A few years ago someone came up with an ingenious acrostic for the bible. B.I.B.L.E. means Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. I really like that. The Bible is our basic instruction book for life and relationships. Oh, I know, you can't turn to an index and get direct advice about how to deal with your straight A student who suddenly decides they want to pierce their eyebrows or dye their hair clown orange. Or a child who has decided that the only thing they can eat is a diet of quail eggs, coconut water, kiwi and tabouli. It doesn't give direct answers about what movies we should let our children see or what curfew we should set for what age.

But it DOES speak to us of a loving caring God. It is filled with stories of loving caring parents. It does show by example what loving relationships should be like. It does tell us the ramifications of disobedience and disrespect. And it does talk about grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, and about giving and sacrifice.