A 3 yo's Faith

I had to hop on and post this because I just heard J reading a book and talking to herself: "When I am afraid I will trust in you."

It's a verse from a Steve Green Scripture Memory song and one that J has taken to heart really well.

When she gets nervous at night, she is upfront about it. "I'm afraid of the dark Mum", I remind her of the verse and she declares it aloud: "When I am afraid I will trust in you."

"Who is you?" I asked one time.

"God - when I am afraid I will trust in God."

I was so amazed and touched. A 3 yo who feels the tug of God on her heart and can respond in her own words...wow!

Last night as we settled down to sleep, she again mentioned her fear of the dark and we went through the exercise of reciting her favorite verse. Then Beth said she couldn't sleep because of nightmares she's had the past couple of nights.

So we prayed for God to give His peace and protection to the children and for His angels to stand guard at our bedside.

One verse flowed into another, and suddenly J was saying: "Jesus is the Son of God. He died on the cross for me and for you and for jie jie and for Daddy."

Hallelujah!!

School Holidays (28 June to 12 July)

Beth has decided not to sign up for the Council's school holiday program this round. She wants to spend more time at home with Mummy.

So we agreed on a sprinkling of research projects (she has written up a list on the whiteboard but I have not yet taken a look, although I know Adolf Hitler is on the list), Bible study (to reinforce her new faith), piano practice (exams in Nov) and Chinese revision.

After speaking with her teacher on Thu, CA and I have identified areas that we need to work on with her:

• Division
• Fractions
• Introduction to simple algebra
• Balancing her reading with her creative output. She reads a lot but her comprehension, vocab, speech and writing do not necessarily reflect this. So we need to work on her output.

Perhaps the most critical is her attitude. We do not feel satisfied that she has the right attitude for someone of her gifts and abilities. She is often self-absorbed, insensitive to the needs and feelings of others, whining, demanding, unloving towards J and prone to temper tantrums. I would love to blame it on junk food, sugars and food additives. Or sibling rivalry springing from a 5-year age gap. But it could just be her, which is even more scary. CA and I are agreed that this is something beyond our ability and we need God to transform her from the inside. We want her to use her gifts and intellect for God's glory, and not for her own selfish desires, ambitions and gratification. We want her to stay pure and to be a role model for other young people.

¹²Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Tim. 4:12)

It's a huge ask in a material me-first society. That is why we call on the Living God. He heard Hannah's desperate prayer and blessed her. He honored Abraham's obedience, gave Solomon wisdom and made David a covenant promise that his heirs would inherit the kingdom. He authored the earthquake that freed Paul and Silas and converted the jailer. He opened Lydia's heart to receive His message. He is the Master of transformed hearts and changed lives.

The Beginning Of The Rest Of Her Life

I have asked Beth to remember this date very carefully: 21 June 2010.

On this night, she made the decision to open her heart to Jesus.

I was sitting at the computer watching YouTube videos about endtime prophecies, Barack Obama etc, and suddenly Beth asked, "How do you open your heart?"

I can't remember how or why the question came up. Only that I felt seized by a sense that something big was about to happen.

I asked if she was ready to open her heart to Jesus, and she nodded and climbed into my lap.

So I explained about us being sinners and separated from God, and about God sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, and how if we believe in our hearts that He is Lord, we will be saved and be part of God's family.

She nodded and I was satisfied that she understood.

So then we said a very simple sinners' prayer and I looked up the Navigators website. I found the Four Spiritual Laws and we went through that. I found the sinners' prayer and we went through that (by which time she was hinting that we'd already gone through it once).

I just had to make sure my 7 yo knew what she was doing, and that she was doing it with a clear mind. And of course, I didn't trust my memory of Scripture...

But of course, God had already been preparing her and speaking to her in His own way. So why should I be surprised? Why should I even doubt, I of little faith?

After all, Jesus Himself made a point of welcoming little children and exhorting grown-ups to humble themselves:

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."
Matt. 18: 2-5

What's next?

Now I have to disciple my child so that she grows in her understanding of God and His Word. I don't even know how to do this, so God will have to show me.

My prayer is that this is just the beginning of her lifelong journey of faith, and that she will grow in wisdom and stature, in favour with God and man just as Jesus did. And as she matures, may she become a woman of spiritual depth, good works, love and purity and all the fruits of the Spirit, someone who has a heart for God and for the things above. May she use wisely and productively God's gifts to her of a sound mind, excellence at reading, comprehension, vocabulary, art and music.

May Beth be the first of many children to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour @ HXUCA.

Scripture Songs My Kids Love

I have practically raised the girls on Steve Green's Hide 'Em In Your Heart scripture memory songs.

Here is one of our faves, and you can see how it is word for word from the Bible, which makes it super effective.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
And you will be saved
You will be saved
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

Acts 16:31

Am praying that each of our Sunday School children will say yes to Jesus at some point in their faith journeys.

Jesus & The Preschooler

God has surely spoken into the life of my 3 yo.

When I'm not feeling my best, she assures me God will heal me - and promptly prays for me. "Jesus, mummy has a sore leg. Amen."

When she's afraid, she tells herself and me that God is still here.

Today, she opted for a short-sleeved top after her bath. When I asked if she was cold, she said God is keeping her warm.

When she's recovered from a meltdown, she credits God for making her "all better".

There is no doubt, no hesitation, no theological to-and-fro with a child.

God is still here. It's as simple as that. :)

Unless ye become like little children

During church camp @ Halls Gap in mid-April, we explored the theme of David and Goliath and what we should do with the "giants" in our lives.

Be they lack of self-esteem, the pain of the past, fear of certain things, these "giants" disrupt our lives, hold us back from being all that we can, and keep us paralyzed.

The kids explored the same theme in their program, and one of the interesting things they did was a pebble collage with the word PRAY made of black pebbles and a random pattern of grey/white pebbles around it. So they are reminded that Prayer is the answer when dealing with their own giants.

The kids also did an artistic interpretation of what their "giants" were.

Beth identified her "giants" in words and images: Grumpy. Fussy. Need to be organized.

I was astounded at her self-perception. And all this time I thought my many lectures (and private disappointments) about her mood extremes and her lack of self-discipline were like water on a duck's back. There for a moment - then they slide off and are lost. She's obviously done a bit of reflecting on her own, which I'm grateful for.

Jordanne's work was just as amazing.

She had coloured in what looked like a purple and black tornado right down the centre of her sheet.

When asked what her drawing meant, she said, "The monster in the dark."

"Is that what you're afraid of - the dark?"

"Yes, but I'm not afraid now. Because God is still here."

And she made that faith statement consistently throughout the camp to anyone who asked what her drawing meant.

Even now when the subject of Night and Sleeping and The Dark comes up, she says the same thing: God is still here. And she believes it with all her heart. I know because she no longer fears the dark like she sometimes used to. She simply acknowledges that it is dark, asserts that she is not afraid, and explains why: God is still here.

Children are the best demonstrations of why Jesus said we have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God.

How marvellous and REAL is our God, who talks to little children and helps them understand what adults sometimes fail to grasp.