Mommy Musings
Monthly Column by Anni Welborne

Miles per gallon – the concept that one should expect a certain return from a defined investment. Last month, I wrote about how God has given us so many things in our world that clearly demonstrate His qualities. This truth is found in Romans 1:18-20:

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (NIV)

Little did I know that a defined investment (the purchase and set up of a fish tank) would yield far more returns that just the enjoyment of fish-watching…..

We set up the tank about 2 years ago. Our daughters know that they need to behave if they want to see the fish when Mommy is done shopping at the local Stuff-Mart. We used the incentive of getting our very own fish tank to help our older daughter cope with leadership issues in her Sunday School class. That is, she felt she should be the leader all the time, because in her opinion, she did it better than anyone else. Yeah, we’re also working on humility too.… For each time that she appropriately handled the leadership issues, she received a fish sticker on a chart. When the chart was full, we got the tank. As a defined investment, it was a bit expensive, but our return has been far above what we expected.

The fish tank has provided lots of opportunities for teaching our daughters about Godly truths. Here are just four of the conversations we’ve had about the fish tank, each one increasing the value of the tank.

“Mommy, why do you clean the tank and change the water so often?”

Frequent water changes and vacuuming the floor of the tank keeps the algae growth minimal and prevents build-up of yucky stuff in the water than can hurt the fish. Thus, frequent confession and repentance keeps the junk from accumulating or growing in our lives. Yes, cleaning the tank is scary for the fish. They may not understand it, and they try to hide. But it certainly helps them in the long run. Obeying God by repenting and asking forgiveness is sometimes scary. But it is best for us all in the long run.

“Mommy, what is Heaven like?” (This shortly following the death of my father…)

Several of Jesus’ parables began, “The kingdom of Heaven is like….” Well, if Jesus can paint pictures of Heaven using stories of common place things, then perhaps it’s a good idea. Trying to understand Heaven is difficult. We truly have little to no understanding of Heaven. But Jesus did compare what we do know to what we don’t. Try to think of it this way: Earth is a fish tank. Heaven is the world.

Heaven is a grand and glorious place - much, much bigger and much, much prettier than our earth. Just like our world is much, much bigger and much, much prettier than the fish tank. But some things on this earth can give us a small idea of how things will be in Heaven.

• Do our fish know about the sun? No, only the tiny slice that comes through the kitchen window in the morning. Their sun is the florescent lamp above the aquarium, which is far different from our sun, even though both give light.
   
• Do our fish understand trees? No, their trees are the plastic pieces glued to the castle, even though both are green.
   
• Do our fish understand the beautiful buildings we have? No, their only buildings are the castle and the neon hotel.
   
• Do our fish understand how big our world is? No, their world is the 29 gallon tank. The concept of “going to grandma’s house” is un-knowable to them.
   
•  Do our fish understand there are other people in the world? No, they only see us, and only when we come in and out of the kitchen.
   
• Do our fish understand things like books and the computer? No, they can only see the fridge and the stove, but have no idea what they are used for.

Heaven is humongously bigger than our world just like our world is humongously bigger than the fish tank (taking into account the cosmos). Our world is just a tiny slice of what Heaven is really like.

“Mommy, why won’t they listen to me?”

We had two fish that were fighting in our fish tank. Our then 5-year-old daughter stood at the front and tried to talk to them, but of course they couldn’t hear her, and they kept fighting. “Mommy, I can’t get them to understand!”

So I asked her how she could best talk to them? She thought a moment and decided that she needed to become a fish herself, so she could teach them about sharing and not fighting.

Jesus did just that for us. He looked down and saw a world full of people who were fighting, hurting other people, and not sharing. So Jesus became a fish in our fish tank. God was too big for us to understand. We could see Him, but couldn’t really understand what He was saying. So He became really small and became one of us.

Jesus left huge, gorgeous Heaven and limited himself to become human. He was still all God, but He then became all man as well, never forgetting that He was also God. While he was human, he remembered all about Heaven and knew how different the two places were. And thus, He began teaching us about Heaven and how we should share and not fight.

“Mommy, why did Bluey die?”

Bluey was our male Betta. (Side note: Our daughter is totally in love with being a girl, and thus projects her “girl-ness” onto anything that isn’t obviously male. This meant that our male Betta, who had long, frilly fins, had to be a girl.) We kept Bluey in a Betta tank that floated at the top of the aquarium. That meant I had only one fish tank to maintain, not two.

However, Bluey kept jumping out of the Betta tank. I kept putting him back in the Betta tank. One day he jumped out while I was gone, and another fish attacked and killed him. Our daughter was very upset by this. She loved Bluey and his beautiful, frilly, flowy fins. I saw a great opportunity to discuss boundaries and obedience.

Was the Betta tank cruel? No, Bluey had plenty of fresh, clean water, plenty of food, lots of swimming room, and he was protected from the other aggressive and bigger fish. Boundaries are not to be mean, but to protect. Bluey went beyond the boundaries and was killed. This is a very vivid picture of cost of disobedience…

Daddy and Mommy don’t say NO to be mean or cruel. We say NO to protect you, either your body or your heart. To disobey us is to put yourself in danger. You may not understand the danger, any more than Bluey understood the danger of the other fish, but it is danger nonetheless. Bluey didn’t get attacked the first time, the fifth time, or even the whatever-th time, he jumped out of the Betta tank. But he did certainly get attacked and died from the attack. Daddy and Mommy are older and wiser than a little girl, and that little girl needs to trust her parents to protect her. And boundaries, rules, and obedience are what parents use to protect us. God tells us “thou shalt not…” because to do whatever He’s forbidden really isn’t good for us.

Children are so concrete. Wrapping their little minds around the concepts of repentance, forgiveness, Heaven, the dual nature of Jesus, and obedience is tough! No analogy is perfect, but the fish tank has helped our girls expand their understanding of Godly truths. We’ve certainly received a much higher (and eternal) return on the defined investment of the tank. I’m always for higher MPG!

Challenge: What has God put in your world that you can use to teach your children about the truths of God? Increase your miles per gallon by asking God to show you His “invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature.” I’m sure it’s a prayer God would be delighted to answer!

About the Author: Anni is the wife of Charles Welborne and the homeschooling mother of five children - two daughters (ages 7 and 5) here on earth, and three who graduated early and now dwell with their Heavenly Father. She assists her husband in the tape/CD duplication ministry at their church, where she is also in charge of the Deaf ministry and serves as a sign language interpreter. Anni is also a part-time Developmental Therapist for at-risk and developmentally delayed infants and preschoolers. In her "spare" time, she enjoys sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, and making pysanky (Ukranian decorated eggs). The Welbornes live in Indiana.

Copyright © 2007 by Anni Welborne.