The Pursuit...always the Pursuit...

And now these three remain:

FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.  

But the greatest of these is LOVE.

(I Corinthians 13:13)

...THIS
is our new family secret...

We have a green plant that we use as a center piece on our dining room table.  It is a simple houseplant with cheery spreading green "arms" and heart leaves.

Each night conversation, laughter, and singing,and prayer flows over this little humble plant as we sort through the days' business, lessons, trivia, triumphs, stories,  and testimonies. And at the end of the meal we purpose to make sure we have fed everyone  REAL,LIVING FOOD that keeps us ever-full and nourished--God's Word.
  We bring verses that have impacted us in our day with the Lord and share them...or listen to one of the littles read a chapter that they have been reading in their cute lispy way...or we memorise a verse all together...or sing a verse together...

...the Holy Spirit will press on one of us to open up a piece of the Word and share it/ digest it with whoever God has brought to our table that evening.  The corporate "chew" is an incredible dynamic.

  I have learned and been taught by every member of my family here.  For there is no "JR. Holy Spirit"!!  He can speak through a child powerfully and clearly ~ maybe even more so than the adults many times!  We are a flowy family more than a systematic one--so each night looks REALLY different but is rich and precious ~ truly alive.  Then, after Word, we "work out" this word in worship in the living room--or I could say, since what God is doing here is so organic--our Word time that vines around the table springs into blooming,fruitful  praising worship in our living room...

  Before dishes...before bed... THIS...is my favorite portion of the day...

Recently, our fresh green "friend"lost a few leaves the night after our day spent picking blueberries this week. But for a very noble purpose!  (Aren't the humble so often used for noble means?)  :)

We love the Hebraic model of teaching aka. asking questions.  As we impart things to the children.  Our time had gone something like this:


"What was it like to find fruit on the blueberry bushes today?"

Oh, YES...EATING the fruit...that's best part for sure!!

"What was it like to see your bucket filling up with fruit?"

"What do you plan to do with all of that fruit?"

"What happens to a bush that is picked?"

YES!  It makes MORE fruit..!"



"What about the branches that did not have fruit on them?  What about them?"

"Why do you think they did not have fruit?"

You know...JESUS spoke about gardening and pruning and picking and fruit...does anyone know about this?


And God moved the conversation to our little plant on the table...and at this point our little friend lost two leaves for the betterment of our hearts!! :) 

"AW! Don't pick off her leaves!!"

"But what do you think will happen to these leaves?  Can we reattach them?
  Are they getting that good life from the roots of our little plant or from the vine?
  What's going to happen to these little leaves?"  Lets watch them for a couple days and see... (...hint...for those who want to know...shrivel...shrivel...shrink...dry...dust....Poor little leaves...)

And now for the Word...Children, did you know there are SECRETS in the Bible?  God says that if we seek Him out, He will be found and He will share the secrets of His heart with us ~ the secrets of the KING!!  We are going to hide ICor. 13:13 in our heart.

  It is a SECRET to life.

To ABIDING...

In Christ...


  In anything that we are doing whether it is getting along in our family, or doing our work jobs, or in friendships or talents, we can ask this question of ourselves:

"Are we growing in Faith (in this area), Is (this area) full of hope to God? Do we see more and more love (here, in this area?)  Let's take LOVING YOUR BROTHER as an example (hee!hee!~it had been kinda a rough day for this!!)  You could love God in your room or anyplace and just lift up in your hands your love for your brothers~ you could ask yourself, "Did I grow in faith with God in the way I loved my brother today?...Or in the way I forgave my brother today?...cause growing in Faith is actually more important than being right about the card game..."How about my love, God? Did I grow in love with you today?"
 
Jack relates..."you know...its like God is always there but you have to accept Him and let His love grow UP,UP,UP around you.  You gotta CHASE it down...like when I chase Bruik around the house!!!"
 
Bruik beams with pleasure.
 
"Yeah, you gotta chase love down"
 
And we read that NEXT  verse about "pursuing love"... (later he dances this out in the Spirit in the living room...(see video below)
 
Then it is 10 year old Anderson who makes this connection.  "OH! and when you find out that you need to love more you will realise that you JUST DON"T have the love you need.  Then you are like the little green leaves on this plant...as long as you STAY close to Jesus,stay near to Him and repent from what is not love...HIS love will flow THROUGH you...it won't be work!  The leaf just rests on the vine!!!"  He puts his head on the table and grins. :)

"Whoa! "  He rests...in knowing...in loving...in connecting with the one who brought this revelation to his heart...then...

