every night before i go to bed i've been doing something that keeps me awake for a little longer than i should allow: i've been watching a video of my niece singing the alphabet. my little only-just-two-year-old, curly-haired, sweetest-little-girl-ever is the pride of my heart. she sings the alphabet missing a couple unnecessary letters, like G, and L. when she finishes the alphabet and moves on, she sings "now i know my a b c d e f..." and so on until the fourth round when she tires of the song, claps her hands, and says "yay!". this is the new never ending song.
i think my niece is so smart. how many freshly turned two-year-olds have the alphabet memorized? and i won't deny that she's smart. the thing is that she has no idea what it means. eight years ago i pulled a "Grace." i was a new high-schooler and was excited to be on my first mission's trip away from my parents. i did not anticipate a change that would occur during that week.
i was the typical Christian kid, and i had john 3:16 memorized. "for God so loved the world He gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." whatever the heck that meant. but i was sitting there during a time of worship, and we were singing, hundreds of us together, "better is one day in your house, better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere." and the truth of this song struck me, and i couldn't wait to be in the presence of God. the moment got even better as this aforementioned verse came to mind, and for the first time i understood it; it meant something to me. God loves me so much that He allowed his Son to die at the hand of those He had created. He did it so that we could spend time in his grand, miraculous house and courts.
it must have been reminiscent of einstein's eureka! moment. i cried and cried, and i understood. and it has changed my life.
in a couple years grace will understand what the alphabet means and why it's important. and maybe she'll memorize john 3:16 and some day understand it, and allow it to change her life.
1 comment:
I pray for this often, Andrea! Grace has even memorized a simple prayer "Dear Jesus please help me obey." I pray that she wouldn't just say it but mean it from her heart when she's old enough to understand. Thank you for that post- it was neat to see how God impacted your heart at a young age. Boy, we really miss seeing you!
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