Faithfulness | Character core curriculum

Family Book: “If the World Were a Village”

Travel: Gabon

Video: “Open My Hands” – Sara Groves (talking about her inspiration behind writing this song)

In Psalm 84:11 we read, “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Sir Richard Baker comments, “But how is this true, when God so oftentimes withholds riches and honor and health of body from men, though they walk ever so uprightly? We may therefore know that honors and riches and bodily strength are none of God’s good things, and the good things of God are chiefly peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, fruition of God’s presence, and a vision of His face in the next. These good things God never withholds from the Godly.”

Video: “Open My Hands” – Sara Groves (live acoustic performance)

I believe in a blessing I don’t understand. I’ve seen rain fall on wicked and the just. Rain is no measure of his faithfulness; He withholds no good thing from us.

I believe in a peace that flows deeper than pain, that broken find healing in love.
Pain is no measure of his faithfulness; He withholds no good thing from us.

I believe in a fountain that will never dry, though I’ve thirsted and didn’t have enough. Thirst is no measure of his faithfulness; He withholds no good thing from us.

I will open my hands, will open my heart.

I am nodding my head, an emphatic “Yes!” to all that You have for me.

Questions:

Do you think Sir Richard Baker is right?
Why does Sara Groves say, “I believe in a blessing I don’t understand”?
Why, if God is faithful, do people experience drought, pain, and thirst?
What is our role in all this?

Daily Sheet: Day 89: Empathy

Family Book: “The Long March: The Chocktaw’s Gift to Irish Famine Relief”

Travel: Oklahoma; Texas

Song: “Why It Matters” – Sara Groves (with lyrics)

Sit with me and tell me once again of the story that’s been told us, of the power that will hold us, of the beauty, of the beauty, Why it matters.

Speak to me until I understand why our thinking and creating, why our efforts of narrating about the beauty, of the beauty, And why it matters.

Like the statue in the park of this war torn town, and its protest of the darkness and the chaos all around, with its beauty, how it matters, How it matters.

Show me the love that never fails, the compassion and attention midst confusion and dissension, like small ramparts for the soul, How it matters.

Like a single cup of water, How it matters.

Questions:

Compare “empathy” to “sympathy.” Which is more meaningful? Why?
Why do you think the story of Jesus raising the widow’s son was chosen for “Empathy” rather than for “Compassion?”
Think about the story of “The Long March” while you re-read the bolded lines at the end of Sara Groves’ song, “Why It Matters.” How do you think the Chocktaw’s act of kindness, inspired by empathy, might have built “small ramparts for the soul”? And what is the “single cup of water” reference?

Character core curriculum

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Tag Archives: Faithfulness

Day 131: Security

Day 127: Hope

Day 113: Commitment

Day 102: Benevolence

Day 89: Empathy

Day 77: Integrity

Day 73: Tenacity

Day 71: Goodness

Day 70: Faithfulness

Day 53: Persistence