Each night after the children have been through their bedtime routines we do a quick (2-3 minute) devotion and head to bed. I make the rounds, crawling into each of their little twin beds for brief prayers and bedtime kisses. No matter how exasperated I have found myself in the moments leading up to our final goodnights, I love that tender time with each of them.
Tonight as I finished praying with P and started our bedtime ritual he interrupted me by pushing me back by the shoulders and exclaiming, "Mom! You are squishing Jesus, move back!"
"Oh. Where is Jesus?" I asked.
"He's right here," he replied, pointing to the small space between the two of us."He is invisible."
"That's great that He is with you, P." I encouraged, as this is the first time he has mentioned something like this.
"But, how am I supposed to kiss you goodnight?" I asked.
"Oh, wait. He just moved over."
10 comments:
what a beautiful moment!! You and your faith are such a beautiful inspiration for me. I adore reading your blog!! I love the idea of a devotion with each of the kids individually..somthing I hope to add to my trio's bedtime routine!! Thank you!!
That is just to sweet...
Thank you for sharing your special moments...
JMOM-I had a comment all typed out on Monday morning for your post about the bully and when I got ready to post it, somehow I deleted it and then it was time to go to work. So here I am again because reading your post about the Monday night girls resonated so much with what my comment was about concerning the bully.
You did the right thing...you handled that whole bully situation much better than I would have. I would have probably had my first mug shot made by now had I been in your shoes!! But don't worry, he didn't get AWAY with anything...he will answer for that action some day.
But the bully incident and the incident with your girls reminded me of a conversation in a book I recently read. This book was about a man who had lost his daughter to a kidnapper and then a grizzly death. He spent years with anger and unforgiveness in his heart. In this book he has a one-on-three encounter with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as he tries to sort out these feelings. This is the conversation that came to my mind as you spoke of judgment and hypocrisy we all deal with...
The Holy Spirit said,"And what about the man who preys on innocent little girls? What about him, Mackenzie? Is this man guilty? Should he be judged?" "Yes", screamed Mack. "Damn him to hell!" The Holy Spirit said, "Is he to blame for your loss?" "Yes", Mack said. "What about his father, the man who twisted his son into a terror, what about him?" Mack said, "Yes, him too!" The Holy Spirit said, "How far do we go back, Mackenzie? This legacy of brokenness goes all the way back to Adam, what about him? But why stop there? What about God? God started this whole thing. Is God to blame?" -excerpt from"The Shack"
Phew...when I read this the first time, I just wanted to duck my head and hide. How many times have I judged people's actions, motivations, skin color, body odor, or body language. I'm ready to "damn them to hell" because of what they have done to me or, even worse, someone I love...?
Then I read this and thought about that "legacy of brokenness" that the author referred to. Who knows what kind of twisted background the bully and those precious girls have had. We just never know...nor can most of us even imagine, the backgrounds that some of these individuals have had. Their legacy has definitely not been one of love. JMom, you are doing the right thing. You may be the only chance these girls will ever have to see that "legacy of brokenness", broken. And you were a Godly witness to that bully when you spoke calmly and kindly to him, instead of socking him! That one act of love and kindness was probably one of the few that man has ever experienced. To be as "hard" as you described him to be, his life has obviously not been one filled with the love of Jesus.
Remember what Pastor said Sunday about the mustard seed and the yeast...they have to be engaged in someting to make a change...thanks for being obedient to Christ by engaging your faith...don't be discouraged...it takes just a little to move mountains...
Love it!
Your kids make me laugh. They are so sweet and have such big hearts. I can't wait till my kids say things like this. (Abigail was looking at one of her little books she got in Sunday school. We got to the end of the book and there was a little girl who had tears on her face and Jesus had his hand on her head. She knows who Jesus is, but this time when I asked her who that was she said "Jammies"....lol. Jesus has on a robe. She thought he was wearing jammies. (I guess Jesus did have jammies, huh?)
-Shannon in Austin
How cute!!! What awesome hearts your children have!!! You are doing an awesome job!!!
My now 12 year old made a very similar comment when he was about 4 years old. He asked me how did he have room in his heart for all of Jesus he was just a little boy. He then said does that mean as I grow Jesus will just get bigger and bigger in me.
His heart today is so full of Jesus.
I love it!
Aw, so sweet. :)
Love love love it!
Post a Comment