After the death of my 96 year old grandfather, our family came across a letter titled, "Tribute to a Daughter." It appears to have been written by his wife Mae 50 years ago. No one has heard Mae's voice since her death in 1996. Yet, in this letter to her daughter, she speaks with wisdom and love we benefit from today. If indeed Mae penned these precious words, our family is reminded of her tenderness and devotion to her Lord. If she simply duplicated the work of another, I am certainly glad she took the time to do so. It reads...

   You have given me courage not inherent to my nature. I frighten easily. But thru
the years when I was alone with you and was the only protection between you and
potential danger, something happened to me. I became more than I was.
   You have taught me which things were real and which were show. This is one of
the insights God grants to children and old people. As a little girl you were never much interested in fashion or haste or prejudice or affluence or price or social climbing or pretense. You were interested only in being free, being friendly, being unhurried, having plenty of time to scratch the puppy's underside when she flopped over or to watch the turtle cross the road or to see where the bee disappeared down the flower. When you folded your hands to say grace, your act of gratitude and obedience filled my own heart with overwhelming thankfulness to my Heavenly Father in allowing you to be my daughter.
   With you I have felt  the pride of possession-not mine of you but yours of me. You have claimed me. And now that you have children of your own, you know what that means.
    As you grew up and introduced me to your friends, maternal pride welled-up within,
"And this is my mother" with a little something in your voice that says you find me acceptable. My heart sent a quick prayer, "Dear Father may she always be acceptable to you."
   You have brought me closer to God than I could have approached on my own. When I was young and single, how sure I was of my armor and my right arm. But after you
came, I was much more vulnerable. I could not take every step with you or caution you against each danger or take your illness upon myself. I needed a faith in which to believe. I cried out and God was there.
   He has quietly taken my hand. If there were deserts, there were also oasis, if there were mountains, there were also resting places. I praise God for all that I have tasted of life, the storm, the heat, the engulfing wave---but I am glad I didn't have to do it alone.
   You have taught me to look on time as a friend, not as one who steals in the night to catch me unaware and do me harm. When I see the gray that fills around my temples, the tiny wrinkles that are the left-over footprints of care, the glasses that bring the eye of the needle into focus, I do not panic and wonder where the time has gone, I KNOW where the time has gone. I saw it in the cradle, in the child holding my hand, hearing your laughter in joy and your crying in pain. I saw it in the conflicts of your adolescence, in the stars in your eyes on your wedding day--and now TIME seems to stand still as I see you as a mother, tying little shoes, wiping little tears, fixing wounded knees and kissing scratchy fingers; teaching how to pray and sharing God's Word.          Thank you my daughter. TIME allows me to do them in my heart for you; my child, my daughter, God bless you.  

It’s been said, “The quickest way for a parent to get a child’s attention is to sit down and look comfortable.” As I sat alone with a hot cup of coffee at the kitchen table, I was reminded of this truth. My 2 year old daughter Sophie wandered over, tugged on my shirt, and pulled herself onto my lap. She glanced at the book in front of us and said, “Oh the Bible. The Bible says Jesus loves me. I’m gonna look in there for Sophie.” I was startled when she identified the book, and stunned by her way of summarizing the nearly 2000 pages. Yet the
declaration she was going to look for herself in the Bible showed wisdom
far beyond her years. As she carelessly turned the pages I realized we can
indeed find ourselves in Scripture. Are we:
Elijah- feeling abandoned by God after following His directions for us
Jonah- simply wanting to run from God out of fear, shame, or anger
Peter- brave and devoted with a sincere love for Jesus, but hopelessly impulsive and prone to stumble 
The Rich Young Man- disappointed to learn that following Jesus means parting with the world’s treasures
The Blind Beggar– has heard great things about Jesus, but never experienced it for himself
Martha & Mary- weeping because Jesus showed up too late, they assume all hope is lost
Sampson- believing all the hype about himself, pride leads to a downfall
Those “in the Crowd”- they were simply overwhelmed with wonder at the power and love of Jesus
The Possessed Boy’s Father- declaring his belief in God, but also his struggles to keep his faith strong. “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”
Those at the Cross- The thief who acknowledges Christ as King even when His power seems absent. Or the brave Centurion who stares at the cross and declares Jesus the “Son of God,” knowing he would lose it all for this public
confession
Esther- needing a supernatural touch of bravery in a dire circumstance
Moses- feeling God’s assignment is simply beyond his ability
Joseph- in the pit, then the dungeon, waiting for God to rescue
David–ashamed for turning from God after years of His faithfulness
The Bleeding Woman- 12 years of physical suffering left her longing for a touch from Jesus
Nicodemus- the“religious” man who sought the face of Jesus
Thomas- his doubts left him without hope, until Jesus reveals himself.
There are hundreds more, and at different times we can climb into the skin of many different men and women from the Bible. That is the natural journey of life. Most listed above felt desperate and scared, until the Lord moved in a mighty, yet gracious manner. Sophie showed me yet another way, “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword.”   
“Read this book and this book will read you.” Someone a lot smarter than me said that about the Bible. But a 2 year old essentially cracked it open and said “Dad, we’re all in here somewhere.” And the best part is like she mentioned, more than anything, He loves us. 
 

