The Angels Rejoice, Mommy Reflects
For some time now, we have seen signs that Miss N is becoming more and more aware of God’s grace and salvation. Tim and I both felt burdened not to push her into any type of confession. Growing up, we saw our fair share of kids making a profession of faith in Christ at a young age, only to never really grow in grace. Tim himself was not saved until he was in his 20s, simply because he was relying on what his mom told him he did as a small child.
I wrote about our conversation a few weeks ago about becoming a Christian. Since that night she hadn’t brought it up again. I was praying for wisdom and guidance as to how to broach it again or if I should, but did not have peace about bringing it up again.
About three weeks ago we went to one of the local county fairs. She loves to go to the Child Evangelism Fellowship booth and get her face painted. A young lady went through the wordless book with her, a simple tool used to teach children about the plan of salvation using a book with colored pages but no pictures or words. Afterwards, I asked her what the girl taught her. She wouldn’t really answer me. At that booth she was given a little ball with the wordless book colors on it.
Fast-forward three weeks to this week. Earlier this week she found that ball and brought it to me. “Mommy, I can’t remember what green means.” When I realized what she was saying and asking, I asked her what the other colors meant. “Black is for a dirty heart with sin, red is for Jesus’ blood that washes sin, white is for a clean heart, yellow is for streets of gold, and I can’t remember green.”
I reminded her that green was for growing in Christ once you are a Christian. Just like a plant needs to grow, so we do as Christians, and we grow by learning more about God. Then that conversation was done.
Friday night it was time to go to another county fair. We were rather rushed to get ready, as the rain had made us think we weren’t going, but then we changed our minds at the last minute. I was sitting with Miss N while she finished her dinner. On a side note, I am learning as a parent that those times when you have the least amount of time are the times when they will want to have a heart to heart.
N: “Mommy, when can I become a Christian?”
Me: “Well, Natalie, to become a Christian you have to realize that you have sin in your heart and ask Jesus to be your Savior and take that sin away.”
N: “But I don’t know how to pray. I don’t know the words to say.”
Me: “Well, when you are ready to pray, I will help you.”
She went on eating for a while, then said, “Mommy, I’m ready to pray now.”
At this point I called Tim into the room. I felt that he should be part of the conversation. Once again I asked her about her sin and what Christ did on the cross for her. She answered the questions correctly. Tim wisely said, “Natalie, we are going to go to the fair now. When we get home, if you still think you are ready to pray or have any other questions, we can talk again.”
The fair was fun, as always, but I was a bit disappointed that the CEF booth wasn’t there. A local church was, and they gave her a wordless book bracelet. She explained all of the colors to the worker at the booth, which was pretty cute.
We got home very late, and I was thinking she had forgotten. We went through our bedtime routine, and at the very end when I was about to turn off the light, she said, “Mommy, I want to talk some more.”
Me: “About what?”
N: “About God and my sins.”
Me: “What do you want to ask?”
N: “I want to pray now.”
Me: “Well, Natalie, do you know that you have sinned?”
N: “Yes”
Me: “What did Jesus do to help you with that?”
N: “Washed them away.”
Me: “Well, He provided a way that you could have them washed away. Do you know how He did that?”
N: “By dying on the cross for our sins.”
Me: “But did He stay dead?”
N: No answer
Me: “Did Jesus stay dead or did God raise Him from the dead?”
N: “Jesus raised His own self from the dead. Remember, Mom, God and Jesus are different but all the same God.”
Me: “Yes, that’s right. So did Jesus stay dead?”
N: “No.”
At this point I called Tim in and he asked her the questions again. She said she was ready to pray, and I helped her tell God she was a sinner and wanted Him to save her.
Afterwards, I explained that God promises to do that, and that nothing could ever take being a Christian away from her.
While this is a moment I will not likely forget, I was surprised how little I felt. Some of it was the late hour, but I thought I would have chills and tears when my child finally understood salvation. Rather, I was nervous that she was too little. I was nervous that she was doing something she thought we wanted, rather than something from her heart. My pastor later lovingly reminded me that “The faithful God who loves children is in control. Trust Him when you doubt yourself.”
Any doubts we had were proved wrong the next day. Anyone who says a child cannot see change from the Holy Spirit is wrong.
On Saturday we were babysitting four friends for the morning. As happens when you have numerous kids together, they were being a little bit unkind to one of the girls. Nothing major, just not letting her play the way she wanted. After a few minutes of this, I heard Miss N apologizing to L, her friend, “L, I’m sorry I was being mean, that wasn’t nice. You can play this way.”
Then Miss N came out to me and said, “Mommy, when I was being mean to L, I wasn’t being a Christian.”
I was touched by this outward showing of inward conviction. Of course, I corrected her phrase, “Well, yes, what you did was wrong and was not acting the way a Christian should, but nothing can make you not a Christian.” Then I thought for a minute and realized I could teach her something about sin and forgiveness and her guilty conscience, so I said, “You know, I heard you apologize to L and that was the right thing to do. However, as a Christian when you do something wrong, you also make God sad, and you should tell God you are sorry.”
She looked up at the ceiling and said, “I’m sorry God,” and ran off to play. Wow, much how do I love that kid?
Dear reader, if you have not accepted God’s gift of salvation, may I encourage you to? I was reminded tonight at church that salvation is simple, simple enough that a small child can fully understand and grasp it. I’ve seen this in my own life.
