BELLA'S DECISION

Last fall, Lily prayed to accept Christ as her Savior, and even at the time, Bella mentioned that it was something she was interested in.  However, we waited to see if it was something she would bring up again on her own.  (In the post from last fall, I go into more details about how we hope and pray to give Jesus to our children but ultimately understand that it is a choice they must make.)

Every night, we read from the Jesus Storybook Bible with the girls and pray with them before they go to bed.  Earlier this month, Bella said that she wanted to pray and ask Jesus into her heart.  With great joy, we asked her questions to see how she understood her own (and everybody's) sin and what Jesus promises.  Once it became clear that she comprehends, as much as a five year old can, how Jesus loves her and saves her, then we prayed with her, with Lily's very enthusiastic help.



As a believer, it truly is a joy and privilege to see my prayers answered and my children come to know the Lord.  I certainly know that it does not make life easier, but I know it makes it better.  It is also helpful to rely on the Holy Spirit inside of her to give her fruits of the spirit.  As a parent, I can work on behavior modification, but at the end of the day, the Lord works on the heart, and my prayer is that he will continue to work in all of our hearts to become more like him.

In the past month, we've run across some hard and even humiliating parenting moments.  There has been behavior that I never anticipated or imagined from my child.  But - it is helpful and life-giving to realize that Jesus will come alongside us because he is within each of us.  We all have so much to learn, and it is nice to be on our spiritual journeys together.  Now, when my big girls are struggling with something, we can have a common point of reference and all look to the Lord to help us learn self-control and patience and joy - all things that I still need help with.

Last Friday we went out to celebrate Bella's decision and enjoyed tasty Pizzookies.  Yum.



It is so fun to know that my daughter is now my sister in Christ - what a blessing!

We love you, Bella, and are so thrilled for the journey with God you have ahead of you!

*** I did ask Bella whether or not it would be okay to share this, because ultimately, it is her story, and she gladly gave her permission.