Sunday was a crazy, busy day.
I was gone all afternoon with the girls.
Keith was home with the boys.
The boys decided to play "church."
They worked on a presentation to show us later that night.
Jake drew this sweet picture.
It reads, "To:Dad, From: Jake. Jesus and God. I am sorry that they made fun of you. He had to drink it. Gross. I love you Jesus and God."
The boys sat us all down on the couch and Jake started with the introduction. In walks Brady carrying a huge wooden cross on his back. Jake says, "See, this is an example of Jesus on the cross. He had to carry His cross and then was nailed to it." Then he handed us a cup that he had poured a little bit of vinegar into. He asked us to pass it around and each smell it. He said, "This is what they made Jesus drink. Doesn't it smell gross?" He then took us into the kitchen where they had set up communion. They had small cups (one for each of us) filled with red gatorade and a second cup with broken up ritz crackers inside. He explained that the gatorade was like Jesus' blood that He shed for us and that the ritz crackers were like Jesus' body that was broken for us. Then he looked at us all and said, "Now eat."
So, we took communion together.
It was such a beautiful and thoughtful presentation.
It really made me stop and think about the importance of teaching our children biblical truths.
After we picked up, we sent the kids upstairs to begin getting ready for bed. The boys were so excited. I knew they had something they wanted to talk to us about. We tucked the girls in bed first and then went into the boys' room to talk.
I sat down on Jake's bed and asked him what he wanted to talk about. He and Brady just looked at each other and with huge smiles on their faces said, "We want to ask Jesus into our heart." They were ready. Keith and I talked them through a lot and asked them a ton of questions. They knew all the answers. They had a complete understanding of what it meant and the reason why it is important for them to take that step in their life. They love Jesus and they want Him to be a a huge part of their life.
I asked them if they had talked about it with each other. Jake said, "Yes. We talked about it in the bathroom. We talk about it a lot."
We prayed together. Just the four of us.
Each of the boys prayed on their own. We just listened.
Jake prayed first (since he is 3 minutes older). Then Brady prayed.
It was so, so sweet.
When Brady said amen, we all looked up at each other and they could not stop smiling and giggling.
I asked Keith to snap a picture of us on his iphone so we could always remember this moment.
Jake asked for a copy of the picture so he could write on the back:
March 6, 2011 at 7 years old, I asked Jesus into my heart.
We brought the boys downstairs so Keith could show them a video from the day they were born. He plugged in the video camera and we snuggled up on the couch. The boys looked at the video camera and said what in the world is that? Um, our video camera (from back in the day). They thought it was huge. It makes me laugh because I remember getting it as a gift from my parents and thinking how compact it was. How quickly times change.
Keith showed us video of me getting checked into the hospital shortly after my water broke. Then a little bit of me in labor. Then video of the boys right after they were born. I only got to hold them for about a minute before they were swooped out of my arms and wheeled in isolettes down to the NICU. I was in recovery for several hours after they were born. Keith was able to go see them right away. I never knew he had done this, but just hours after they were born, he took video of himself praying over each of the boys. He prayed for wisdom as a father in raising, training, and teaching them. He prayed that they would grow up to be godly men. He prayed that one day they would ask Jesus into their heart.
With tear filled eyes we watched and listened and rejoiced as God fulfilled Keith's prayer that night.
We feel so very proud and honored as parents to be able to experience that special moment with them.
It was even more special that they chose to do it together.
We tucked the boys in bed that night with many extra hugs and kisses.
