Faith Comes Softly

I went up the stairs to turn the lights off at bedtime yesterday.  I was in a hurry because our home group was waiting downstairs.  Let's be honest, I'm usually in a hurry because by 8:30 I'm lacking patience and mommy energy.  As I was turning out the light, I said "Mommy loves you and Jesus loves you."  Julian surprised me with this.  He said, "Hey mom, I already prayed on my own.  I asked Jesus to come into my heart and now I have the Holy Spirit with me always."
This was super out of the blue.  D'arcy is happy to drink the Kool-aid, but Julian is a little slower and a little more skeptical.  I think our last conversation about God went something like this, "Hey mom, If Gabe is going to heaven because he believes in Jesus then I'll believe in Jesus so I can be with Gabe."
All I can do as a parent is share my faith and how important it is to my life, and, of course, to live it.  My hope is that the God that I believe is alive will capture and permeate the hearts of my kids.  This process cannot be forced.  It was so meaningful that he decided to bring this up on his own.  

Faith Comes Softly

Tonight I went to pray for my kids before lights were turned out. Normally prayer time goes like this. "Lord, help D'arcy, Julian, and Schroeder to sleep well, have wonderful, encouraging dreams, and be rested so they can make good choices tomorrow." Generic, I know.
However, on occasion, I try to make night time prayers a little deeper. Tonight, I told them to tell God one thing they were thankful for. Then I asked them to ask God one thing they wanted to know about Him.
Julian decided he wanted to know what God's favorite thing was. D'arcy thought this was a good idea. So, they looked up towards heaven and posed that question to God. I told them if they got an answer at some point, I would be interested to hear what it was. D'arcy sat quietly for a moment, and then said, "Mom, I heard that his favorite thing was me. No, his favorite thing was all of us."

Faith comes softly

I tend to think that faith in children is not something that is solidified one day when they decide to pray "The sinners prayer". Instead, it is something they seem to gradually embrace. D'arcy has professed a faith in Christ, but it's neat to see that faith gradually become solidified.

The other day, Stephen and I took the kids over to our church for a work day. We moved into a new building about a year ago, and just finished our first round of intensive renovations. We were there to help put some finishing touches on the space before Easter Sunday.

After church on Sunday, Joy, who was leading the work day, mentioned that she was really encouraged that D'arcy came to her on several occasions during the work day to ask how she could help. Joy put her to work carrying trash to the dumpster and sorting screws.

When we got in the van to go home, I mentioned to D'arcy how impressed Joy was with her. D'arcy just sort of shrugged and said, "I love my church." Yep, I thought, it is HER church.