Kekuatan Sukacita - ROCK Sydney Indonesian Church

ROCK Family
By Maria Tanudjaja
Chill mom, it’ll be alright
ne of the joy of teaching the children at Kids
OChurch is to listen to their creative response.
One day, we told them the story about the
prodigal son, “The younger son took his father’s
possession, travel to another country and spent
all his money until he has nothing left. He then
found a job to feed the pig. He was starving
and he has nothing to eat. What should he do?”.
One boy replied with full enthusiasm, “Kill the pig!”
I guess our little one has a brighter idea than the
younger son who ended up eating the pig food.
The kids love to ask questions, lots of them.
There was one time when we told them the story
about Elijah who seized all the prophets of Baal
and how Jezebel got really mad and threathened
to kill him. One boy raised his hand and with the
most innocent face you could ever imagine, he
asked,”My mom said that my name (Joshua) is
a name of a prophet, does it mean that I’m in
trouble as well?”
While the kids love to shoot questions that might
seem funny to us, we adults often have hard
questions for God - the things in life that we
simply don’t uderstand. Why life doesn’t fit - with
financial difficulties, or sickness, or relationship
problems? Why does God allow this mess in my
life, this pain? Doesn’t He care? Oh, He does,
very much. We might not understand what He’s
doing, but He does. We need to learn the art of
trusting God when we don’t understand.
“… casting all your care upon Him, for He cares
for you.” 1 Peter 5: 7b
I read a story about a woman who got into an
ugly divorce. Her husband left her for his high
school crush. She had a hard time adjusting and
constantly worried about everything. One day,
she played The Little Mermaid for her 6 years old
daughter. The little girl applauded when Ariel and
Prince Eric got married, but one second later,
she removed her headphones and banged them
against the cofee table. Her mom approached
her, “Do you think you struck the table because
you were feeling angry that Ariel and Prince Eric
are married, yet your parents aren’t anymore?”
She promptly replied, “No, mommy. These
headphones have been hurting my ears. Sorry.”
That day she learned her lesson: Lighten up,
Mom! We’ll all be okay. Don’t worry so much; be
happy!
As we teach the children to
share their toys; clean their bed;
save their pocket money, they
teach us to worry less and trust
more. They teach us about the
strength of being joyful. Aren’t
they precious? Let’s learn from
them!
1
6 • ROCK Sydney Bulletin • December 2011