Into the Word Wednesday: Untitled

I had gotten really frustrated recently.  It wasn’t that kind of frustrated that you just get angry.  It was that kind of frustrated where you are just annoyed and off.

This was my day:

6:30 The Herd is let out (we live with my in-laws and they have 4 dogs, hence the herd) - this happens daily and until this week I had slept through it.  This is also the time Hubs alarm now goes off.  Most days the herd wakes Little Mister, and since we had still been sleeping he would go back to sleep.

6:45 Hubs and I get up completely waking up the Little Mister.  Wanting Little Miss to stay asleep.  I gather Little Mister as quickly as possible.

6:50 Little Mister and I are upstairs getting his breakfast together.  (At some point the Herd was put back upstairs in my mother-in-law’s room.)  She lets them out, herding down the stairs and scaring the daylights out of Little Mister, sending him into a meltdown.

7:15 Little Miss is crying in bed calling for Mommy.

Mommy’s quiet-time in the morning, HI-Jacked!  I am okay with it though, I know this means they will both be napping today for a good 2 hours.  Or so I thought at 7:15.

The day went well for the most part.  Minor incidents, but nothing out of the ordinary.  They go down for nap and because of life of two families living together they were woke up early from their nap, 1 hour and 15 minutes in.  In my frustration I decide we need to head out.  Praise the Lord there is a park walking distance from the house.

As I was changing my clothes to take them to the park, Little Miss is playing with Little Mister on my bed and she says.  “I love Jesus.”  I say to her, “You love Jesus?  That is a very good thing.”  She then says, “He has my whole heart.”  Had they slept their whole nap I wouldn’t have been taking them for a walk and I wouldn’t have been changing my clothes and I wouldn’t have heard my darling 3 year old say in her sweet innocence that Jesus has her whole heart.  I am still warm inside.

It even gets better though.  Praise Him even bigger -- I found the swings!  While we were swinging asked, “Did God plant that tree?”  Somewhat absently I said, “yes he did honey.”  Then I just listened.  “God made the trees, and planted the grass.”  “God created the birds and the animals.”  She stopped and looked up at me.  I smiled at her and said, “You bet he did.  God created all that stuff, just like he created you and me.”  She then asked me if God created Thomas and Dora and their stroller.

Thank you Jesus that I am here to experience the love for you growing in my little girl’s heart.

I began reflecting on this and wondering what God is trying to show here.  I just keep thinking about how Jesus said we have to become like children to enter the kingdom.

When she asked me, “Mommy, did God plant that tree?”  I could have went the logical route - the overly taught mind route.  That tree was probably planted by blah blah blah (all of which God put in order to happen just that way).  When she asked me “Did God create Dora?”  I could have told her about how television shows are made, but God planted that dream into someone’s heart and Dora was born.

She just accepts it.  She accepts it as truth.  Her brain has not been warped by all the logic of 35 years.  She loves God and she knows that God loves her.

How does she know that?  Well, she just knows.  I would like to think it has something to do with the example we are setting and what she is learning at Sunday school.  But, I doubt it.  Her soul was with God not that long ago.  She is only 3 ½.  I mean we really remember things that happened only 3 years ago.  Ask us about something that happened 15 years ago we get fuzzier.  Ask us about something that happened 35 years ago.  There is no way that we remember.  Time washes away the memories of what our soul knows to be true.

When I think back over my own life.  I didn’t grow up with any religious/spiritual upbringing, but deep down I knew there was more.  I just knew.  I believed in God as long as I can remember and I believed in Jesus.  I just didn’t have a relationship with him or understanding of him.  The best way to describe it would be to think of someone you know existed, but don’t know much of anything about.  Like Ghandi or Buddah or even George Washington.  We know they existed - we don’t question that, but we don’t have a relationship with them.  That is how it was for me and Jesus.

My prayer for my children is that life doesn’t take away that “I love Jesus with all my heart” and that belief beyond the shadow of doubt.  Logic doesn’t step in and tarnish all of that innocent child like faith.  My prayer for all of us is that we can see their faith and regain ours.