A Dream Realized
Today we celebrated my niece's spiritual birthday. What a blessing that I can know that I will spend eternity in heaven with my loved ones.
Words cannot express how grateful I am for my children's salvation. Hunter told me he was ready for Jesus to be the "Boss" of him when he was almost 4 1/2 years old. Yes, he was young, but he seemed to understand all the basics: we are all sinners in need of a Savior; God's Son, Jesus, died on the cross to suffer the penalty for our sin; Jesus was raised from the dead to defeat death; God offers us the free gift of forgiveness of all our sins as well as eternal life.
I have been working on a project lately -- creating digital photo albums of the boys' childhood to give to my family. (I didn't do a very good job of sharing pictures when my kids were little. I blinked and they weren't little anymore.) In order to remember what was happening in the pictures, I have had to read through old journals. I was blown away by what I wrote on the day Hunter became a believer. Right after Hunter prayed, he asked when Kaden would become a Christian. Kaden was almost a year old. I encouraged Hunter that maybe someday he would lead his brother to the Lord. I wrote in my journal how amazing that would be.
Fast forward four years . . . Hunter came to me and said, "Kaden is ready for Jesus to be the boss of him." Hunter helped me share the gospel with Kaden. When Kaden said he was ready to pray, Hunter suggested we kneel there in the kitchen. (It was the best interruption of lunch ever!)
The interesting thing was the verse that touched me in my time with God that morning was in Titus: "For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed." Titus 2:11-13 (NLT)
This verse caused me to think of Kaden and pray for his salvation. A few hours later God answered my prayer . . . and I am eternally grateful.
Two days later, I heard from my sister-in-law Kristi. She said that since Kaden accepted Christ, her daughter Maddie decided she didn't have to be scared of doing the same. (For some reason, she had been scared of becoming a believer for a few weeks up to that time.) So Kristi wanted to let Kaden know that his testimony had helped lead his cousin to the Lord. How exciting is that!!
We celebrated Kaden's three years of faith in Christ two days ago. Not only did he play a part in his cousin's decision for Christ, he has been telling others all about God ever since. Imagine how God will use him in the future.
"Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity." 1 Timothy 4:12 (NLT)
Just as the apostle Paul was encouraging Timothy in his youth, I want to encourage my boys to let God use them right now, even at the tender ages of 8 and 11.
