I AM

God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.

This is my eternal name,
my name to remember for all generations
Exodus 3:13-15

Before I begin, a bit of background: I am blessed to be a part of an incredible ministry team. We've been doing a Bible study method this year that my dear friend Angela put together for us, and it's been going wonderfully. In fact, it's going so well that I felt that God would be very pleased if we adapted/adopted this for my family. First, I talked it over with my husband... totally on board. Then, I searched around and bought this totally cool tree. Then the hard part (so lame that I was so nervous)- introducing this idea to my family- the teen boy & the tween girls. I raced home from work tonight, gathered up everyone's Bibles, set the scene for our after dinner activity, put dinner on, and then waited for the fam to get home. It was SO INCREDIBLE that I thought I should right away with ya'll.... so, here's the gist:

 

Tonight we had our first Sweet time with God Night (which may be renamed at a later time) at the His Girl home.  After dinner, my kids, my husband and I gathered on our cozy sofa with pens and Bibles in hand. I popped an apple pie in the oven while we were eating dinner, and as we were waiting for it to cool, we dove right in.

Since it was our first night, we began with the scripture that inspired this study, the passages in Exodus 3. Each of us took turns reading out loud, pausing now and then for clarification or to point out differences in the translations. (we were working with a NASB, a couple of ICBs, and two NIVs)

Then, we chatted about how all of the the Bible reveals little parts about Who God is... each passage tells us just a little bit more about His character. We talked about what God might have meant when He said His name is I AM.

Then, I called attention to the tree.  At the highest, centermost part of the tree, I had placed a card that said 'God Is'... (our card at work says 'I AM'- but I thought for my family's clarity I'd try it this way) Then, we began looking through the passages we just read to see what we could know about God's character by simply reading the text.

My son, shockingly*, was first. 'He's concerned!'

'Okay, how do you know?' I asked...

'It says right here- in Exodus 3:7'

'Great! write it down!'

Then, it was ON! We each shouted out attributes and evidences from the passage, writing them down on paper diecut apples (in honor of apple pie night, borrowed from Angela... thanks, sis!) and placing them on the tree. Soon, we had all kinds of fruit on the branches!

We talked about how important it is for us to see God for who He is. I tried to explain the lesson we've been learning in the office about how that means we aren't those things, but the kids weren't really tuned into that. Instead, they were really intrigued at the concept of idolatry, and how any time we put anything in God's place, how we're set up for disappointment, because false gods can't ever be the I AM.

I almost cried right out loud as my children debated this, citing Biblical proofs, adding to the tree.  It was INCREDIBLE.... and very, very humbling. These kids were so ready for more! They were so excited to go deeper into the Word of God, and I am just so glad I didn't put it off even one second longer. (By the way, Shanda, your comment on the Remembering blog is what inspired me to quit procrastinating!)

In the future, I hope to add some more prayer to our time together, and the children are very excited about my 'hosting' proposition. If they want to be the week's host, they get to pick & prepare the dessert for the study, as well as the passage we study. K already reserved next week, has highlighted her scriptures, and is pouring through cookbooks even now! We decided we'll pick the diecut shape this week sometime.

We voted on making this a weekly study, and the decision was unanimous- a resounding YES!

*and to think I was nervous*

Glory to God!

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

3 John 1:4

I'm not certain I explained this all the way well... if you have questions, please ask, and I'll try to clarify :) I'm all wound up and floopy and happy, so I may have forgotten some important details.

*also, if you've never met my teen son, you have no idea what a miracle it was that he was enthusiastic and participatory in anything other than texting. trust me... it's amazing.