The Best Day Ever

Yesterday was an enormous blessing to me. My niece and nephew were with me all day. We had such a great time, as always... or better than always, actually.

First of all, after breakfast, we opened up the rest of their birthday gifts, which I'd stashed away here at our house, for when they came over again. We had given them several other things three weeks ago, at my brother's house, but these particular items I wanted to keep separately, to be able to share with them as I'd like. (You see, these gifts were Bible character figurines, and Bible story DVD's. When I bought them, I had in mind that I'd sit down with them and read the correlating Bible story, and have a good question/answer session afterwards. And with the "busyness" at my brother's house, I knew that wouldn't be the case there.)

So anyway, we did just that. We opened it all up, and they "played" with the figurines, acting it all out, as I read the story about those particular Bible characters. There were 8 in all, I think... their favorite being the story of David and Goliath. The kids really enjoyed it, and I especially enjoyed seeing them take so much interest in Godly things. Through no fault of their own, they seldom get to go to church, so the only "Bible" these precious children get to "read" are my husband and myself, when they're with us. I always take great pleasure in sharing Jesus with them every chance I get.

After we did all that, we then went outside to play, and had a great time in that beautiful sunshine. It was perfect... not too hot, and not at all cool, like had been forecast. I helped Uncle Steve finish planting the Azalea bushes a friend of ours had given us last week, while they played in the yard close by. Afterwards, we rode the golf-cart, told about a million knock-knock jokes, and walked through the back field, pulling up Morning Glory, with the intent of making a pretty wreath, but we soon got sidetracked with the 5 volunteer squash plants growing, where we had our garden this past Summer. (To my surprise, there were even some blossoms on them.)

Later on, Thomas decided he'd like to have "driving lessons", so while Skylar played with her Barbie dolls on our picnic blanket, I rode with Thomas, as he drove the golf cart all over the place... "over the hills and through the woods". It was so much fun for me, just watching the excitement on his face. He had such a great time! In fact, at one point he said, "Aunt, this is the best day ever!" ("Aunt", pronounced "ain't", as he's always referred to me)

Skylar, being the little drama queen that she is, kept us all in stitches with her Emmy-Award-Winning performances throughout the day. We laughed and giggled so much, it's a wonder my sides aren't hurting today.

We also went to the church, to play on the playground there, later in the day. Again, it was just too much fun! :)

After supper, we got cleaned up and cuddled up on the couch, as we watched 2 of the Bible Story DVD's. One was about the miracles of Jesus, which went along with some of our earlier stories. Then we watched the other one, which was about David and Goliath... again, their favorite of all the stories. I watched their faces, and especially their eyes, as they paid such close attention to what was being said and done. It was a tremendous blessing to see them captivated by this, rather than by Britney Spears, which used to be the center of their conversation. (Uuuuggghhh!)

So once the movie was over, we began talking about how we can apply its meaning to our own lives today... that no matter what we come up against, we don't have to be afraid, if God is with us. We talked about prayer, and how God hears and answers our prayers when we call upon Him. Then my heart totally melted when Thomas asked me, "You mean, if we ask God for something, He'll give it to us?"

Of course, I told him yes, if we prayed according to God's Will.

To which he then asked, "If we ask God to change our parents' hearts and make Mommy and Daddy be nice, will He do it?"

Oh my, I can barely see to type this, my eyes are so full of tears. (Can you imagine how it was for me, last night, as it was happening?)

I then told the kids how God can change anyone's hearts, no matter who they are, or what they've done. I told them how God changed my heart, and then I also gave them the example of the apostle Paul's life. I told them how, at one time, Paul wasn't very nice to Christians, and even had them killed, or put in jail. But then the Lord got a hold of his heart, and changed his way of thinking. And from then on, he was good to Christians (he became one, in fact), and he helped them to grow in the knowledge of God, and actually became (in my opinion) the greatest missionary ever.

I tried to explain that what God does for one, He can also do for someone else. We just have to pray for them, and believe God to answer those prayers.

Thomas asked if we could pray for his parents, for God to make them "be nice", and to take away the bad and "put good there". Again, how precious these moments were to me, and I know they were special to God, too. :)

The three of us held hands and began to pray... for my brother (their Dad); for Ruth (their Mom); for Summer (their "somewhat step-mom"); for the couple who lives with them (Gigi and Scott); and of course, for Thomas and Skylar.

