Noah Noah Noah…

Blythe has a little brother named Noah. Noah is freshly 4. He is constantly cracking us up with the things that come out of his mouth, as well as the faces and movements that go with them. Occasionally, when I have my phone handy I document some of the things he says.

While eating grilled cheese, Fiona(6 year old sister) becomes concerned about the little black specs on her sandwich.

I came up with the easiest answer I could,

“Well Fi, sometimes the bread just looks like that after you cook it in a pan.”

Then Noah chimed in, and stated very matter of factly, like it’s information he was born with,

“It’s called Neenpaws.”

“That doesn’t sound like english Noah, what language is that?”

“Oh, it’s china.”

“Well how do we say it english?”

“Here it’s finebaws.”

Blythe’s parents are trying to sell their old house so they have samples of hardwood floor. Noah decided he wanted to play with one, when I told him he couldn’t, he picked it up and went to ask his mom. Once he was told no again he walked back into the dining room where he got it, and said,

“She said no. I’m gonna put this somewhere I can’t reach it.”

Gotta love self-discipline.

“Noah, why do you eat your boogers, that’s gross.”

“Because. They’re tasty.”

He was really on today.

Fiona was talking about the movie Brother Bear, she wanted to know about it, but I hadn’t seen it so I wasn’t much help. But she kept asking,

“Does the bear stay a bear?” (who knows.)

So Noah being the movie expert spoke up,

“I’ve seen it. No, he doesn’t stay a bear. He turns into a leopard. (long pause) Get it??? A Leopard!”

After the discussion on brother bear fiona decided she’d had enough of her imaginative brother,

“I’m never talking to you again.”

“Then I’ll spank you on the cheek!!! …tomorrow.”

Very threatening Noah. Nice.

He was looking at the pictures on my phone, he came to one of Lucy, and stated,

“She’s my girlfriend.”

After that we heard about his girlfriend, whom he lovingly named, “funkywam”,  for about 30 minutes.

He kept talking about how silly she was and how she did funky moves(which were demonstrated and usually involved sticking his tongue out) everytime she played sports.

“One of my girlfriends is so silly. She’s so silly I can’t imagine. She does so much funky stuff!”

“Noah, you crack me up.”

“That’s because my girlfriends do.”

Maybe it’s one of those you have to be there things but I sure get a laugh out of him, as do blythe and fiona.

Offensive

I was mean tonight. Anyone that knows me very well knows,  I hate confrontation, and I’m a people pleaser. I don’t like offending people, people not liking me, etc. etc.

But tonight, well tonight, I was mean. I was offensive. I made someone cry. I even told them that I didn’t care if I made them angry, or if I made them not like me. I didn’t care what they thought about me. I stood there and let them have it, in a parking lot with people walking by. And I didn’t feel the least bit sorry about it.

I told her everything she didn’t want to hear. The un-sugarcoated, raw version. I offended her, upset her, caused tears and anger. But it was all truth. It was the gospel. And as backwards as it seems, it was loving. My words were not my own.

After my rant, we stood there for a while. Tears rolling down her cheeks. What now Lord? I just made a huge mess. Then she slumped to the ground, crying, and I just sat with her.  All the while, praying:

“Jesus, I’ve got nothing to give her.” I felt Him smiling.  “Exactly. Just sit.”

“Jesus, I can’t fix this.” “Yep. Just sit.”

“Jesus, what do I say now?”  And He gently replied “Just sit.”

So we sat. For about an hour. I kept thinking, what do I say if she asks me why I’m still sitting with her? Well why was I sitting with her? It was uncomfortable, in more ways than one. The hard ground and the silence. I felt the Lord saying, because this is how I love you. The peace of the Lord filled me up and I felt myself smiling. I love you Jesus.

He disciplines us, then He sits with us. Not because He feels bad about offending us but because He wants us to know how deeply He loves us.

In one experience I learned alot; I have nothing to give outside of Jesus(Praise the Lord!), and sometimes we just need to sit. But the thing that stuck out most was the offensiveness of the gospel.

I think too often we’re taught to “love people into the kingdom”.  Don’t get me wrong, I think we need to love people. But I don’t think loving them always looks like we think it should. Jesus was offensive. The gospel is offensive, and very serious. It’s watered down, sugar-coated, and dumbed down WAY too often. I think sometimes we need to offend people.

In that moment sitting with her, theology didn’t matter, all the sermons I’ve heard on sharing Christ in the “right way” didn’t matter. Jesus mattered. That was it.

I am praying. And I am thankful that it’s Him, not me.