"You know what? I found out today that I never have to be bored!" 

All eyes on Anderson--after all we have been stuck in the house ALOT on 110 heat index days in Missouri summer heat.  "All I need to do is to go in my room and turn on worship music on the radio and sing to God...and I'm never bored!" (and you are abiding my son...)He bounces over to our computer and puts worship music on REALLY loudly and I do not dare turn it down for the children are all so ready to dance...and we flow into worship...

Untitled from gillian tucker on Vimeo.

Untitled from gillian tucker on Vimeo.

...This is sweet Jack "Chasing God's Love Down" ~ Look, Mom! He said, "I'm Chasing Down ...I PURSUING God's Love....I chase Him and He chases me....and His love goes UP, UP,UP all around me...then I bring it to other people too...It heals them...God is chasing them down in His love too..."

Blessings, precious friends!!

Love, 

GG

p.s. Blue Scarf Jack is using for dancing was brought back to us from Ethiopia by Ally P. at the time of the P. family's addition of their beautiful two Ethiopian girls :)

Mothering ....in the Rains....

We have had a DOWNPOUR of rain this morning.  In
the midst of it we gathered to the living room window to check on our nesting robin bird out in the peach tree next to the window.

And as we did...I was given an early Mother's Day present ~ one of the sweetest I have ever received ~

Anderson leaned across the sofa and leaned his forehead onto the cool window pane.

"AW!  She's getting wet in the rain!!"


Aggressive Sheets of rain blanketed our precious little lady, hunkered down deep in her nest with her wing over her face...Only bits of tail feather and nest running with water were visible from my children and I in our toasty dry room...

Jackson dissappeared... with a faint "I'll be back"....

Anderson thumped his head on the glass--gently as to not frighten our friend...

"Man....She's SO wet..."

He leaned back,

"Mom, she's SACRIFICING herself for the eggs."

(Oh, my baby...The glory weight upon that sentence.)

"They are such good parents."

(my heart sinks and feels tens of things...none of which related to pride or pleasure...)

I am out done

Undone

By a feathery friend in the rain...

Then I get my gift

Like all the best gifts it is a gift of

Simple Grace.

"Mommy, you're like a robin bird!"

He leans back to the window petting the glass--reaching toward her in protection...

"You're like sisters."


And from the corner windows at the other edge of our room...

We hear a splash,splooosh,wack,brushy.splash!!!


And look out to see Jack...dressed in his winter coat,  and under a pink umbrella

Bare feet splashing in puddles

Riding in to bring a lady a "brella" in the rain.

We run interference but laugh with the adorable compassion :)

And,...My eyes see wings

Over me

Over ~ Parenting,Mothering, ~ all

Kept

in a Nest

In the Palm of HIS hands...


And when the rains come...

Sheltered....


Under the Shadow of HIS wings....

Love, Gillian


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now...

 A precious gift to you today....

From my full nest to yours...

My heart so resonated with this message today, that as Mothers we do not have to "BE" the Hallmark card...

...there is grace...

for

"He gently leads those with young"

Isaiah 40:11

Please click on the sentence below to go to Ann Voscamp's blog for a treat

A Holy Experience -- For the Mother who Fears Failure...

Gotta Love it!! :)

Don't you LOVE it when the children learn how to write? :)

another pic of Joyful Jack :)...taken by Anderson...
in a "snowstorm"...in the rec room...

:)...just noticed the dude scaling our bookshelf...

Yep.

After all the  hours stuck inside due to several snow storms....MAMA was itching to climb some bookshelves!!

BUT,
The Sledding was the BESTest!!

A long winter made us so thankful for ~

Leafy trees to climb again ..
   for finding big sis up there reading in the big ole maple in the    back !!...
       for runnin' around and
           for "just hangin' out"
              on bright blue playground slides warmed by friendly sunshine...

AHhhhhh....so nice!
Happy Springtime everyone!

Love, G

Little Trips...

Jack--first on left with some friends.

It was an "Ah HA!" moment.

Truly the type that makes you stand a bit taller, listen more attentively, lean in a little closer,and review the message--rewinding to hear it again--for confirmation of a message that so matches what God has been speaking to Mommy and Daddy..."Yes, Lord? We're all ears!"...

This time it was little Jack (our Kindergartener) who took our breath away.

Cute little Jack,
With that swingy hair and the wide open eyes...
Little puppy one moment--little preacher the next!!

