The Flame Within

This afternoon when I picked up my 4 year-old daughter from preschool, I noticed she had a Princess brush in her hand.  As any normal mother, I noticed immediately that the brush didn’t look like it came from our home.  I asked my daughter and she insisted it was hers.  Knowing the brush was not hers, I realized this was an important teaching moment.  I whispered into her ear, “Caroline, if you take this brush knowing it doesn’t belong to you, you will be stealing.  God tells us we are never to steal.  Stealing is disobeying God.”

Unfortunately, the lesson didn’t sink in immediately.  I left the brush at the school and told her we would talk to daddy, if he said the brush was hers we would pick it up on Monday.  Caroline was very upset and cried profusely for about 1o minutes.  (In her defense it was a pretty amazing brush, pink with a little diamond, Aerial, Cinderella, and Belle.)  I dropped the topic of the brush and she didn’t bring it up for several hours.  Later that night, after our family swim night at the YMCA, we were combing and drying her hair.  As I combed her hair, she said, “Mommy, the brush wasn’t mine!”  Immediately I gently stroked her hair and looked into her eyes, “Thank you Caroline for being honest!  I am so proud of you!  You know what that tells me about you?”  Caroline, “What?”  “It tells me that you have a beautiful heart.”  Caroline responded, “Mommy, does it mean I didn’t disobey God?”  “Sweetie, God is so proud of you!  He loves you!  You were honest about the brush, so you didn’t disobey God!”  I hugged her and we both walked out of the locker room holding hands.

As I pondered this event throughout the evening, I couldn’t help but feel extremely proud of my daughter.

I thought to myself, “I am not a perfect mother and I make more mistakes than I can keep track of… but I love the fact that my children are sensitive to the matters of God.  My greatest desire for my children is that they will understand God’s love and understand the importance of obeying God’s word early in life.”  BINGO!!!  This parenting moment brought joy to my heart!

The Bible iterates the importance of teaching children about God.  There is no greater joy for a Christian parent, than the moments when you see your children grasping the concepts of the Bible.

I am so proud of my sweet daughter!  I couldn’t imagine raising my children in any other manner.  John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way they should go and they shall never depart from it!”

Could it be that my daughter’s story, is what God is referring to in Mathew 18:3. Mathew 18:3, “And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

I pray, I will have childlike faith all the days of my life!  I pray my children will be sensitive to the matters of God all the days of their lives.  I thank God for the opportunity to raise my 4 children according to God’s word!

Blessings, Crystal