Out of the Mouths of Babes

For those of you with children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, godchildren, you know how profound those little people can be. Well, my kiddos are no exception. I'd like to share some God-moments for each one...

Kalin a.k.a. K-Man

My13-year-old K-Man is a deep thinker, y'all. One of my friends once nicknamed him D.W. or "Deep Waters". Kalin is the artsy type. He daydreams a lot and lives in a constant state of creating. At any given time he's either composing a new song or rap, writing a book or producing a short film. He's a sanctified Kanye West, J.K. Rowling and Spike Lee all wrapped up in one.

The downfall to this creativity, however, is that people some may not take Kalin seriously. I've had teachers tell me they weren't sure he was really "getting" his work, until he busted an A on an exam. Kalin shocks us with his intellectual and spiritual depth at times.

Take, for instance, a few years ago in Children's Church at Strong Tower. After dramatizing the story of the three Hebrew boys and the fiery furnace, the teachers had begun answering the students' questions about the Daniel text.

One of the children asked, "What did the boys have for food in the furnace? Didn't they get hungry?"

Kalin, who a friend of mine said had looked disinterested during the entire skit, said, "No they didn't get hungry. Jesus was in there with them, and He is the Bread of Life."

Now that could preach. And why do we hunger for the things the world has to offer, when we've got the Bread of Life as our Savior, our Lord, our Friend?

Christian a.k.a. Christian Man a.k.a. Ray Lewis

My Christian Man is the roughneck of the family. Recently he had to write an essay in his third-grade class, answering several questions. Almost each of his answers read "I really want to play in the NFL." And believe me, very few of the questions dealt with future aspirations. For instance, one his questions was "What are you afraid of?" His response: "I'm afraid I might not make it into the NFL." To say he's focused on his life goal is a gross understatement.

On the other hand, Christian is my sensitive heart child. He is the first one to run to his baby sister if she falls, rushing to nurse her wounds and make sure she's okay. He's the quickest to tear up after an offense. And at this time, he's the one whose heart is most bent towards the Lord. A couple of weeks ago, we started leading the kids through the gospel of John. After the first night of study, I prayed that the children would begin to long for our times in the Word. The next night my Christian asked, "Mom, are we going to read John again tonight?" I wish all my prayers for my kids were answered so quickly!

As I compose this blog, Christian just asked where he could find a Bible. He's now reading the Word of God on his own. Right this very moment. God is so good. Lord, may we have a love for your Word that I see in my Christian Man.

Joelle a.k.a. Joellie Bell a.k.a. Joella the Bella

Now my Joelle is my girlie girl. Don't get me wrong. She can run around and wrestle with the big dogs. But I've never known a 5-year-old obsessed with makeup and hair glitter. I call Joelle my "Diva". Once in Children's church the kids drew pictures of what they were praying for. While other children were probably praying for their sick grandmothers, my daughter prayed for, what else? Makeup!

But Joelle is also my sweet, affectionate child. My most extroverted child, Joelle has never met a stranger and never will. I'm convinced her winsome personality will win her homecoming queen, class president and head cheerleader all in her senior year of high school.

Joelle is in that adorable stage in life when she answers every spiritual question with -- Jesus. Who was the first man God created? "Jesus!" Who tried to run away from God and got eaten by a big fish? "Jesus!" Who died to save us from our sins? "Jesus!" Okay, sometimes the answer is actually right.

Although we crack up with the inappropriateness of her answers, it makes me ponder. After all, isn't Jesus really the answer to everything we face in this life?

Jada a.k.a. Jadie Padie a.k.a. Jay Jay

And last, but not least, is my Jada Girl. Although the youngest of the bunch, we haven't been able to convince her of that fact. Jada is quite convinced that she's the boss around here. Jada is my take-charge, no-nonsense two-year-old. She regularly instructs her older siblings what to do and not do, locks all the doors around the house (while everyone's outside the rooms) and constantly asks me for money to buy something from the store.

Jada may be my bookworm. She loves when I read to her, and just "read" her first book herself -- If You Give A Pig a Pancake. I was amazed at how well she'd learned the story. She's also at the "why" stage. We have to remember what all the child development books say about the inquisitive nature of a child so she doesn't drive us crazy with all her questions.

But best of all, Jada already loves to pray. One day Joelle asked me for our regular bedtime prayer. Before I could lay my hands on her and open my mouth to pray, Jada had already laid her hands on her and begun to pray for her big sister. She's done that several times since then. She's a little spitfire prayer warrior.

Last month Ant and I attended a seminar led by Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. His two main points that day: 1. Learn to love people as Jesus does and 2. Pray, pray, pray! My little redhead Jada has encouraged me to do just that.