Small child, big faith

February 26, 2008 will be a day I remember forever. My first-born child accepted Christ today, and I was there to be a part of it. I had not prepared at all for this day, I had only prayed for it; in the back of my mind it was still years away. But God knew this day would come before Annalee was even born (Psalm 139:16), and I am in awe.

I usually put the girls down for naps around 2:00, and since Annalee doesn't really nap anymore, we call it "quiet time", and she still spends some time alone in her room playing or whatever. Today was no different, and as I was about to leave Annalee alone in her room, she asked if I would snuggle her...my favorite thing, so of course I said yes. Here's what happened next.

I was sitting on the edge of Annalee’s bed, and she was sitting in my lap facing me. I said, “Annalee, Mommy loves you so much. But you know who loves you even more than I do? Jesus. Jesus loves you so much.” She said, “MmHmmm.” Then I said, “Nobody loves you more than He does.” What followed that is the question that blew my mind…

“Mommy, do I get to go to heaven?” Flabbergasted, and wondering how on earth she knew to ask this question, I picked my chin up off the floor and said, “Well, if you believe in Jesus, you do. When Jesus was on the earth, He was perfect. He never disobeyed, and He never hit His brothers, and He was always sweet to everybody. But then He had to die on the cross. Do you remember that?” She said “yes.” (We read Bible stories every night before bed, and we’ve been reading a lot about Jesus lately.) Then I asked her, “But then what happened after He was buried?” She immediately replied, “He came back to life!” I said, “That’s right! Do you believe that?” She said “Yes.” So I said, “Then that means you get to go to heaven!” She said, “I want to go see Jesus now.” I said, “It’s not time yet. But you will know when it’s time. And you can talk to Jesus anytime you want. You can tell Him things and ask Him for things.” She said, “I can tell Him about my bead bracelet!” (Referring to a bracelet she made in her “Discovering God’s Word” class she attends on Tuesday mornings...the bracelet is strung with different colored beads that talk you through the gospel). I continued, “He wants you to pray to Him. Can we pray right now?”

So we did, and that is a moment I will treasure and never forget as long as I live.