Monkey see, monkey do. We make animal sounds for babies to repeat when identifying animals long before they can say the names. We sing head, shoulders, knees and toes and teach little ones to identify eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Young children learn through mimicry but it can be taken to an extreme by their older siblings, especially during long car rides.
Fridays once a month are our zoo days when Thomas and Amelia attend Little Learners classes. The closer we get to our destination, the antsier the kids become. Not unlike the last few minutes before a cabin full of middle grade summer campers goes to sleep, one grandchild makes a noise that gets picked up and repeated by the others at a steadily increasing pitch. At some point, I give up trying to interrupt their volley and begin collecting discarded shoes, socks and snack wrappers before we arrive.
“They’re just excited,” I remind myself. Their energy is contagious. I especially enjoy these times together because experiencing feeding animals, riding the skyline and carousel, or listening to a trainer share about different members of the animal kingdom with my grandchildren gives me a new perspective. I get to see through their eyes and share in their excitement. Even though we have been making these trips for two years, it never grows old. I am just so grateful to be able to invest in the next generation, to help my grandchildren recognize God’s hand in the world He created.
Learning happens everywhere, even when I am unaware of it. In my roles as Bible teacher, mother and now grandmother, it is easier to recognize and approach the learning process deliberately. At my desk, in the check out line in a restaurant or the supermarket, in the library, the dmv or the doctor’s office, it’s easy to forget that there is a constant exchange of information, a continual give and take. I am communicating just as loudly with my tone and expression as with my words. So are you. Whether you supervise an entire office or you wrangle a van filled with precious little ones, how you lead matters.
God heard Jacob’s descendants crying out in their slavery in Egypt and He raised up Moses to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey. He showed Himself mighty on their behalf, reminding them of His faithfulness to His covenant promise to their ancestors. As they neared the border of this new land, God gave them a glimpse of the goodness He had in store for them.
“The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.
From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran.
All of them were leaders of the Israelites.”
Numbers 13:1-3 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/num.13.1-3.NIV
God’s presence with Jacob’s descendants during their wilderness wandering was obvious and visible to the Israelite people and to the nations they encountered as a fire by night and a cloud covering by day. God’s manifested presence guided them and protected them. When Pharoah’s army seemed to have them cornered, God placed Himself between them and their enemy throughout the night. He stood the waters up into walls for the Israelites but those same walls crashed down around the Egyptians. Moving forward required courage and faith. God used Moses to instill both in His people.
“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid.
Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.
The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?
Tell the Israelites to move on.
Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them.
The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.
Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land.
The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.
During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.
He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving.
And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.””
Exodus 14:13-15, 19-25 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.14.14-23.NIV
The trouble came for the Israelites each time their memories got fuzzy. God’s patience with their humanity is incredible. He continually raised up leaders among them to carry them and to warn them because they refused to hold themselves accountable. Each new generation is supposed to learn from the last how to walk with the Lord in His Way but they continually strayed. When the leaders among them came back from scouting the land carrying samples of its fruit, they brought awesome stories as well. Had they been agreed, they would have begun their conquest forty years sooner but of the twelve, ten gave a dissenting opinion.
“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”
And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored.”
Numbers 13:30-32 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/num.13.30-32.NIV
“That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.”
Numbers 14:1 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/num.14.1.NIV
After hearing the people threatening mutiny and return to Egypt and slavery, Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes “and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.
If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
Only do not rebel against the Lord.
And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them.
Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us.
Do not be afraid of them.”
But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.
Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites.”
Numbers 14:7-10 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/num.14.7-10.NIV
“Those who side with the majority voice and not with the word of God are always wrong and are courting disaster.”
Read the Bible: Numbers 14, Psalm 50, Isaiah 3–4, Hebrews 11
God intervened on behalf of His faithful servants, Joshua and Caleb, placing Himself between them and the mob intent on stoning them just as He did for us when He came as a man and carried our sins on the cross. Joshua and Caleb stood their ground, pointing the people back to the Lord, and He sustained them just as He would countless others. God’s judgement fell on all those twenty years and older, all who treated Him with contempt. Joshua would lead Israel into the Promised Land four decades later.
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected. ,”
Luke 12:48 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/luk.12.48.CSB
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Hebrews 5:12-14 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/heb.5.12-14.NKJV
““The Lord reigns for ever and ever.””
Exodus 15:18 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.15.18.NIV
“Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes.”
Luke 12:43 CSB
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