She trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen to be greeted by her screaming brother. "Hi, Joshie. What are you all upset about?" She patted his head and gave him a hug.
#39- Getting to Know Him
A Character story about holiness.
"Julie, could you come and help me a few minutes," Mrs. Jensen called from the kitchen.
"Be right there," Julie responded. She trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen to be greeted by her screaming brother. "Hi, Joshie. What are you all upset about?" She patted his head and gave him a hug.
"He's upset because I'm trying to get these cakes mixed up and he's ready to eat. Could you mix up some of that cereal and feed it to him so I can finish?"
"Sure, Mom." Julie took the box and poured some of the thin flakes into a bowl. Then she mixed it with boiled water from the stove until it was a runny paste. Sitting at the table, she stuck a spoonful of the supper into her brother's crying mouth. Immediately he quieted down and began to savor the mush.
"There. Now that's better, isn't it?" she said, smiling at him. After a few minutes, Julie asked, "Mom, do you think Joshua recognizes me as his sister yet?"
"I rather doubt it. At six months old he is still learning what faces are all about. And I'm sure he doesn't understand what a sister or brother is yet either."
"But he would know you from other mothers, wouldn't he?"
"Perhaps, to some extent. But just think of the babies that are adopted at his age. Though they may have been with their real mother for a year, they soon forget and quickly adjust to a new person. It takes time to really get to know someone."
"But I can tell one person from another. How do we know a baby can't do that?"
"That a good question. It reminds me of something your father was reading to me the other day.* It told of some research done on adults who received sight for the first time through a new type of operation. Just think how wonderful it would be to be able to see after being in darkness all your life! But it was surprising to me how little these people were able to do with their new found sight without learning it first."
"Like what do you mean, Mom?" Julie asked, dipping another mouthful of cereal from the bowl.
"Well, for example, a twenty-year-old patient needed four weeks of training just to be able to tell the difference between round, square, or triangular shapes."
"Really? That's hard to believe. I can do that without thinking about it."
"Yes, Dear, but the point is that you learned this during the first months and years of life. As I recall, it said that one patient mistook an apple for a key, or a loaf of bread for a hand, when not allowed to touch them. And if these simple objects are difficult to distinguish, think how hard it would be to tell one face from another!"
"Wow! That's surprising. But I see what you mean. Some of these shapes are found in Joshua's face, like round eyes. The nose is kind of like a triangle too."
"Right. It said that one man who had just received his sight needed four months of practice to be able to tell his wife's face from anyone else's. But if she spoke or if he could touch her, he could tell her from others immediately. Tell me, do you think you could distinguish me from other mothers by just touching my cheek?"
"No, I doubt that I could, but I could recognize your voice from others I'm sure."
"Yes, for sure, because you have practiced and learned to do that. When we spend time in the presence of another person, we get to know them with the senses that we have, like seeing and hearing-"
"And sometimes smelling!" Julie added with a giggle.
"I guess that's true too. The point that I'm making is that our senses must also learn how to tell the difference between various sounds or shapes or smells or textures to feel. This is some of what Joshua is learning each day."
"Hmmm." Julie thought a moment. "So maybe the more I talk to him and let him see me, the quicker he will learn to tell me from other people."
"Yes, I'm sure he will get to know you better the more time he spends with you. In fact, you will soon see that he will learn to make the same faces, say words in the same way- in many ways to become just like you."
"Oh, boy. I'm not sure I would want him to act just like me. There are some things I want to change before I'm ready to have him imitate me."
Mrs. Jensen smiled. "I'm sure we all feel that way, Julie. But, you know, that changing will take place by the same process."
"What do you mean?"
"Just think about this: the more time we spend in communion with the Lord, and in learning more about Him from the Bible, the better we will recognize His 'still small voice,' as He directs us in His will. AND, just like Joshua, we will find ourselves more and more imitating the way that the Lord does things. This is what it says in Second Corinthians 3:18- the more we behold Him in the Word, the more we will be changed into His image by the Holy Spirit."
Just then Joshua let out a squeal of delight and waved his hands around. "I guess he's thanking me for the food, eh, Mom?" Julie said, grinning back. "You're welcome, little brother. And if you're going to learn to be like me, then I better make sure I'm as much like Jesus as I can possibly be!"
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* In His Image by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey (Zondervan, 1984) pp 153ff
DID YOU KNOW...
The human eye has about one million nerve fibers that take visual messages to the brain for interpretation and storage. A fluid called the aqueous humor forms behind the lens and continually flows through the pupil (black hole) and out through the edge of the cornea (clear front of eye) into the blood stream. This helps give shape to the eye. Think how wonderfully God has made us!
SCIENCE QUIZ
1) Babies have more bones than adults. T F
2) Your liver does over _?_ things for your body. a) 10 b) 50 c) 100 d) 200
3) When you run, it takes your blood how long to go from your heart to your feet and return? a) a few seconds b) a minute c) a few minutes d) an hour
4) An adult brain weighs about a) 3 pounds b) 5 pounds c) 10 pounds d) 15 pounds
5) If your heart beats 70 times per minute, how many beats will it make in 24 hours?
ANSWERS:
1) T (270 for babies; 206 for adults); 2) d (over 500!) 3) a (as little as 17 seconds or less, at 40 miles per hour!) 4) a 5) 100,800 beats.
Z