Zoe, Kate, and some thoughts....

I pulled this Youtube video off of Angie's site... It is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Just watch. And you have to watch the whole thing because the ending just takes the cake.





If only we were all as spirit-filled, uninhibited, and pure in our faith as that precious little girl. I'm sure her mom was going thru all the motions with her behind the camera, but did you see the head shaking Miss Thang had going on? How stinking cute is that.

With that video in mind, and a couple of other children I've encountered recently, my heart is feeling the importance of teaching Brax about Jesus more and more. I tried to ignore it (for reasons I won't get into on the blog) but I just can't.

I came across a blog about a 5 year old girl named Kate. She was diagnosed with cancer right before the 4th of July. Since I've been part of "blog world," I have read too many stories of babies that are very sick, or that have passed away. I imagined how awful that would be to experience--witnessing your child in pain, or worse--losing them. But when I read Kate's story, I began to think about the other end of the ordeal. When you have a child that is old enough to understand their illness, or the possibility of death, how in the world do you handle that? First of all, how do "keep it together" for the sake of your child, whose outlook on the situation is directly related to yours? How do explain why this is happening to them? How do you explain what happens when you die--so that they don't spend what may be their last moments here being terrified? Call me a "worry wart," but I truly believe that as a parent, it is my responsibility to be prepared, and to prepare my children for what lies ahead, whether it be in this life or after.

Immediately, I knew that the answer to ALL of these questions was Jesus.

It's very easy (at least for me) to push God aside when all is right in the world. I thank Him often, and sometimes I even look the gift-horse in the mouth, wondering WHY I have been so blessed, but then I go on about my business without spending much time with Him. But then where do I go when this world fails me?? (Which it inevitably will, somehow, someday...)

I run to Him. But what if, when that day comes, we don't know Who we are running to? I sort of take it for granted that I have "the basics" covered--I know and believe that Jesus died for me, and that because of Him, I can go to heaven when I die.

But what about my son? My soon-to-be 2-year-old who doesn't know that the hot stove will burn him, that a car zooming by could kill him, or that there is such a thing as "stranger danger." He doesn't know how to get his shirt off by himself, or that if he would just pedal, the trike would go without me pushing it... By the time he is Kate's age, in just 3 short years, he will get all this-he'll understand the concept of "what happens next." Eventually, he will learn many other important consequences and skills that will get him through this life without me.

But what if, like Kate, Brax was faced with the possibility of death at just 5 years old? Would he know what happens next? How can I ignore our relationship with Jesus now, and then expect Brax to believe me when I try to calm his fears with the explanation that Jesus would be waiting for him in heaven?

"Jesus WHO??"

How do you teach a young child a crash course in who our Savior is, and what that means for them?

Like any parent, I pray every day that we are never faced with this situation. But it would be naive of me to think that even if we are fortunate enough to not be dealt those tragic cards, that there won't be a time when Brax (and I) need to know who Jesus is. And I don't just mean knowing that He's that guy who died on the cross. I mean knowing Him like we know a best friend.

And boy, do I have a long way to go. Why is it so hard for me to open my Bible and just listen? I am so bad about being ALL OR NOTHING. Like other books, I feel like I have to read the Bible starting at page one, straight through to the end, and that I have to understand every single sentence or I may as well just stop. It overwhelms me when I get into stuff that bores me (like the never-ending lists of who had which son) or the stuff I don't "get." (I guess part of the fun is that we'll never "get" God completely, at least not on this side of heaven.) I don't know how many times I've started and stopped reading, or how much of the Bible I have collectively read. But what better way is there to get to know Him than by reading His Word? Maybe I should just start with reading Brax's juvenile Bible story books with him--surely I can follow along there.

Anyway, the point of this rambling.... is that I have a lot to learn so that I can teach Brax "what happens next."

On a somewhat related side-note---
Click HERE to see a very cool song. YouTube wouldn't let me embed the video directly, but clicking there will take you to it. It's a mainstream country song by Lady Antebellum, but if you replace the word "baby" with "Jesus" it makes it my new favorite Christian song. The video is pretty great as well. Enjoy!