In Romans 3:23 it says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Our wrongdoings keep us from attaining perfection, which is what is required for heaven. But, God knew this and sent Jesus to die.
Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
All you have to do to accept that gift is ask. Romans 10:9 “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
It’s that simple. It’s that wonderful.
I wrote about our conversation a few weeks ago about becoming a Christian. Since that night she hadn’t brought it up again. I was praying for wisdom and guidance as to how to broach it again or if I should, but did not have peace about bringing it up again.
About three weeks ago we went to one of the local county fairs. She loves to go to the Child Evangelism Fellowship booth and get her face painted. A young lady went through the wordless book with her, a simple tool used to teach children about the plan of salvation using a book with colored pages but no pictures or words. Afterwards, I asked her what the girl taught her. She wouldn’t really answer me. At that booth she was given a little ball with the wordless book colors on it.
Fast-forward three weeks to this week. Earlier this week she found that ball and brought it to me. “Mommy, I can’t remember what green means.” When I realized what she was saying and asking, I asked her what the other colors meant. “Black is for a dirty heart with sin, red is for Jesus’ blood that washes sin, white is for a clean heart, yellow is for streets of gold, and I can’t remember green.”
I reminded her that green was for growing in Christ once you are a Christian. Just like a plant needs to grow, so we do as Christians, and we grow by learning more about God. Then that conversation was done.
Friday night it was time to go to another county fair. We were rather rushed to get ready, as the rain had made us think we weren’t going, but then we changed our minds at the last minute. I was sitting with Miss N while she finished her dinner. On a side note, I am learning as a parent that those times when you have the least amount of time are the times when they will want to have a heart to heart.
N: “Mommy, when can I become a Christian?”
Me: “Well, Natalie, to become a Christian you have to realize that you have sin in your heart and ask Jesus to be your Savior and take that sin away.”
N: “But I don’t know how to pray. I don’t know the words to say.”
Me: “Well, when you are ready to pray, I will help you.”
She went on eating for a while, then said, “Mommy, I’m ready to pray now.”
At this point I called Tim into the room. I felt that he should be part of the conversation. Once again I asked her about her sin and what Christ did on the cross for her. She answered the questions correctly. Tim wisely said, “Natalie, we are going to go to the fair now. When we get home, if you still think you are ready to pray or have any other questions, we can talk again.”
The fair was fun, as always, but I was a bit disappointed that the CEF booth wasn’t there. A local church was, and they gave her a wordless book bracelet. She explained all of the colors to the worker at the booth, which was pretty cute.
We got home very late, and I was thinking she had forgotten. We went through our bedtime routine, and at the very end when I was about to turn off the light, she said, “Mommy, I want to talk some more.”
Me: “About what?”
N: “About God and my sins.”
Me: “What do you want to ask?”
N: “I want to pray now.”
Me: “Well, Natalie, do you know that you have sinned?”
N: “Yes”
Me: “What did Jesus do to help you with that?”
N: “Washed them away.”
Me: “Well, He provided a way that you could have them washed away. Do you know how He did that?”
N: “By dying on the cross for our sins.”
Me: “But did He stay dead?”
N: No answer
Me: “Did Jesus stay dead or did God raise Him from the dead?”
N: “Jesus raised His own self from the dead. Remember, Mom, God and Jesus are different but all the same God.”
Me: “Yes, that’s right. So did Jesus stay dead?”
N: “No.”
At this point I called Tim in and he asked her the questions again. She said she was ready to pray, and I helped her tell God she was a sinner and wanted Him to save her.
Afterwards, I explained that God promises to do that, and that nothing could ever take being a Christian away from her.
While this is a moment I will not likely forget, I was surprised how little I felt. Some of it was the late hour, but I thought I would have chills and tears when my child finally understood salvation. Rather, I was nervous that she was too little. I was nervous that she was doing something she thought we wanted, rather than something from her heart. My pastor later lovingly reminded me that “The faithful God who loves children is in control. Trust Him when you doubt yourself.”
Any doubts we had were proved wrong the next day. Anyone who says a child cannot see change from the Holy Spirit is wrong.
On Saturday we were babysitting four friends for the morning. As happens when you have numerous kids together, they were being a little bit unkind to one of the girls. Nothing major, just not letting her play the way she wanted. After a few minutes of this, I heard Miss N apologizing to L, her friend, “L, I’m sorry I was being mean, that wasn’t nice. You can play this way.”
Then Miss N came out to me and said, “Mommy, when I was being mean to L, I wasn’t being a Christian.”
I was touched by this outward showing of inward conviction. Of course, I corrected her phrase, “Well, yes, what you did was wrong and was not acting the way a Christian should, but nothing can make you not a Christian.” Then I thought for a minute and realized I could teach her something about sin and forgiveness and her guilty conscience, so I said, “You know, I heard you apologize to L and that was the right thing to do. However, as a Christian when you do something wrong, you also make God sad, and you should tell God you are sorry.”
She looked up at the ceiling and said, “I’m sorry God,” and ran off to play. Wow, much how do I love that kid?
Dear reader, if you have not accepted God’s gift of salvation, may I encourage you to? I was reminded tonight at church that salvation is simple, simple enough that a small child can fully understand and grasp it. I’ve seen this in my own life.
In Romans 3:23 it says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Our wrongdoings keep us from attaining perfection, which is what is required for heaven. But, God knew this and sent Jesus to die.
Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
All you have to do to accept that gift is ask. Romans 10:9 “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
It’s that simple. It’s that wonderful.
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