with these hands: The Bit That Really Matters

“Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.

At present we are on the outside… the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the pleasures we see. But all the pages of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Someday, God willing, we shall get “in”… We will put on glory… that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch.

We do not want to merely “see” beauty–though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words–to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.”
– C.S. Lewis

Before this, oh before this, let me get some important dribble out of the way.
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:: Like, I love these three. Rolling around hugging each other on the floor, which is far preferred to rolling around vying for a certain Polly Pocket. In recent years I have met some awesome women and wouldn't you know that so many of them either have three daughters or are one of three sisters?

Coincidence? I think not. It so encourages me and reminds me that these three were handpicked for Joe and I; little girls are our ministry. Love.

:: A little viral thingy-mabob hit our house. Grrr. Maddie slept with us through her portion of it and after one particularly late night, Hope came upstairs the next morning with us some breakfast in bed.

"I wasn't sure I should be using your coffee pot, Mom. So I made you water." Wise choice and best pretend coffee ever, sweet one.

:: I do not love when our kids are sick. Chef Hopey got the worst end of the virus, so we repaid her with getting to sleep under cool sheets on the couch. She loves to sleep on one couch with me on the other. Hermie the Caterpillar or the Pandora praise station, plenty of fluids, and an assortment of crayons and books kept us company.

Poor baby. Happy to report it was short lived, though!

:: So far we have completed a project on the moon and one on teeth. Enthusiastically.

:: Go turn your oatmeal container around and make some cookies. Seriously. Sometimes the best recipes are right there on the package. Add some dried cranberries and cinnamon, and call it fall. Mmmm.

And now, let me bare my heart.
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With Hope, I really felt called for her to attend this awesome little preschool when she turned three. I couldn't explain it fully; I just knew she needed to be there. Even though circumstances regarding paying for this were not ideal, we took a leap of faith. What a tall drink of water to my soul to remember it all as I went back to this post.

You see, I don't think I would have known to have gone quite as deep with Hope as this preschool did. They learned the catechism through song and morning devotions, which I think met most of the kids right where they were at in their understanding. For Hope that meant questioning deeply spiritual things even beyond what she heard. She's our deep thinker and the scripture worked its way inside of her and, as is always true, didn't return void. On her own, she chose Jesus in the back of our Honda one spring afternoon.

All the while, her blonde headed sister was watching.

Since the girls were born we have consistently prayed this prayer: Lord, help them to know You at an early age and walk with You all the days of their lives.

Several times when we have prayed this for Maddie and Alysse, Maddie would pipe up with-- "But I already asked Jesus into my heart!" She would do this even as young as two, and we figured she was maybe trying to be like big sister. Still we would affirm what she told us and tell her that when she could understand what Jesus did and her need for Him, we would pray together and ask Him to be in her heart and Lord of her life.

Fast forward to this past week at the dinner table. The subject of Heaven came up, which has happened frequently since Nana's hospital stay and brush with death, and Hope became upset at the idea that Joe or I would go to Heaven before her. We reassured her that none of us can know when such things will happen, but that there is nothing to fear because she has asked Jesus into her heart (so eventually we will all be together forever!) and Heaven is going to be so amazing we cannot even imagine it all. We mentioned again that when Maddie and Alysse are ready to ask Jesus into their hearts, they too would be with us always.

And, man, Maddie got upset.

"I already asked Jesus into my heart like a million years ago!" she protested.

Something in her eyes, in the knowing way she boldly proclaims Bible stories lately. Something in the way she is often so truly sorrowful when she disobeys and how she is so frequently found singing songs to the Lord. Something in the way she asks me, "Mommy does {this choice} glorify God?" Something with the fact that our memory verse that week had been the Gospel, John 3:16.

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Something, yes something, made me see...again...that the faith of a child knows no age limit.

We all stopped and I asked her what "asking Jesus into your heart" means. For each question, she sure answered. She told me of His coming to earth to save us because we are all sinners, His dying on the cross and raising again three days later, His wanting to live inside us and someday take us to Heaven. I looked hard into those hazel eyes and said, "You know, Maddie, I think you have done just that. But can we make it official? Give it a date so we can write it down and remember always this, the most important decision you will ever make in your entire life?"

She nodded a big yes and requested to sit in my lap as we prayed the Sinner's Prayer. Then her Daddy told her the Bible says that the angels were rejoicing, like throwing a party, that she had given her life to Jesus for always and forever.

A few nights later we were reading of Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist in the Jesus Storybook Bible {This book is as much for Joe and I as it is for the kids!} When I got to a particular part she burst out laughing and grabbed me by the neck with a big hug, because she truly knows this same Jesus. He now lives inside of her and He takes away, and will take away, all of her sins evermore. Her yes will get bigger as she does, but in that moment her childlike faith resonated true as soon as I read this out loud:

"Look," John said, as Jesus came down into the water. But his voice came out as a whisper. He couldn't make it any louder. It was all he could do to even speak. "The Lamb of God... God's best lamb... who takes away the sins of the whole world."

That Something shone in her eyes, bright as day, once again.

We honored all of this with a Family Night dinner by candlelight and by recording her decision in our Family Bible. Our little Leesie helped make the meal, and I pray too that those small eyes and ears took in more than the hot sizzle of the waffle iron.

For any of my mistakes and shortcomings, I am so humbly in awe of His work in the lives of these little women. And so incredibly privileged to be in the front row as it all unfolds.