I'm thankful for Grampa Rob."
(Okay... hadn't even talked about him recently.)

Bryson: "I'm thankful for Uncle Rob."
(Okay... same thing.)

Kevan: "Jesssssss."
(As He signs with his hands "Jesus.")

And at that point the dam breaks... I've just got tears streaming. Family devotions absent for much too long and the first night we spend together talking about real stuff, good stuff, life-giving stuff. My kids are getting it, receiving it, and thanking us for it and thanking Jesus for things, scratch that, PEOPLE they love.

Mom: "This." That's all I could say. I was thankful. My thirst was quenched.

Bryan shared more with me the next day...

• 5 Loaves and 2 fish. Limited resources. But Jesus uses them. Our weakness is His strength.
• Notice that in between Jesus' blessing and His giving, that there is breaking.
• Before the Lord can use a person greatly, He must allow him/her to be broken deeply, to the core. Eliminating pride and ego while doing it, so that the compassion and tenderness of the Spirit can be ignited.
• Jesus doesn't focus on what we lack -- He asks us to offer up what we have.

What is it that you have? What's your measley little lunch?

Christ will turn it into a feast.