My daughter Mara Joy has always been quite the conversationalist. And as the oldest child, she and I have always talked about everything.
So early on, I talked to her about God’s love for her and told her that Jesus died for her on the cross. We read Bible stories together most every day, and over the past two months or so, she has asked more and more questions and expressed her desire to go to heaven and be with Jesus. She’s asked me how she can stop doing bad things. She has told me how much she loves God and wants to obey Him. So she and I have recently had many conversations about the foundational truths of the Gospel.
Micah is also a little conversationalist–It’s just that I can’t understand 90% of his jabber yet! Plus his attention span is much shorter. His questions much less complex. In fact, while he often asks to pray (several times throughout the same meal and other random times), I don’t know that He’s ever said ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ at all. I have often prayed for him, told him how much God loves him, and how I pray that he will grow to be a man that loves God more than anything else. But I don’t think I’ve shared the Gospel with him in a deeper way.
That’s okay–his sister did! The other night at dinner, I just listened to this (one-sided) conversation between my three-year-old daughter and her 20-month-old brother:
“Jesus loves you, Micah, and He died for you on the cross. And we want you to love God and obey God, but you do lots of bad things. But God will still love you, even though you do bad things.”
I don’t know how much (if any) of this Micah was really comprehending, but I was amused that her intensity in conversation was matched by his intensity in expression: his jaw literally hung open as he sat there in his high chair, listening to her soliloquy.
“This is really important, Micah,” she finished.
Up until this point, I sat silently, wondering how she would explain these truths, and marveling at the ease with which she shared them.
Then Mara turned to me: “I told Micah all about God. And I started with the Bible.”
Today the Lord encouraged my heart that perhaps someday He will use my little “disciple” to reach others for Him! I pray that these truths will be real in Mara’s heart–not just reciting things she’s heard–and that her life (along with her words) will continue to point her younger siblings to Christ!
Just this morning, I prayed for little Mara to yield to God & all that that entailed. He loves us all so much & has a plan for each one. Thanks for sharing this story. May God continue to bless you & your family.
This is so sweet–and reminded me so vividly of when Daniel–Mara’s Daddy, if anyone is reading this who doesn’t know–was standing in his crib talking earnestly to Derick, his younger brother who was a baby in another crib there in the room with him. “What are you doing?” I asked Daniel. “I’m trying to teach Derick to say ‘heart,'” he said to me earnestly. “He can’t ask Jesus into his heart if he can’t say it.” What a blessing that both boys now know and love and serve Jesus! In fact, a man Derick discipled was just baptized Sunday night. How beautiful and awesome is the work of God from generation to generation, and how blessed we are to be a part of it. Keep up the good work, Becky and Daniel!