The Jesus Storybook Bible

I've found a new Bible "translation" that speaks my heart language. (Okay, it's not a translation, but I DO love to read the book!)


Just recently Acácia received "The Jesus Storybook Bible - Every Story whispers His Name" written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. With every story, the author connects the point to Jesus. It's great. Between Trevor and I we have been reading 1-3 stories from this book each night with Acácia. And I have to admit, I love, love, love this time of day. Not only because I get to spend precious time with my daughter, but also because God has seemingly been using these few moments (among others) each night to speak loud and clear to my heart. I don't think there has been a single night that I have read with Acácia and not come away refreshed. And I am left amazed.

Tonight as we were reading the story of how Jesus fell asleep on the boat in the middle of the storm, it was a sacrifice of love (a joyful one) for me to keep reading the text out loud at some points. For some reason (well I know the reason...), I was overcome with a new-found, deeper realization of how God is with us in the storm. And that no matter how bad it may seem in our eyes and how hopeless it may look, our worries are still unnecessary. My voice got all choked up and I simply wanted to cry tears of joy and bask in the clear reminder God had brought to my heart through this "children's story". How gracious of our God to remind us of that by giving us a written account of this story that has stood the test of time. I am certainly glad I'm a child of God, aren't you?

You see, we have some very dear people in our lives who are walking through some incredibly painful and stretching times. My heart hurts for them and my (I think it would be safe to say "our") natural tendency is to worry, worry, worry. Here is what I read in our story right after Jesus calmed the storm:

"The little boat bobbed gently up and down. There was a deep stillness and a great quiet all around. Then Jesus turned to his wind-torn friends. 'Why were you scared?' he asked. 'Did you forget who I Am? Did you believe your fears, instead of me?' Jesus' friends were quiet. As quiet as the wind and the waves. And into their hearts came a different kind of storm. 'What kind of man is this?' they asked themselves anxiously. 'Even the winds and the waves obey him!' they said, because they didn't understand. They didn't realize yet that Jesus was the Son of God.

{And here is the part that got me}
Jesus' friends had been so afraid, they had only seen the big waves. They had forgotten that, if Jesus was with them, then they had nothing to be afraid of. No matter how small their boat--or how big the storm."

{Excerpt taken from "The Captain of the Storm" in The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones.}

If you have young (or even old) children, I highly recommend this book. It has been a great tool in helping Acácia get to know Jesus. Because truly, every story whispers His name.

There, I said it.

I can't believe we've had this blog for almost two years and we've never really talked about the thing that most people associate us with...music.

It's funny to see where I am now in comparison to where I was two years ago. Let's see, I think it was almost two years ago to the day that we announced to our church in Hudson, Ohio that we were leaving the music ministry to join Wycliffe. I don't really want to be honest about this, but I probably should be. I was ready to be done with music as a job.

There, I said it.

Don't get me wrong, I loved what I was doing. I loved my church. I loved the people who served wholeheartedly alongside of me. I loved having an incredible amount of creative leeway in the context of corporate worship. (Those of you who know the crazy ideas we somehow executed at Hope know exactly what I'm talking about! Remember the sanctuary waterslide, mountaintop waterfall, and figuring out how to get those stupid curtains to open until 4am the morning before the performance?)

I was ready for something new. Something exciting. Something that had nothing to do with what I had dedicated the majority of my life to.

I was rebelling.

I know...it's a quiet sort of rebellion. Like Tie-day Friday when seemingly everyone else in the building is wearing jeans. Normal people in my position would just toe the line of dressing a little more casual than business on Casual Friday. Me? I throw on a tie.

Even when I was given the opportunity to be EnterMission Coordinator when I was first asked to take this role, I rebelled against my musical roots. Does it involve music in any capacity? No thank you. I'm going to be a Bible Translator.

Funny story. I've been working in Orlando for about 6 months now, quietly rebelling against my musical background. Now...somehow I've found myself full circle as not only EnterMission Coordinator (a weekly gathering of Wycliffe USA staff: including coordinating and leading worship weekly), but coordinating and leading weekly musical worship in my church, being asked to be the worship leader for Delegate Conference with Sarah, thinking and praying about the possibility of being an Arts Consultant/Ethnomusicologist in the not too distant future, and most recently, hanging out with a friend yesterday for almost 12 hours to brainstorm/compose music together for a potential video project.

That'll show all of you! I won't be a musician, I just won't!

All of that is to say that God is humorous. As Julie Melon would say while I was doing swing dance and hip-hop evangelism throughout Western Europe, "God is NUTS!" (Although now it seems like I was the one who was nuts for doing swing dance and hip-hop evangelism in Europe as a 16 year old for two months.)

I feel like He is somehow rebelling against me, though I'm not sure of the theological ramifications of this.

Oh, and I'm loving it all, in case you were wondering.

-Trevor