Raising Believers

As a Christian and parent, I see teaching my children about Christ and helping them to walk with him as the MOST IMPORTANT thing that I do in this life. It is also one of the most difficult tasks, what with all of the things that society teaches us about what we should value and how we should live. And, being a sinner myself, there are more times than I care to recount that I do not follow the example of Christ, therefore not setting the right example for my children.

So, when something happens like what happened today, my heart soars.

Brody has had a lot of questions about Jesus lately. We try to talk about Him regularly, so that He is a normal, everyday part of our lives.

We were driving in the car and Brody wanted me to sing a song that he likes, but I was listening to a Christian song, so I told him that I wanted to finish singing my song because it is about Jesus and it makes me happy to sing to Jesus.

Here is what transpired:

"Mommy, where is Jesus?", Brody asked.
"Jesus is in Heaven with God, but He can always see you and hear you when you pray."
"Is God behind our house?"
"No, sweetie. Heaven is way, way up in the sky, even higher than the clouds. We can't see Heaven, but God and Jesus can see us," I replied.
"Yeah, you need a really big ladder to get there,"he realized.
"No, you can't get there with a ladder. It is too far. But you know what? You know how you can get there? If you love Jesus, he will help you get to Heaven with God." I said as my lip started to quiver.
"I want to go to Heaven and be with Jesus," he said.
"Well, it isn't your time to go to Heaven. But, if you love Jesus, when you die, you will stop living here on earth and go to live in Heaven with Him. "
Brody replied, "I want to love Jesus and go to Heaven when I die."

And that was when I lost it. There is NOTHING like hearing your child tell you that he wants to follow Christ, even when he is only 3 and has such a small understanding as to what that really means. At least the seed has been planted and now we can build upon that.

*sigh*