A group of the children had just exited our kitchen to play Stratego in the Family Room. Only Jack and I remained,--a rare moment-- sitting on the floor, leaning up against the dishwasher. The dishwasher--still working the grime off the night's dishes for 10--busily worked behind our backs as we took a moment to rest against its humming door. (oh, how thankful I am for my electronic helpers!!--I really should name them!!) :)

Jack snuggled in and then looked up with such an earnest expression--you know the one--the type that both breaks your heart and makes you willing to say yes to any reasonable request!--

"Mommy, I HAVE to ask you a question."
Yes, Jack? (sweet heart thump)
"Mommy, I need to know something.
Yes?
"I want to know if there REALLY is a Hell.
I can take it, Mommy. REALLY."

And looking into those eyes--seeing how the Truth would register--knowing the Truth--slayed MY heart too--tears rose and I glupped out,

Yes.
Jack.
There really is a Hell.

"OH, NO!!!
" Mommy,
" Mommmmy!
" You HAVE to TELL me...

"... What happens to people in Hell?"

My stomach sank--like I was hearing it for the first time...
Like I was realizing the finality for one of my friends or dear family member...
A face came to mind...Then another dear face...Then another!
Truth struck in the gut.

Well, Jack,

Big blue eyes fixed on mine...

Honey...They burn up.
It never ends.

"OOOOHHhhh, noooo! NOOOOOO!"
It wasn't that this information was unbelievable--his spirit was grieving. To hear pure grief for the lost crying out was Love's raw sound.

"But you have to help me TELL them."

Tell what?
To who?

"YOU HAVE to tell them everything!! So they won't burn up"
Who, Jack?
He names friends from his school.
"MOMMY, I KNOW--they DON'T know Jesus!--we have to TELL them!"

We pray for his friends, we go over the simple message of Jesus's love and good news for his friends. We agree to speak ALOT of how to tell his friends about the love and salvation of Jesus.

Then he sits up and gets out of my lap and leans forward on the floor and reaches over and puts my face in his chubby hands.

"Mommy, YOU don't know anyone who is going to Hell, do you?"

The room feels heavier...

Yes, honey I...

"NOOOOOOO!

"WHHHyyyyy? WHY hasn't anyone TOLD them???"

He just settled back on my lap and we rocked there together, aching for the lost--in tears over the lost that we know...that we live with and among...every day...

Praying, crying , rocking there...

--just burdened.

In a moment, Jack sat up straight--full of something to say.

"I got it! I know what to do!!"
And a gift of evangelism/missionary call was imparted...listen to this...

"I KNOW what to do. What we need to do is to get ALL the Bibles in the house and go to school and TELL everyone about Jesus... AND we need to make sure they have a Bible so that they can grow... THEN we need to go tell everyone in our City about Jesus and...(he stands up, really excited)...then we need to go on LITTLE TRIPS ALL around America and tell people about Jesus...

And Mommy, (he pauses) I really don't think SCHOOL is as important as telling people about Jesus SO I think i need to stop school for a while and just go on little trips to tell people about Jesus. ACTUALLLY...the WHOLE WORLD needs to hear about Jesus so we are going to need LOTS of bibles and are going to need to go on LOTS of trips all around the world to tell people.

(he earnestly thinks of another layer)

...And oh, oh,oh! SOME people in the world are HUNGRY and they need FOOD. And if you don't have FOOD you can't LISTEN very well. SO we are going to have to bring a WHOLE BUNCH of food and bibles on our little trips."

"Can we do it, Mom?"

"Can we go on little trips?"

And in that moment--especially after recently asking God in my own prayers for more of Himself for more of a burden for the lost--it was as if my prayer was answered with a new question put in its place--from the Master Himself--'what IS your answer? WILL you go...on these 'little trips'?'

' Well?'

I hugged Jack tight with the energy and Joy that only the Spirit of Jesus pours on and prayed an answer into his ear.

Mostly, was just knocked over that the Lord was suddenly birthing and displaying in my kitchen, after dinner, in one of my littlest sons--what Richard and I had been experiencing and asking for/waiting on in this past season of our walk...What we have been practicing walking out in our daily lives...while knowing...hearing...God is bringing more fullness to this...

Confirmation, awe, wonder, worship...

So, Jack goes to school the next day with Joy about telling his friends about the love of Jesus. The next day, he is down with an illness, and the next...and the next..He continues to talk of "little trips" filling out his vision...

A corner of my kitchen fills up with bags of bibles ...
and books--"cause the children that we are going to see need things to read"
FAVORITE toys and treasures
and boxes and cans of food too.

I do not forget, but there is a lull in time and life is full of many things to wonder over here in the midst of other ministry here at the Tucker camp...
I sign an illness note 3 days and a weekend after our first conversation and drive Jack up to the Elementary School after watching to see if he was well enough to head into the classroom that morning.

