Proud Momma!

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Matthew 11:25 (NIV)

I had the honor of taking my son out for Halloween this year. We don't do the "normal" door-to-door type of collection, we typically go to the mall for a mosquito-free and climate-controlled experience. We don't expect much candy here but Little Man gets to experience a safer-type of gathering process. We didn't stay long as the crowds were heavier than our trips in prior years, thus the pickings were slim and the kids were bigger. Could have had something to do with Halloween being on a Sat night. Now I must interject that Halloween is not a "holiday" in our home nor do we relish in the macabre affair it has become to others. We treat it as a day of "dress-up" with an emphasis on fun and fantasy, not scary and disgusting. Our little trooper was non-other than Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader before he turned to the "dark side") this year, complete with BLUE light saber. I had no idea until recently that the light sabers were special and color-coded according to character. I have learned a lot since becoming the mother of an almost-6 year old. Anyway.......we try to keep the festivities fun and light. Once we left the mall, we stopped at a local church we pass daily that was hosting a fall festival for the kiddos. It had a carnival atmosphere complete with games, bouncy house, and the requisite cotton candy and popcorn. I didn't expect to be moved or inspired at all on our visit, because after all -- I'm saved so I "got" to skip the tent that was telling about Jesus. But, God in His infinite might, still taught me something in the most interesting of ways. After Little Man, had completed his round of games with his stack of winning tickets in hand. We headed back to the fellowship hall for some refreshments, balloon animals and of course to cash in his tickets. Prior to entering, we were told there was a hay ride that would be coming back to pick up guests in a few minutes. Little Man was somewhat confused by this as he had never done a hayride and I must admit neither had I!! He was excited about the prospect of a new adventure but with mosquitoes starting to swarm we retreated to into the hall to wait and peruse the many prize choices for Little Man's gaming skills. By the time we left to board the hayride, we had added a balloon parrot which sat upon his shoulder, 3 beanie animals and bag full of candy. With our bounty in hand (and on shoulder), we climbed aboard the hayride trailer being pulled by a 4-wheeler. Once all of us were safely on board, sitting upon the fresh hay, we were off to explore the area. The church has set up props along the backside of the property, only to be viewed by those on the ride. There was a nice grandmother sitting on the other side of Little Man. As we went through the first area, it was a re-creation of the Garden of Eden. The grandmother began to ask my little man questions about the scene. What happened next, just amazed me -- this is the God moment. Little Man proceeded to start telling the entire wagon about each scene we passed and what it meant... Noah and the Ark -- how it was just the animals and Noah's family and the flood. Then it was into the belly of the whale with Jonah. And so on and so on, all the way through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, including who killed Him and why... all the way to being raised from the dead. He made sure that everyone understood Jesus was the only one that could do that. I was never more proud of my boy in all my life!! I think I was also a little shocked too that he had actually been paying attention to me and his Bible study teachers all these years. I knew he knew these things but listening to him, I realized that not only did he know them, he really KNEW them and believed them. God showed me a couple of things that night during that proud-momma moment. First, Little Man did as we all should do and put these truths in his heart and was able to pull them out when he needed them. Just as we all should do with the Word of God -- read it, believe it, relate to it and store away His precious Word in our hearts!! Second, God taught me that it doesn't matter that I am saved, I still NEED to hear his message because until I get to the other side of Heaven -- I don't know it all. I am just pleased that He chose to use my little fella to get the point across to me. That experience challenged me to spend more time in the Word committing scripture to memory and to keep teaching my son about the Lord and all our ancestors that came before us in the Bible. The Lord showed me that all hubby, the church and I have done with Little Man is not returning void. In fact, it's already paying great dividends and Mommy is not exempt from receiving the benefits and neither are you!! Dear Father - -Thank You so much for teaching me lessons through ordinary events and showing me that my son truly does love you and "gets it." I thank You for the honor of being a mother but most importantly for being Your child. Please continue to be with me and teach me. Please continue to equip each of us to deal with all the at life throws at us. Thank You for being MY God. In the Precious Name of Jesus - AMEN Application:

• Do you have the Word of God hidden in your heart? If not, why?
• Has God used the ordinary moments of your life to teach you something? Or, do you only see Him in the "big" or traumatic times in your life?
• Ask Him to speak to you in the everyday...seek His face...seek His will.... He is there!! Sometimes, we need to just stop and listen.