Prayer is painful. At least it should be. Sure we make it
easy. You know the list we recite as we check in with God for the day: “Lord I need this, still want that, hope you’ll bless so and so,” and on it goes. It may be sincere, but that prayer fulfills what we feel is obligation. God
doesn’t want us obligated. He desires we meet with Him. That we cry out to Him. This causes pain.
It may be the reason you’ve stopped praying. We have all the excuses: “Too many distractions, too many kids, too much good stuff on TV, dog needs a walk, we’re headed to the hospital again, need to think about how to pay this bill…I deserve a break.” But I dare say we avoid prayer for a more serious, more understandable reason. It hurts.
We don’t want to face what is deep inside. In his magnificent book, The Selfless Way of Christ, Henri Nouwen reveals what keeps us from hitting our knees: “It is hard precisely because by facing God alone we are also facing our own inner chaos. We come in direct confrontation with our restlessness, anxieties, resentments, unresolved tensions, hidden animosities, and long-standing frustrations. Our spontaneous reaction to all this is to run away and get busy again, so that we can at least make ourselves believe that things are not as bad as they seem in our
solitude.” [1]
It’s not that we think God doesn’t hear, not that God doesn’t care, not that our prayers don’t make a difference. We avoid stirring up the turmoil, avoid facing our fears and heartbreaks head-on, and prefer the checklist approach. We’d rather present concerns that get us through the day, not stare into the anguish that keeps us up at night.
Christians throw a lot of terms around that others don’t understand. One of them is “pressing-in.” They say, “We need to press-in to God and pray for this need.” Great, I get it, but when you press-in, something pushes back. My little boy was trying to hang-up his new calendar, and as he forced the push-pin into the wall, he cried out that it hurt. Yes, the harder he pushed, his little fingers ached as he felt the pain of pushing the tack into a hard wall. It is no different as we pray. When we have the courage to bring our hurts and fears to God, we feel pain. Yet God never pushes back. We'll find God’s unfailing love to be our comfort, as we embrace Jesus’ invitation to find rest for our weary souls (Psalm 119:76 & Matthew 11:28). 
Pain comes in facing what prayer reveals about ourselves and the real struggles we face. Our Lord is gracious and gentle in our anguish, promising a peace unlike the world can give, so don’t be troubled or afraid (John 14:27). Remember, Jesus said our Father knows what you need even before you ask Him. He does not require information, but longs for the opportunity for us to trust Him with the anguish, hurts, and yes, the joys that we place before him. 
   
  [1] Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ. Orbis Books. 2007. (p 86).

Sometimes the Bible can be overwhelming. Nearly 2000 pages containing more than 31,000 verses, divided into 1189 chapters. Rounding out at about 783,000 words, opening its pages for study and inspiration can be daunting.
So sometimes we oversimplify things. We may just crack the Word open to look for a quick confirmation of our latest hunch. Or we'll make ourselves sit and read because we made a promise that this time we really would read the Bible in a year (even if we don't understand it). After all, isn't that our obligation to God? 
If you're like me you'd like to tug the hand of Jesus and say, "Lord, just tell me my part in all of this? How do I follow after you?" Well, playing football with my sons I was provided some insight.
I was playing QB, and my 6 year old was my wide receiver. His 8 year old brother was trying his best to intercept my passes. When I realized he was having no trouble getting in the way of all my throws, I pulled my young receiver aside. We huddled close together and I did what backyard QB's have been doing for nearly a century...I diagramed the next play on the front of my T-shirt. As my older boy tried to peek at the plan from a distance, I pulled Brady near to me and pointed to my chest. I began to draw out his route, pointing to where he would run and I would pass.
"Brady you need to run diagonally toward the tree, make a quick left, stop, spin back toward me, and then head deep the other way toward the street."
"Huh?" he replied. "Daddy I can't remember all that."
I went through it all again. "Diagonal toward the tree, quick left, stop, spin back, then head out toward the street, open your arms and boom it'll be in your hands."
He gently tugged my shirt which had served as the canvas for a playbook, and sweetly pleaded, "Daddy...just tell me my part." 
Acknowledging the absurdity of my coaching I put my arm around him and said, "Brady, run as fast and far as you can and open your arms wide."
Walking back from our 2 man huddle I realized, Brady just wanted it put simply. He wanted to know his part, the main thing he was supposed to do. He didn't feel he could handle all the extra stuff right at the moment, he just wanted to know the most important thing.
If we're in a 2 man huddle with Jesus, tug his garment and plead, "Just tell me my part," I think He may very well repeat what he said in the 13th chapter of John's Gospel. "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (v.34).
Love one another. Simple. That's our part. Sure there is a lot else for us to know, and the 66 books in the Bible go into great detail with God's promises, desires, expressions of love and stories of redemption. Sometimes those feel like the diagonal sprints, spins, and deep routes toward the street. All vital, but not the most important. A short book in the back of our Bible tells us "believing in the One God sent" and then "loving one another" is our part (1st John 3:23).
With 783,000 words to consider in the Bible, don't lose sight of the three that tell us our part...love one another. There are lots of other things we need to learn, but every play we run, no matter our position on the team, has the same assignment every time: love one another.