This week blessings are abundant in our house. Each time we have a baby, I spend a lot of time in prayer over that child. I pray for many things. I pray that he or she will be kind and courageous. I pray for a loving spirit. I pray that this person will develop a heart after God’s – that he or she will seek Him and will genuinely love and desire to follow the Lord. I pray many more things, but that last one is my heart’s biggest desire for my children. Life can be difficult, but life is also very short. Eternity is what should consume our thoughts. Every part of our lives should be focused on what comes after this temporary time on this earth.
I spend a lot of time teaching our children about following Christ. We learn this at church. We learn this in prayer at home. We teach them by modeling our beliefs. We talk about these things a lot.
Chloe and Willow made the choice to follow God a few years ago – a choice that we celebrated when it happened and that still makes my heart beat a little faster when I think about it. But this week, Laelia made the decision to follow the Lord. My sweet, kindhearted little fashionista chose to give her heart and her life to our Father in heaven.
Laelia will be six in September. It’s so awesome to think of her, a little girl with so much life ahead of her, making such an important, life-altering choice.
On Sunday we had several baptisms at church. The experience was emotional. The service was joyful. The church was filled with the Spirit. You could feel His presence among us. When the kids came back to me in children’s church, I decided that we would just talk about salvation and baptism – what they meant individually and together. I went in great detail as I talked to these 30 precious children. They sat still, listened intently, and participated in our talk during the 20 minutes that we spent together. It was great! We even talked about how to use our Bible at home (Bibles aren’t just for church, you know 😉 ).
I let our talk sink in, but the next day I decided to follow up with Laelia. She isn’t the kind of girl to approach me about things. She needs a little boost sometimes. She isn’t scared. She isn’t nervous. She just needs me to talk about things first. We had spoken many times about knowing God and accepting Jesus as her Savior, but she hadn’t been ready. But this time was different. This time I could see it in her face. She really wanted to do this. She asked if we could talk together in private, so we went in the other room and chatted for a while. Then she prayed along with me and asked Jesus to come into her heart.
The Bible tells us that when someone makes this decision, when someone receives the gift of Jesus that has been provided for us and chooses to give their life back to the Lord, that heaven rejoices. Heaven rejoices! As Laelia and I prayed together, I could feel it. It was as if the angels and those who have left this earth and moved on to heaven were listening to this amazing moment. And the very moment she was finished praying, her face was just glowing. I could feel the joy coming from her. I could feel the joy coming from heaven. Do I think Gramps (my dad) and Ethan (my little guy) was in that moment? Absolutely! I am sure that they were celebrating right along with us.
Now my sweet girl is asking to be baptized. She wants to tell everyone that she is a Christian, a follower of Christ. I am praising the Lord for her decision and for the overwhelming joy that she exudes because of it. I’m thankful for a faithful God and answered prayers.
