making a commitment

so this saturday night we had one of those moments that christian parents pray for.... 

from the time you realize you are expecting a baby (if you love the LORD) you pray that one day they will come to know and understand the love of Jesus that has so impacted your life.

 lance and i were tucking everybody in their spots in the room and going through what we call highs and lows (your favorite and least favorite part of the day).  we do this with each kiddo alone and that helps us keep in step with what is happening in each person's heart.  on this night, allie tells lance that she wants to ask jesus into her life.  lance was pretty shocked because it came out of nowhere... there was no bible read on this particular night and no lengthy discussions about christ.  he called me over and we did some probing...

"what got you thinking about that?" "do you know what that means"  "do you want to read and talk about some scripture this week and then see if you're still interested?"  "it's a big discussion... you can think about it some more."

she assured us that she was ready.  "i heard hattie's grandmother say that hattie had accepted jesus and i want to do that too."  "yes, it means that jesus washes my sins away and that i have to love him with all my heart, soul and mind"

we talked about what sins are, what jesus did, and that the "have to love" is really a "get to love."  we told her that the words of a prayer don't save her and that the things that she has done/will do won't save her, but just the expressed desire to bend her ways and her will to HIM and seek HIM as her SAVIOR.  lance quoted several scripture to her to explain the gospel.

any of you with children know that their "windows" of opportunity to teach/train are opened for such a short time.  we've begun conversations like these many times and then BAM! 

window closes. opportunity lost. sigh.

not this night!  

she was engaged.  focused.  

it was WONDERFULLY exciting to hear her pray those words... words that today may not make much sense, but words that begin her on a journey of discovering her GOD... it was amazing

before you comment stay tuned for tomorrow's post...
 in typical allie fashion...
this is not the end of the story.