Boundaries

Boundaries.  We all need them, regardless of if we want to admit it or not. Sometimes, though, learning that boundaries are there for our guidance and protection can be a hard lesson to learn and that's what I want to talk about today. When we decided to start home schooling, Tricia came across a book collection by Lamplighter Ministries.  Lamplighter is a ministry that was founded by a gentleman by the name of Mark Hamby and the mission statement of Lamplighter is "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, by building Christ-like character one story at a time."

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At a homeschool conference that Tricia attended, Mark Hamby spoke and one of the things he said was that while it is great to read and great to be educated, it is all for naught if we are not reading and being educated by materials that build character.  Who doesn't enjoy a good story?  Jesus was a fantastic storyteller who wove character building principles into riveting stories (parables). Lamplighter has gone out and scoured the Globe for literature that helps to instill a moral code into minds that are being bombarded by messages contrary to the traditional values that built this great nation.

As a family, we recently purchased The Hedge of Thorns from Lamplighter.  It was published by John Hatchford in 1819 from the account of John Carrol who lived in 1611.  It is a true story set in England and I want to tell you a little bit about it.

The story is told by John Carrol.  His dad was a gardener by trade and the family lived in a cottage surrounded by a large garden filled with every sort of flower imaginable.  John had a baby sister named Anna Bella and John loved her dearly. He called her "my little Bell."  When Bell turned four years old, a school opened up in the village and their parents enrolled them.  The teacher would teach them Scripture and they loved learning Scripture so much that their father sold one of their two milk cows in order to purchase a family Bible.

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The walk from the cottage to the school in town was a long one and the path was bordered on either side by a very tall and very thick hedge of thorns - so thick that the children were curious what it was that lay beyond the hedges.  Was it beautiful mountaintops, orchards of apples from which to pick, or vineyards?  It was all they could think about!  But they were instructed to not venture outside the boundaries set before them.

The curiosity of the children finally got the best of them and they began devising a plan to cut a breach in the hedge to get to the other side.  They began snipping at the hedge, making a gap in a portion of the hedge.  The thorns were long and sharp and John's arms were all cut up and bleeding, but it didn't deter him.  He kept working.

Finally a narrow gap was made and since she was smaller, John urged Bell to enter the small tunnel in the hedge they had made.  She became frightened but John pushed her forward through the hedge. Just when Bell was about to burst through to daylight on the other side, she began crying hysterically and when he pulled her out, her blue dress was drenched with blood and the long thorns had pierced her face, head, and eyes!

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In total shock, John picked up his beloved Bell and rushed her home and placed her in the arms of his mother and full of genuine remorse, confessed the whole scheme. His mother could see that he was sorry and could see that looking upon his sister's bleeding and scarred face was punishment enough for John.  His disobedience had seriously hurt his sister and he was responsible.

At sunset John's father returned home from work, found Anna Bella in her injured state, and had a quiet conversation with John's mother. His father took Bell up in his lap, looked at her face and just held her in front of the fire for the longest time, not saying a word.  His father looked so sad as he sat there silently, that it hurt John more than if his father had punished him severely.

The next morning, John's father led him out to the hedge where they had tried to breach it. The Good Father had some great words of wisdom for his son as he said the following to John:

"When a pilgrim begins to wander from the path appointed to him, to pursue worldly pleasures, it does not take long for the sweetness of pleasure to turn bitter.  The path that is in the midst of the thorns may appear that it is depriving us of the luscious fruit, but our all-loving Father is leading us to pleasures forevermore."

Then John's father lovingly picked him up in his arms and lifted him very high so that John could see over the hedge. When John looked over the hedge he could see...

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Well, you're going to have to purchase the book to see what was over the hedge along with the remaining 45 pages of this instructive little book chock full of wisdom.  You can find it in book form, illustrated book form, or audio book form by clicking HERE.

Lamplighter Ministries' website contains a full library of books, audio books and stories on radio theatre which will assist you in building Christ-like character and I highly recommend them.