Learning from Kid Drama

So I have been working on this drama/storyteller piece for a preschool event at church. I think it is great how God is showing me things while I work on stories I have known since I was in preschool, too. Especially since we are focusing on a theme of Jesus helping us through the storms in our lives and one of the legacies I want to leave my kids is for them to always trust God to take care of them in any situation.

One of the stories is Jesus calming the storm and there is so much to treasure in this story. We should study it more as adults. First - did you ever think about how big this storm is and the fact that Jesus was sleeping through it? Of course the fact that He was asleep has always been integral to the story, but asleep, on a boat, in a storm, with people who would not be there if they had not followed Jesus into the boat and onto the sea. Me, I would be too worried being Tricia-Your-Cruise-Director trying to make sure everyone else was okay - let alone the other factors against the whole sleep thing. It is hard enough to sleep through a storm on dry ground, (If you don't get thunderstorms and/or you don't have kids, you might not get it, but trust me, it is hard. Even if it does not scare you, the noise makes it physically impossible to sleep), but I think He models such trust and security when He is sleeping in this storm. Not just with what He isn't doing, but because He is resting in God. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it is such a great image, please don't burst my bubble. I guess it is the "turtle" in me that would rather hide away in God during the storm than charge into it.

Another application from this story - even when it seems like God is sleeping - He is there. He is in control (no matter how the situation appears). He knows what is going on in our lives. He cares. We may think He is not "doing something". He may not be doing what we want or expect, but it does not mean He doesn't care or does not hear our cry for help. And in His time, He will arise and open our eyes to the calm He saw all along.

God wants us to trust Him, to rest in Him, to be secure in our knowledge that He cares for us, that He is alive, that we should not fear. He hears our cries, He cares for us.

I see so much here that I start babbling and repeating myself. Please pray it comes out coherent for the 200 preschoolers and parents we will be sharing with on Saturday and that God speaks this message to them through us.