Anna's Big News

Anna has some news, y'all!

 

She is an o-fficial "Christen" now! :) 

It sort of snuck up on us, but it shouldn't have.  I guess I will blame it on the arbitrary number I have in my head of when a child is old enough to understand salvation.  Suffice to say, 4 (and Noah's 5) are much younger than I had in mind.  But the fact is that her sweetie-pie heart has been drawn to the Lord for awhile now. She frequently initiates conversations (and drawings) about Jesus on the cross, sin, death, forgiveness, and being a Christian. These conversations are usually neatly tied up with me or Josh saying that she will keep learning about these things and when she is old enough, she will make a decision about receiving forgiveness and choosing to follow Jesus and obey his Word.   So it shouldn't surprise me that this weekend, she very clearly let us know (again) that it was time.  The girl was ready to recognize and accept her Savior, simple as that. Here's how it went down, as told by Josh, who prayed with her about this decision. (Since I was gone with the girls when the occasion was marked, I begged Josh to type it out for me so I could save it here. Forever a blogger even when I am MIA!). 

In the playroom we were listening to the ipod and a song from my Granddaddy came on called, "Heaven, Can You Imagine".  Noah was talking to me about my Granddaddy in Heaven and Anna was playing with Legos.  Out of nowhere she said, "Daddy, I'm old enough to ask Jesus in my heart now".  Later, when Noah went up to his room for a rest, Anna and I ate lunch at the table and here is what happened:

Me: Anna, do you know who Jesus is?

Anna: Jesus is God.

Me: Yes, and Jesus is also God's son.  Do you know why Jesus came to earth?

Anna: He came to die on the cross for our salvation. (yes, she used the word salvation)

Me: Yes, and he died on the cross to pay for our sins.  Do you know what sin is?

Anna: When we disobey.

Me: Yes, when we disobey God that is called Sin and we all sin - you, me, Mommy, Noah, even old people, everyone sins.  But we can ask God to forgive us when we sin.  When you pray and ask God to come into your heart you are telling God that you have sinned, that you are sorry for your sin, and that you believe that Jesus died for those sins and want to obey Him forever.  Is this something that you want to do now?

Anna: Yes.

I moved my chair over to hers and held her hands.  I told her that I would pray with her and she would say what I say and if she believed it in her heart that Jesus would come into her heart forever.

Dear God, I know I have sinned.  Please forgive me of my sins.  Thank you, God, for letting  Jesus come and die on the cross for my sins.  Jesus, please come into my heart and help me to obey you.  Thank you for being my savior and King.  Amen.

After we ate some more, Anna wanted to know if our skin would be the same color when we get a new body in heaven. (We'd talked earlier in the playroom about getting a new body in Heaven)

When Anna called me on the phone that night, she was exuberant.  "I asked Jesus to be in my heart today! I am a Christen now!" she proudly announced. She was also already getting a little bossy with her new Christian status because she wanted me to know that Noah had not been making wise choices and that she didn't know a Christian could act like the devil.  Ha!  Walking down the streets of Nashville with my friends, I reminded Anna that just because we are saved doesn't mean we are perfect and that is why we have to work hard to listen to God and his words in the Bible to do better.  I reminded her that she is still a sinner, but now she is forgiven.  I told her that she will keep learning about these things, but for now I was just celebrating with the angels over her decision to follow Jesus.  That's when Anna giggled because she likes angels especially.  She has had long-standing plans to be one for Halloween this year anyway.  How appropriate. :}

As I said with Noah last February when he made this same decision, I will say again for my eager girl - Now is when the discipleship rubber will really hit the road. What a satisfying responsibility it is to guide our babies into the faith the Lord is faithfully calling them into.  Thank you, Lord!  Thank you for your faithfulness in our girl's life that has led up to this spiritual milestone.  I beg you to snatch up and guard her precious little heart more and more and to continue to grow it in your ways.  I beg your blessings on her (and her brother). Thank you, God!