Dear CCPC Family,

"How great is the love the Father lavishes on us, that we should be called children of God...
1 John 3:1

Don't you just love the word "lavish"? Maybe it's not a really common word in most people's vocabulary, but when I hear the word "lavish" it conjures up some sort of extraordinary, above average, not your everyday run-of-the-mill, above and beyond treat!

WelcomeI first studied the Bible was when I was 38. (I know, I can't believe it either. It makes me sound like I'm really old now!) I grew up in a church where reading and studying the Bible for yourself was not encouraged. We grew up learning what our teachers taught us along with their opinions about Jesus. Finally, in my mid-thirties, I confessed to my sweet younger sister that I didn't want to attend Bible Study because I didn't know how to look anything up in the Bible. I was embarrassed. I really didn't even know what the Old and New Testaments were. I had heard of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Adam and Eve, and Noah through stories at an early age, but I didn't know how to check out what I had been taught.

My sister showed me a Bible that had tabs marking each of the chapters. I remember the two of us lying across the big antique bed in my mom's guest room. She showed me that the red markings in the New Testament, (NIV Study Bible) were the spoken words of Jesus. She asked me to just start reading the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and see what Jesus Himself had to say. She went to the Christian book store with me and bought me my first Bible and, yes, I put in tabs to mark the chapters for easy access. Because of her, I joined several different Bible studies, one here at CCPC and one with a group of friends who all had toddlers.

I can remember studying the book of Ephesians and first hearing about God's love and how He wanted to "lavish" us with "wisdom and understanding" (Ephesians 1:8). I just kept saying that word over and over again -- "lavish." I could imagine God sitting up in heaven and showering every good thing He had to offer me -- His mercy and grace, His unconditional love, and His son Jesus Christ. The hardest part of the word "lavish" is believing that God would want to do this for me. Why me? Who am I that the God of the universe would want to "lavish" His gifts on me?

As I continued studying the Bible, I was reminded time after time, Scripture after Scripture exactly why me. I am His beloved. He has chosen me. He yearns to give me abundant blessings.

Try asking God to "lavish" you with every good thing... and then just accept it!

Dear Gracious and Heavenly Father,
remind us, Lord, that there is nothing else You want more than to lavish Your love and blessings on us. Help us to dig deeper into Your Word so that we may know You better. Help us to be bold enough to shout out every good thing You have lavished on us.

Teri Budde
Director of Mother's Day Out and Child Care