We enter the classroom to much attention.

"LOOK!! IT's JACK T. (there are 2 Jack's in the class and this is the way to keep them straight...)
"Jack T's back!!"

Our most wonderful, Ms. Fitch (we just LOVE her!) stops what she is doing to ask how Jack's trip around the world has been.

(I am not the quickest to think on my feet--just horrible at small talk or thinking quickly--just think she is making a reference to a fiction story or is playing pretend and I play to it with a feeble joke)

"No, Really, (Ms. Fitch is absolutely serious) "Jack TOLD all the boys and girls about his LITTLE TRIPS."

Ohhhhhh,my.

I'm hit with a wave of Wow and just am unable to speak.

...the boldness of my little boy--so clearly making Jesus known and believing what the Spirit has called him to...Just telling it like it is.

This time I answer more fully to his teacher...and store up wonder in my heart...
I hear the question again,

'WELL? What's your answer?'

...to be continued as God reveals more...

Love and Grace and "little trips",

Gillian

"It's Just Painful"--by Jack T. :)

Praise # 3--Number Three-- Just a little "HEE"!! I had planned on "reporting" something else in our "praise countdown" today--but like alot of life here at the Tucker house...we were interrupted! :)



Someone told me when I was a young(er) ;) mom to view these little happenings as little opportunities from God.

--Not a sidetrack to the plans of the day(frustration) but a redirect.

--some of my biggest "interruptions" have brought the biggest rewards/lessons/fruit in the kids or me...

So, in the busyness, I'm ever asking for God to keep me alert to what He's up to in our midst.

After all, its those conversations between loads of laundry when one of my 13 year old sons will spill a secret from his heart,

the willingness to be pulled away from my weeding project in the front yard that leads us to discover God's fingerprints on the wings of a butterfly my little daughter has found.

--or to be invited to a bird funeral by the 3rd graders--how hilarious that one was--The bird was only stunned by a neighbor cat and ended up shaking off that dirt and flying away!!

--Often the joy that buoys my days comes in these little moments of shared life--they are gifts!

This morning we were in full swing --3 already breakfasted and out the door--some more at the elementary bus stop--my Kindergartner, Jack was ALMOST late and my preschoolers were rolling into their before school schedule thing--

When Jack laid his hand on my arm.

(This is our "interruption rule" gesture--a hand on mom's arm to let her know you need her attention---otherwise we would ALL be talking over each other)

" MOMMMMMMMY, listen".

"MOMMMMMY!" I almost hurried him out the door before I understood he was concerned about his teacher's doctor appointment.

You've GOT to listen to this gem--this is Jack in his cute glory,
Oh, my he brings me joy!!
He thinks in the video that his teacher is 100 years old!

--did you TELL him that, Ms. Fitch?

You are the BEST!!

And he's really concerned about her.

He says next that I shouldn't have laughed cause Ms. Fitch would RATHER be at her desk ANY day than be "poked and pressured" at the doctor's office.

We love you, Ms. Fitch and truly think you are the most wonderful Kindergarten Teacher in the World!! We hope it wasn't too painful for you! :)

Check out the bedhead in the video too--the little bird's nest that we tried to wet down and comb through (didn't really help!) after our little talk "interruption" and before jumping on the bus.

Enjoy your interruption opportunities today!

Happy Friday!

Love and Joy to you,
Gillian

" It's Just Painful", by Jack T.

"Whoosh, Whoosh" Jacko and the Dandelions

Sweet, Jack. He has his own special way of playing with dandelion puffs. :)

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, He put him in the midst of them, and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me;" Matthew 18:1-5b

Funny lips
Blowing puffs of little boy breath
on Dandelion's "heads".
Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh!
And I laugh with my little boy as we
Fall back into the tender green grass.
To watch, to enjoy, to soak it in --
This invitation from the King of Spring and Flowers and Little Boys.
The King of Heaven, reaching,
for me...

Seeds float on Springtime air
And cling onto his bright green shirt.

Seeds, children.
Blown so quickly across our lives.
All the finery of the Kingdom,
Surfing on the Breath of the "one who rides on the clouds".

Blow on us, again, King,
Lift us back on the winds of your Kingdom,
Where funny lips, seeds,
Lives lived with purest abandon,
Take us to your knee...

Love, GG

Oh, Noodles!!

Now this really is a "slice" of our life here at the Tucker house :)

Check out video number three (to the right here) and I'll go wipe the noodles off the counter...and maybe off the boys?

Love,

Gillian