preciousness

My heart is so full...

Ever since I've been a parent, my heart's cry has been that our children walk in truth and in the paths of righteousness. Every night I pray that God teaches them... As their creator, He has a much greater understanding of their needs. Isaiah 54:13 is one of my all-time favorite verses. All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children.

Jaci had an encounter with God this morning. I'll tell you how it happened.

The worship time was amazing! Before we started singing, Pastor Judy shared some rhema words she had recieved this week. It was so encouraging to me, and for me it set the tone for worship.

The first song we sang was "I Am Free". Then we sang "Dancing Generation". The teenagers went all out today. AWESOME! I love it when they come on up to the front and worship with us.

Here's a link to see a video of this song.

dancing generation

Then we sang another song, "Lead me to the Cross". That song always brings me to my knees. It's a song of consecration... it always reminds me that He must have ALL of me!

Here's the chorus:
Lead me to the cross where your blood poured out
Bring me to my knees, Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself, I belong to you
So lead me... lead me to the cross.

But what took the cake, was the next song, and what happened during it. We sang a simple chorus that we all know:

O, the blood of Jesus
O, the blood of Jesus
O, the blood of Jesus
That washes white as snow.

We sang it several times. Jaci was standing with some of her friends. I kept glancing over at her, because I was sensing that God was touching her heart. A couple of times I almost went over to her (she was standing about 15 feet away from me), but each time I sensed God telling me to stay where I was because He was touching her.

There she stood, my 7 year old daughter, with her hands raised... worshiping not my God, but her God.

Her Jesus.

It was such a precious realization.

And then, she did something she had never done before.

She knelt on the floor and held her hands in front of her as she sang.

I could not stay where I was any longer. Brent & I walked over, knelt beside her, and put our arms around her. My watery eyes looked into her watery eyes and we shared a shaky smile.

"Jesus is touching your heart, isn't he", I asked?

She smiled and nodded.

"I don't know how to explain it, Mommy", she said.

"That's okay", I said, as tears dripped down her cheeks and mine, "Sometimes you can't describe it. It's just something you know deep inside your heart"

I can't even describe my emotions, then and since. Children are never too young to feel the touch of God on their lives. Too often we count them out, thinking they can't truly understand. But they DO!

Jesus, give our children a greater awakening in their hearts. Continue to draw their hearts to you, the Truth. Teach them how to be sensitive to your voice. Thank you for being real to Jaci today. Please God, continue to give our children undeniable, powerful encounters with you.

And in the words of John: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
(III John, verse 4)

first things first

Seek first the kingdom of God...

I haven't been able to get this phrase out of my head for weeks!

So simple.

~ and yet ~

So weighty.

First!

Not me or my interests,

not my house,

not my husband,

not my children,

not my friends.

Him.

I need to seek Him.

.first.

Such a deceptively simple phrase.

He beckons me with His words.

Esther honey, I'm here. Come spend some time with me...

And, like a child, who is learning to walk, I stop, turn and look at His smiling face...

...and toddle toward Him.