Ramblings about children...

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:14

First I want to thank all of you that have contacted me with such nice things to say about my blog. Many have said it’s been good to get to know me better… I’m happy to share this huge part of me with you!

Today at church our service was based around Christian Education Sunday. Although this pertains to education of young and old alike, I have come away thinking mostly about the young. I love watching the kids at our church… especially during worship services. Have I mentioned that I sing in the choir? Now please know this doesn’t mean I have a good singing voice… luckily for me our church choir will take anyone. We’ll talk more on my choir abilities another time. I mention this because I sit up in the chancel area and am able to get a good view of the congregation. Children are so much fun to watch and I can’t help but thank God for allowing these little ones to come to church and be in fellowship with other Christians. I also pray that they will continue with this fellowship and worship once they are old enough to make the choice on their own.

One of my biggest regrets in life is not having Jesus in my life sooner so that I could have exposed my daughter to Him. If you recall, I pretty much had nothing in my life… so that’s about what she was exposed to spiritually… nothing. What little of Judaism she could pick up from other family members would be about the extent of it. I can only hope and pray that God will pick at her like He did me… that she will see changes in me and want what I have… or meet up with any believers along her travels in this world and see something she needs in them.

What I do have are my grandchildren who are young and beautiful and full of life. They are across the country so it’s impossible to take them to church with me weekly… but I can talk to them on the phone and part of what we can talk about is Jesus. My grandson is two years old and our phone conversations have just begun… “Hi Memaw” “I love you” and a few other ramblings are about what I’m lucky enough to get right now. My grand-daughter is eight and she knows Jesus and loves Him, for which I am so very grateful. She spends time with me every summer… and before she started school it was more often. She has attended Vacation Bible School and of course goes to church with us.

A few years ago she was here in the spring. I had received a dvd in the mail around Christmas time but never watched it. We put it in one day and it turned out to be a very sweet film with some children talking about Jesus, doing a little play about Him and then one little boy was telling the viewers that if they wanted to accept Jesus into their lives they could do it right there with him. Unfortunately I was on the phone with a friend in need and wasn’t able to get off at that moment, but I observed my grand-daughter talking to the boy saying that she did want Jesus in her life. He prayed and she was right there with him in prayer. I know it’s difficult for her to hold on to the wonderful spiritual times we have once she goes home. We read the Bible together almost daily, pray at night and talk about God. She has so many wonderful questions, and of course many that I don’t have the answers to. But once she has gone home those things are gone for her. Jesus will never leave her, I know that and I believe she knows it too. I just wish and pray that she would have more support around her to keep the fire burning strong.

One time about a year ago I called her and she was so sad. Things just weren’t going the way “she” thought they should be… nothing major, the usual kid stuff. We talked and nothing at all was working to cheer her up. I don’t remember the exact comment but I said something to her about Jesus and all of a sudden her tone completely changed. She had a spark in her voice and I could feel her smile. We talked about Jesus for a few minutes and there was no more gloom and doom. Tell me this lil one doesn’t have the Holy Spirit in her! Makes my heart smile.

So, today at church I watched the children singing and receiving their new Bibles and smiling and enjoying being in the presence of God and His people. I’m so very thankful for all the parents that bring their kids to church and for all the people that dedicate their time to nurturing and teaching these little ones about our Lord. I am going to try to keep not only my family, young and old, in my prayers… but all those in the world that haven’t come to know Jesus.

~Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for reaching out and touching people of all ages. Thank you for making our little ones as important as anyone else. Please help me to know what to do, how to minister to those that don’t know you yet. Give me the words to say, the actions to take… please help me to let your Spirit shine through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen~