Monday, March 21, 2016

New life:)


New life IN CHRIST that is:)

Breyton asked Jesus into his heart last Monday and for us it was the most important moment you can have as a parent. My greatest desire is not for my kids to be happy, but to witness first hand that their dad and I without a doubt put Jesus first(even before what made us happy or comfortable).....and then for them to do go and do the same. I feel like I can handle anything else with my kids as long as they come to know Jesus. I had struggled with this a bit knowing I got saved when I was young and Mason was a little bit older. I honestly figured it may be a few more years before Breyton was ready and that would be OK....what mattered is that when he accepted Jesus it was of his own doing(no peer pressure) and that he grasped what it meant as much as he could for his age. Prior to Monday when Breyton and I had conversations about God (or him even saying he wanted to be saved or go to heaven) I occasionally would think how much can an almost 7 year old grasp of the gospel and think it was 'too young'.

After all day spent in God's creation last Monday evening Breyton kept bringing up questions about the world and God. At one point he said, "I wish God could just come live with us"...I responded that God does live in our hearts when we welcome him in. He said he wanted God to live in his heart and asked how can I do that? I began to explain all this means and we had a long discussion. Then I asked if he still wanted to follow through? To which he said yes. Afterwards I realized God doesn't ask us to have full knowledge and wisdom of everything when we accept him. We come as we are. I'm 27 years old and still learning more everyday what it means to have Jesus as Lord of my life and to follow him. So no my 6 year old doesn't have to understand everything right now he just has to have a sincere heart and continue to grow in his love for God. I'm so excited we get to do this along side of him!! Since Monday Breyton continues to ask more everyday and has surprised me with how much he can grasp. Then he has even helped remind me of some truths: He helped me prepare for the caseworker to come re-do our house assessment to open back up for foster care...as we got ready for this I let the boys get comforters for their beds since they have never had them before (they always had mismatched blankets on their bed). I found some on sale and asked Breyton what color he wanted and he picked blue of course. I then realized they were out of blue, but I asked if grey would be ok? Breyton said, "You don't have to ask me mom. Some people don't even have beds, so it doesn't really matter what color my bedding is." Proud to see moments where some of that self-centeredness, which we battle daily, is overcome with a heart that cares for others! He also keeps asking me if something he did honored God and genuinely cares. At bedtime one night we read some psalms and he told me he loved God and would do anything for Him when he grows up. I used to question if I would know when it was real, but how could I ever doubt the transformation of a heart given to God.

Breyton is still a 6 year old boy and will have many moments where he is selfish, rude, disobedient(just like I still do;) BUT thank God we have freedom from being a slave to these things. As he continues to learn more about what following God means the desires of the flesh start to fade and righteous living is what you truly desire. Like Roman 6 tells us: "Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living."
Romans 6:16-18

Parenting done right and raising up true disciples is the undoubtedly the hardest thing I will ever do. It is also the most rewarding, eternal, privileged opportunity I have been given. Thank you God for glimpses of hope in this dark world and reminders of what really matters!!!

...but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 19:14 ESV


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