The Smallest Things in Life Bring the Greatest Joy!

As a father I often wonder about the impact I'm having on my children; not that I don't think I'm having an impact but what kind of impact? I not only see my own sin and depravity but also the failures and shortcomings of my role as spiritual leader of my family. One thing I try to to be consistent in is my personal Bible study. I enjoy dissecting sentences and figuring out the relationships between them. I truly enjoy digging thoroughly into the original languages (as far as my ability takes me) and mining those rare jewels. But what does all this have to do with being a father? Funny you should ask ;) Apparently, my 9 year old son, Eliab, had been watching. Today after church he came to me and said, "Dad, could you teach me to study the Bible so I can do my own studies.?" I was a little stunned by this request but I immediately said a bit, "YES!" When we got home I got some paper and wrote down some basic questions (on a 9 year old level) for him to answer. He wanted to read about Balaam's donkey so I opened the Bible to Numbers 22 and left him alone for a bit to read and ponder the chapter. The following picture is what he did on his own. It's a little fuzzy but you should be able to make out the majority of it. Don't expect any deep theological thoughts and keep in mind that he is very much left-handed like his dad which means that he writes some of his letters and numbers backwards.

My Son, Eliab