Libby in the Back Seat

Libby, Chris and I were in the van the other day, hunting for a parking place in our neighborhood, Libby told us about what she had learned in Chapel that day at school.  Because she goes to an international Christian school, Chapel is a once-a-week occurrence.  She was telling us about how it costs to follow Jesus.  She said that Jesus told his friends that to follow Him would mean they might loose friends, have to leave their family, and be made fun of ... but, it would be worth it.  She said He called it "taking up their cross".

Then, she told us that she realized something.  When she was at her old school (bilingual school) she felt she hadn't taken up her cross.  She said that because things were hard for her she spent too much time worrying and stressing and forgot that she could take up her cross.  Now, at her new school, she came to realize that taking up her cross would make things better.  Taking up her cross makes her not so "grouchy" (her words ... not mine) and makes her more thankful.

Wow.

I have a "see the glass 1/2 empty" worldview most of the time.  When I hear Jesus say to take up your cross, I think of a burden, a weight to carry, a difficulty to bear.  Libby sees it as a mindset shift.  She sees carrying her cross as something that strengthens, builds her up, makes her thankful, gives her strength.

Leave it to an almost ten-year-old to make the theology of Jesus so simple.  We use big words, complicate principles and seek to find the core meaning.  Libby showed me the joy of taking up my cross.  It's simple.  When I know Jesus is for me ... I am not so grouchy when things don't go my way ... it strengthens, builds, makes me thankful and gives me strength.

Wow.