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
Matt. 18:19

It was indeed a very special "prayer meeting", and there's no doubt whatsover, God was in the midst of us!

After that prayer, we talked about Heaven, and of course, the children had mentioned they wanted their parents to go to Heaven. They knew enough about hell to know they didn't want anyone they loved going there. The expressions on their faces (not just "drama" this time, but REAL emotions) told how burdened they were for their family. I share in that burden, and so I told them we would pray every single day, until the Lord answered our prayers.

As we were talking about Heaven and hell, I felt led and began talking to them, then, about their own salvation, and how when we reach a certain level of maturity, where we know right from wrong, we know we're old enough to understand how a person can get to Heaven. So I told them about how Jesus died for us all, and how he had suffered all that pain and sorrow for our sins, so we wouldn't have to. He did that because He loves us all that much!

I explained that the only way a person can get to Heaven is by believing that Jesus is God's one and only Son, and that He came to earth as a little bitty baby, born in Bethlehem... to grow up and be crucified on the cross, for our sins. We have to admit that we are sinners, and that we need forgiveness of our sins. Again, they were just as attentive as could be (sadly, more so than most grown-ups, during the invitation).

I went over Scripture with them, mostly the Romans Road. And when I got to the question, asking them if they'd like to ask Jesus to come into their hearts, they both eagerly said "YES". We prayed the sinner's prayer (they repeated after me), and we were all teary-eyed by the time the "Amen" came.

I thank God for the awesome privilege He's given me, to lead my niece and nephew to Him... both on the same night, at that! What an amazing blessing!

The one and only down-side is that the devil tried to keep it from taking place. Once I got into explaining how to be saved, my phone had rang. It was their mother, saying she was ready for me to bring them home. But thankfully, there again, satan is no match for Almighty God! I continued on, until God's purpose for that day had been fulfilled.

And to my surprise, it wasn't over just yet. Thomas wanted to know if we could write God a letter. I explained that we could, but that we don't have to, because when we pray, He hears our prayers right then. We don't have to send Him a letter. Of course, Thomas said he wanted to write one, anyway, so I wouldn't dare discourage that. (It was so sweet.)

So he gave us each a sheet of paper, and we all wrote a letter to God. Afterwards, he folded them up, and handed them to me and told me to keep them. I promised I would put them some place safe... in my Bible, and I would keep them there, always. (If anyone knows anything at all about me, it's that I don't leave my Bible anywhere. I love this particular one, and no matter how worn it may get, I don't want another. I love this one!)

But anyway, I must share with you what Thomas' letter said...

Dear God,
Please change my moms and my dads heart. Please do it. I want my family to be good, not bad. I want everybody in my family to go to heaven. Love, Thomas

How precious! And how convicting it is that these young children can be soooo burdened for the salvation of their loved ones, when sometimes we "grown ups" fail to even lift our loved ones' names up in prayer, much less show any heartfelt concern over the fact that they're dying and going to hell.

Kinda puts a new spin on things, at least for me, anyway.

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. - Matt. 18:13

Let's all pray and search our hearts, and if we don't already have a deep, deep burden for those we love (much less for a lost and dying world full of people we don't know), let's become as these little ones, and commit to praying fervently for them to come to know Christ.

Our Pastor preached on "The Last Chance" a few weeks ago, in reference to our not knowing when "our last chance" will be. For those who are lost and without Christ, today might be your last chance to come to Him. For those who already know Him as Lord and Saviour, today just might be your last chance to witness to someone you know, who's lost.

We none know when our last chance may be. So that's all the more reason to make sure we're ready. And to make sure all those around us are ready.

We're all missionaries... in our homes, families, neighborhoods, schools, jobs. So let's all take that commission seriously, while we can!

*** One more note: As I was driving the kids home last night, I remembered what Thomas had said earlier in the day, so I reminded him that "Yes, today was indeed the best day ever... because today's the day you asked Jesus into your heart."

---------------------------------------------------

If you haven't done so already, why not make today YOUR best day ever? Email me, or leave me a message here, and I'll be more than happy to get back to you and show you how, according to Scripture. Email me by clicking here.



Leave a reply by clicking the "comment" link below. Thanks!