A New Little Sister…

No, I am not expecting! HA! I wanted to share some really, really exciting news with you. But let me back up. One of the things I have cherished most about homeschooling is the time in the mornings where we gather on the couch and work on our scripture memory verses, talk about prayer requests and pray together. Hearing my kids pray has to be one of the highlights of my life. And, just so you know I’m not trying to paint this perfect picture of a perfect little family praying together on the couch…sometimes to simply get to the couch we have crying and fighting. But, we always started our morning on the playroom couch. I have funny memories of hearing Caleb pray for the people in the ambulances. Emily is my little prayer warrior, listing sick people, our child we sponser, our president, people at church…and on. And on. Hannah’s prayers are more concise, yet beautiful none the less.

About a year ago, Hannah began asking questions about becoming a Christian. I am sad to say that I didn’t write down the “exact” day that she began asking. But, I would try to answer her questions and have been praying that God would continue the work in her heart. Months and months ago she prayed and thanked Jesus for coming to die for her and asked Him to come live inside of her and be the leader of her life.

Since that time, I have not pushed or really brought things up at all. We’ve gone about our morning routine, always memorizing a new verse, praying daily for our family and those that the kids bring up as prayer requests. Well, a few weeks ago, Hannah told me that she wanted to be baptized!! I did not even realize that she had been thinking about this. So, I began asking her questions and we have been praying about it ever since.

As most of you know, my girls are extremely shy. I have told Hannah that when she is ready to be baptized she has to meet with our children’s pastor, who she knows, Dr. D. His wife is Hannah’s Sunday School teacher and she loves Mrs. Delores! But, just knowing how shy she is, I asked if she was ready to talk with him and she said no. I knew that would be the case. But, she is still saying she wants to be baptized…and when she prays, she asks for courage to do the right thing. We have prayed together that she would be brave enough to talk to Dr. D when the time is right. She brings this up (not me) probably every 2-3 days. I’m so proud of her for her follow-through! She continues to pray about it and is working up her courage, I can tell.

In the meantime, I asked Dr. D if he had any resources for younger children that I could be reading and doing with her daily. He had a book that I wanted to share, it has been SO good for me to do with Hannah just the 2 of us during naptime. We’ve been doing it for about a week now.

This book is called “I’m a Christian Now!” and is written by Todd Capps and Sherry Shaw, it is put out by Lifeway. So far, the things we have done in this book are look up John 3:16 (one thing I love about this book is it is having Hannah look up verses by herself, which I have been wanting to teach her to do! She LOVES finding the verses and figuring out where the books of the Bible are.) We have talked about admitting to God we are a sinner, believing Jesus is God’s son and came to die for us, we’ve talked about why it’s important to memorize scripture (Psalm 119:11) and what sin is, what repentance is, and how we can tell others about Jesus. Next week’s topics include baptism, so I’m excited about that!

This book is kind of like a workbook, very bright and colorful for kids and has places for Hannah to write in the answers to their questions.

Thanks for sharing in my excitement! Please pray for Hannah as she works through this decision. I have struggled greatly as a parent wondering, is she really ready? What about all those difficult mornings I have with her? But, the Lord has been soooooo good to remind me that in the same way I struggle with sin and the flesh, so will Hannah. I have things that I struggle with…I haven’t gotten in perfectly yet in any way shape or form. Just like He’s still working on me, I should not expect a night/day difference in Hannah either. As much as I can know in my heart, I believe Hannah understands what she is asking and praying. She knows she is a sinner. She understands that Jesus came to die for her. She believes that God loves her and sent His son for her. And when she prays, she admits her wrong and asks God to forgive her. Some of the sweetest prayers are actually on the hardest mornings. Pray for me that I can be patient. God is teaching me so much through my children…and this is just one more time that God has shown me how much my relationship with God is mirrored by my relationship with my kiddos…and how much like a child I can be!