New Life of Another Kind

A few weeks ago, Little Man did something life-changing, but it's been crazy enough around our house that I haven't had time to post about it until now.  One Saturday morning, we were getting ready to go to church for a family fun day.  Big Man had gone ahead early to set up, so I was doing my level best to get us out the door unaided by Daddy, who excels at that.  Sitting at my mirror, doing my makeup, I heard Little Man say, "This reminds me of Jesus on the cross."

I looked over and he was holding my prayer beads, and referring to the crucifix at the end.  (These are beads I made long ago in Sunday School class at Trinity, and they hang on my closet door handle.)  Not wanting to waste an opportunity to reinforce his basic understanding of Christ, I asked Little Man, "Do you remember why Jesus died on the cross?"  He said, "Yes, because people were mad at him, so they killed him."  I responded with, "True, but did he stay dead?"  He said, "Of course not, Mommy!  He is God, after all."  :)

We talked a little bit more, and I made a point of saying that Jesus had died for him, as well as for everyone else in the world.  Then I reminded him that a couple weeks earlier, his cousin had prayed to ask Jesus into her heart.  I told him that meant Jesus lived with Cousin now, and would help her to love Him more and more, and that she would always be Jesus' friend now, and that He had forgiven her for all the naughty things she had ever done, and would help her not to be naughty.  He seemed to get it, with the sharp insight of a child.

Finally, I told him that he could think about it for a little while, and that if he ever wanted to do the same thing as Cousin, and ask Jesus into his heart, then Mommy or Daddy would love to help him pray.  I thought that would be the end of it for now, as Little Man thinks about things and remembers them, and holds on to them for weeks and weeks at a time, sometime.  And I could see the wheels turning in his little mind as we talked through all of that.  I honestly thought we'd reached the end of his attention span, and was prepared to come back to it at a later opportunity.

But, like a lightning bolt of blessing, the next words out of his mouth were, "Now, Mommy, I want to pray right now!"  Of course, I got all tingly, and right there in our bedroom, I led Little Man in prayer.  After we were done praying, we left the house to go to church, where he ran to tell Daddy right away, and then Auntie Lena and Pastor Trevor and his friends Masha and James.

It was one of the greatest moments of my motherhood so far, the culmination of his baptism as an infant. I had prayed and prayed that Little Man would accept the saving grace of Jesus early on in life.  Now begins the joy of learning with each other how to live into this new life!

"Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; 

for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs."