Create in Me a Clean Heart

Right now as I type, Jacob and Annabelle are on the floor behind me working on separate puzzles.  Annabelle is having a tough time as she has chosen a 101 piece puzzle of the U.S. presidents.  Jacob had the answer to her problem:  prayer.  "Annabelle, let's pray and ask God to help you finish this puzzle," he said.  Together, they prayed.  After the final amen, Annabelle opened her eyes, looked at Jacob and asked, "Do I have super puzzle power now?"

I don't know if she has super puzzle power, but she does have an awesome big brother.  He's opted to leave his puzzle for a few moments to help out his little sister.

It's been an exciting week for Jacob and it all began Monday morning during our daily Bible time.  I'll let him tell you about it.

He made this decision all on his own.  I didn't push.  I didn't prod.  I didn't even ask him if he wanted to.  He brought it up.  He told me he was ready and said his own prayer.  I was so excited and so proud.  Still am.  January 28, 2013 will forever be a day to celebrate.

Over the past few months, we've had some pretty lengthy discussions about this.  He has asked many, many questions and I have attempted to answer as best I could.  I, also, have asked him many, many questions and received some pretty amazing answers in return.  He is just so smart.  As my parents say, he's like a little Billy Graham.  :)  I attribute much of his knowledge to his wonderful Awana leaders and Sunday School teachers. He loves going to church and obviously soaks up everything he's being taught.

Monday morning, we read this book, as we do every Monday.  This week, we were on letter V.  The verse of the day was John 6:47 -- "Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life."  After each verse, there is a story which helps explain the meaning.  At the end of this day's story, the little boy prays, asking Jesus to be his Savior.  As I asked Jacob and Annabelle to repeat the verse with me, Jacob said, "I'm ready!"  I said, "You're ready to say the verse?  Ok, let's say it..."  "No, I'm ready to ask Jesus to come into my heart," he said.  "I want him to clean up my heart."  His sincerity showed in his enthusiasm.  He was incredibly excited about this -- all smiles.  He said there were a "billion reasons" why he wanted to do this, including the fact that he would be able to eat the bread and drink the juice next time we had communion at church, but he made sure I knew that wasn't the main reason.  The main reason was that he wanted Jesus to "clean his heart."  After discussing this a few more minutes, any doubts I may have had about his sincerity were erased.  He couldn't wait to pray and he wanted to do it all by himself.  So, he did.  I didn't even have to tell him what to say.  He bowed his head, closed his eyes and prayed the sweetest prayer I've ever heard.

When he opened his eyes, he was thrilled and couldn't keep still.  He immediately wanted to call his daddy to tell him the good news.  And in true Jacob fashion, when he told his grandparents the news, the very next line  out of his mouth was "Now, do you want to know what's going on in Lego City?.........."  

Jacob, I love you and I prayed for this day even before you were born.  I prayed that one day, whenever that day was, you would choose to follow Jesus.  And now you have.  At age six and a half.  And I will continue to pray for you.  Your life will never be the same.  I pray that you will continue to follow God's guidance and live for Jesus everyday no matter what comes your way.  I pray that you will stand firm in your faith and remember all of God's truths that you already have hidden away in your heart.  I pray that your love  for Jesus will continue to grow and deepen and become the most important thing in your life.

.......And, of course, I'll support you in your quest to bring salvation to Lego City.

Sick Days

Jacob had a fever a week before Christmas.  It only lasted for a day.  He lost his voice the next day, but seemed to be on the mend by the third day, except for a nagging cough.  Then, on Christmas morning, Annabelle began to lose her voice.  She had a fever, too. Her temperature went up to 104.5, but by the next morning, it was back down to normal.  I figured she had the same virus Jacob had earlier.  I took her to the doctor since we were supposed to be travelling over the weekend.  It turned out she had a horrible double ear infection.  Poor thing.  She never complained about her ears.  She never said anything hurt.  I never would have known had I not taken her to the doctor.  Later that night, Jacob had a fever again - 102.  His temperature was still 102 when he woke up the next morning, so we went back to the doctor.  Just a virus -- no ear infection, but he did have a touch of bronchitis.  The doctor put him on the same antibiotic as Annabelle.  That night, his fever went up to 105.6.  I got scared and called the doctor.  He told me he had seen temperatures as high as 106 and that Jacob was going to be fine.  I trusted him, but it was still a little unnerving to see 105.6 on the thermometer screen.  His fever did eventually go down, but stayed between 101 - 102 for another day before returning to normal.

Today, they're both feeling much better.  They still have a cough, but that's to be expected.  Those coughs seem to settle in to stay...for weeks.  But, I'm not complaining.  I'll take the coughing over a 105.6 degree fever!

Funny Girl

Annabelle was frantically searching through the lower kitchen cabinet with her new Boo doll (the little girl from Monster's Inc.) laying on the floor beside her.  "What are you doing?" I asked.  Without looking up, Annabelle quickly answered, "I'm looking for a bowl for Boo's throw up!!"  Apparently, the doll was feeling sick.

I never know what to expect from that girl.  She makes me laugh.  The other night, she walked into the room and told Heath, "It's time to rock the house!"  We're still wondering where she learned that phrase.  And she's so thoughtful.  A couple days ago, as she was eating her sandwich, she let me know that she wasn't going to eat her crusts because she thought we should give them to the people in India who don't have any food.

She wanted a magic wand for Christmas.  Not a toy one, mind you, but a REAL, working, magic wand. She made this declaration while sitting on Santa's knee.  I thought, "Ok...a magic wand...that's doable."  It wasn't until several days later that I realized she wasn't talking about a toy.  We were sitting on the floor in her room playing with dolls when she said, "Santa is going to bring me a magic wand because I asked  him."  "Oh, really," I said.  I looked around her room and grabbed a little light-up toy she got from Disney on Ice.  "But, isn't this kind of like a magic wand?" I asked, waving it around.  "You can wave it around and it even lights up!"  She looked at me like I was crazy.  "That is NOT a magic wand, Mommy!" she replied.  "It does NOT turn people into things."  And that's when it hit me.  She didn't want a toy.  She wanted a real magic wand.  Oh, boy.  I had to think fast.  "But this IS a real magic wand.  Watch this...what do you want to be?"  "A pink piggie, Mommy!" she said.  (You have to understand, the girl loves pigs.)  I waved the light-up toy in the air, tapped it gently on her head and made a little chime sound.  "Well, hello little piggie!  Aren't you cute?!"  Trying to be as convincing as possible, I patted her on the head and hoped her imagination would follow my lead.  Annabelle looked up at me, unamused.  She felt her face, then looked down at her clothes.  "I am NOT a piggie, Mommy!"  Alright.  Plan B.  I tried to break it to her gently.  "Well, Annabelle, I think only fairies have magic wands."  Of course, she had a very quick response.  "Fairies AND princesses, and I AM A PRINCESS, Mommy!" On to Plan C...whatever that was.

Christmas morning, Annabelle opened TWO magic wands from Santa.  I watched and waited.  As I suspected, she was disappointed with these toys.  Enter Plan C.  "Well, Santa and his elves make toys.  So, I'm sure he had his elves make these toy wands especially for you.  Since they only make toys, I don't think they could bring real magic wands."  "Oh" was all she said as she turned around waving her wands through the air, pretending to be a princess.  It was that easy.  I love her.

I guess it'll do.  

dreaming of REAL magic wands...