Belly Buttons

I have the complete utter and hysterical joy of teaching fourth and fifth graders in Sunday School at my church about once or twice a month.
A few weeks ago we were going over the creation story.
"In the beginning God..." (what else do you need to know?)
We went over what God created on each day and how God just said, "Let there be..." and there it came! The power of God's word... Wow!
We went over the creation of Adam and Eve and we talked about ribs and whether or not men have fewer ribs than women because Eve was made out of Adam's rib.
We came to the end of our class time and I huddled the class together and said, "If you only remember one thing from today, remember this...Adam and Eve didn't have belly buttons!!"

They all huffed and laughed and their jaws dropped to the floors while their eyes bugged out. "What do you mean Mr. David that Adam and Eve didn't have belly buttons?"
With a big serious smile on my face I explained, "Since Adam and Eve were created from scratch they didn't have any umbilical cords."
One of the boys interrupted me with a very quizzical look on his face...
"If they didn't have umbilical cords, how... how did they talk?"

My iWitness...

This little boy learned real quick that there is a huge difference between umbilical cords and vocal cords.

Belly Buttons are great reminders that we were once connected in such a dependent way to a life source for about nine months to get our very lives up and running. Without umbilical cords we would never have come to be who we are today.

What would serve as the Belly Button for you as a vivid reminder that you are connected to the Life Source of the Universe?

Perhaps it is the cross that reminds you of God's love and the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made on your behalf so that you could have life and life eternal.

Perhaps it is the Lord's Table at the church you attend and you see the powerful ancient words inscribed on the side - "Do This In Remembrance of Me" that draws you to the Irresistible Inviter to the Banquet Table.

Perhaps it is the ever so familiar tune and words to great songs like "Amazing Grace" or "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" that ascends your mind and heart to the music stand of the Great Conductor.

Perhaps it is the rising or the setting of the sun each day that reminds you that you are connected to the  creative Creator.

Perhaps it is a thousand other things that remind you that you are not alone but that you are connected to the One who is above all, in all and is all.

So go ahead...
Take a peek...
Stare at your belly button and remember...
And give thanks to the God who gives us life and life abundantly!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." (Genesis 1. 26-31)