Ryan was a little late coming home for lunch as he finished up something at the office, so Hadassah and I ate together. Though I miss my husband when he's not there, eating just her and I gives us more time to chat. It can be anything from "'member when I fell down and got my scratches- yesterday?" (yesterday is added to denote anything in the past, be it that morning or two weeks ago!) to reminders not to put her fingers in her cup, again... Today she started singing one of her made up songs, as she often does, and some of the words were "Hallelujah! Glory to Jesus!"
It always melts my heart to hear young ones singing praise, even if they're not quite conscious of the fact that they are. But Psalm 8:2 is right... God gets praise through the mouths of children and infants! I told Hadassah it was such a good thing to sing about Jesus, since He is the Savior of the World. She seemed interested and so I went on to talk about Jesus, how He died on the cross for our sins, how He defeated death and rose from the dead, and how He went to heaven. How if we believe in Him and trust Him as our Savior, He will one day take us to live with Him forever in heaven. She responded to different things, saying "Dassah cry sometimes" when I talked about sin (how sometimes we do bad things, etc.) but she really latched on to the phrase "Jesus died on the cross" and continued repeating it, on and off as we talked, to Ryan when he got home, and even off with her stuffed animals as she played. As we sang songs and read stories before her nap, she kept pointing to the pictures in my mom's ABC song verse binder that had Jesus, especially on the cross, saying "Jesus died on the cross."
I'm not sure she even knows what death is, and I know she can't fully grasp the importance of that simple phrase and what it means for us and for her. I told her that I was praying that she would trust in Jesus as she grew. And the fact that we're now even able to have conversations about Jesus, with her but 23 months old, drives home the weight of responsibility it is to raise a young child. It also makes me so grateful that I am able to be with her during the day, to seize opportunities like this when her mind is open to talk about God's truth.
Lord, give me wisdom and the right words to communicate to my precious daughter Your amazing goodness and all You've done for us... Draw her to Yourself as soon as she can understand...
It always melts my heart to hear young ones singing praise, even if they're not quite conscious of the fact that they are. But Psalm 8:2 is right... God gets praise through the mouths of children and infants! I told Hadassah it was such a good thing to sing about Jesus, since He is the Savior of the World. She seemed interested and so I went on to talk about Jesus, how He died on the cross for our sins, how He defeated death and rose from the dead, and how He went to heaven. How if we believe in Him and trust Him as our Savior, He will one day take us to live with Him forever in heaven. She responded to different things, saying "Dassah cry sometimes" when I talked about sin (how sometimes we do bad things, etc.) but she really latched on to the phrase "Jesus died on the cross" and continued repeating it, on and off as we talked, to Ryan when he got home, and even off with her stuffed animals as she played. As we sang songs and read stories before her nap, she kept pointing to the pictures in my mom's ABC song verse binder that had Jesus, especially on the cross, saying "Jesus died on the cross."
I'm not sure she even knows what death is, and I know she can't fully grasp the importance of that simple phrase and what it means for us and for her. I told her that I was praying that she would trust in Jesus as she grew. And the fact that we're now even able to have conversations about Jesus, with her but 23 months old, drives home the weight of responsibility it is to raise a young child. It also makes me so grateful that I am able to be with her during the day, to seize opportunities like this when her mind is open to talk about God's truth.
Lord, give me wisdom and the right words to communicate to my precious daughter Your amazing goodness and all You've done for us... Draw her to Yourself as soon as she can understand...
I love reading about your insights and experiences in motherhood Anna! I'm so glad that there are wonderful parents like you and Ryan in the world - you guys are great role models! ~Jessi
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