Build a Bear

Today was a very special day in chapel because we had a guest chapel leader, second grader Brian Sheridan. Brian not only helped lead chapel, he also helped to select our songs for the day and picked our what would be in my box. Brian spent a lot of time thinking about this over the past few weeks. Yesterday his father showed up in my office with a much loved stuffed dog, Timmy. Timmy appears to be a border collie, is dressed in a military uniform, and carries in his mouth a puppy, Little Timmy. Brian was very proud to tell me he paid for Timmy with his own money and picked out everything about him at Build a Bear.

I loved having Timmy in my box. My own children have loved going to Build a Bear where they were able to be creative and design a stuffed animal all their own. The idea of carefully selecting a specific bear, or dog, or cat, or dinosaur, filling it up on the inside, adding a heart, and caring for it afterwards is a wonderful way to view God's love for us. In Jeremiah 1:5 the Lord says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you". Our God calls the stars by name, (Psalm 147:4), we can rest easy in the assurance that before we were born he knew the color of our eyes, the curliness of our hair, and the number of freckles on our  nose. And yet, more than all there is to us on the outside, we are formed in God's image, which means we are created with a heart that can be filled with God's love which we are called to share with others.

Timmy's final example to us of God's care for us, is that he can carry little Timmy in his mouth. The Lord loves us just as much after we are born as he did before we were created. No matter what we do, what choices we make, through good times and in bad, God is always there to carry us through.

Thank you, Brian.