I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
Mark 10:15
In the last few weeks, God has really been doing some great things in our house. As a parent, I am always trying to point out to my children how God is working in different situations and how He answers our prayers. We have a lot of good conversations about faith and growth and discipleship. However, what I want to share with you is not what I have taught them, but instead what I have been learning from them.
About a month ago we were sitting in church and my daughter was sitting next to me. The service had just started and we were singing and a sweet sound grabbed my attention. She was singing with all she had. She didn't care who was listening or what they might say, she just praised the Lord. I had to fight back tears as I sat there. I don't know that I have ever heard sweeter singing. I thought to myself, how often do we worry about everything sounding "just right?" Or maybe what someone might say? Christ spoke often of the Kingdom of Heaven being made up of those with a child-like faith. I am afraid we forget that.
Another lesson was my daughter doing something for a friend. She knew there was a need and did what she could to meet the need. We pray daily (as a family) to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We hope to instill in our children the need to not only tell the world about Christ, but to show Him as well. It was so refreshing to hear her make plans about how to minister to others. I fear that we often get so busy we miss opportunities every day to show the world Christ. It could be a simple phone call, text message or a visit. Just look and listen. The needs are great.
One final lesson is the salvation of my youngest son. For the last few years we have prayed as a family that He would come to know the Lord. To me, one of the most beautiful parts of this time was hearing my older two children pray for their brother. Every time we prayed as a family they would each pray for him (with him sitting right next to them). I fully expected at some point for him to say, "Hey, I'm sitting right here." Amazingly, he never did. The prayers were offered day in and day out. Those prayers were answered on Easter Sunday. I thought to myself, how often do we pray for short periods of time about things and other people and then give up? Once again we are reminded of a simple, child-like faith. A faith that kept trusting and kept seeking.
God is always at work - teaching us in a wide variety of ways. The question is, are we paying attention?
