For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John
3:16
I
have been praying for years for Anna Lee’s salvation, that God would prepare
her heart and her mind to receive the most precious gift anyone can ever be
given, Jesus. I had been praying when
God called her to Himself that I would get to be the one to lead her to my Lord
and Savior. That I would get to
experience the time she made the most important decision of her life, to follow
Jesus. My God answered my prayers and
Anna Lee is not only my daughter, she is now my sister in Christ. I not only get to spend this lifetime with
her, I will get to spend eternity with her with our Savior Jesus.
I knew the Lord had begun a work in her
heart. She began asking some really
tough questions ones that I really didn’t even have answers to. I remember her asking one day about a year
ago, “Momma, how do you hear God’s voice and I don’t?” I thought Lord, How am I going to explain
this to a five year old. After praying,
He gave me the words and she took my explanation to heart. After that question, they just kept
coming. One night, a few months ago, she
asked me, “Momma, when will I know Jesus is knocking on my door?” I shared the story of Samuel and Eli and how
Samuel’s eyes were opened to God’s voice and His calling one night. She seemed to take that to heart. Then one night she came home from church and
preached to me a sermon her Children’s Pastor Bro. Steven shared with her about
two different hearts. I knew something
special was beginning to take place. She
understood as much as she could at this young age, and God was lighting a fire
in her soul.
We decided to go camping over spring
break. We took our camper to Lock 17 on
Thursday, March 14th. As we
pulled in, and set up we started getting ready for the weekend. Brad and I make a pretty good camping
team. We each have our responsibilities
setting up the camper and it normally goes pretty smoothly…for those of you
that camp you know many marital spats can happen over the backing up of a
camper, pulling the awning out, who does
what and so on. Anna Lee resumed her
spot on the couch with some toys until everything gets set up and then we all
get to play. This night was about to go
very differently than any other set up we have experienced. I was in my normal routine, and was making
sure I was getting done all I needed to get done when Anna lee stopped me and
said, “Momma, I need to talk to you.” I
replied with my normal, Okay baby but let me finish what I am doing, and then
we will. I had every intention of
finishing what I had started. She put
her hands on my face and said, “No Momma, I need to talk to you right now,
about something very serious.” I took
that as my cue to sit right down. I had
no idea what my baby was about to tell me.
I knew something was on her heart that moment, to be so persistent, but
I didn’t know the depth until I sat down.
She looked me in the eyes and said, “Momma, I am tired of having a
broken relationship with God, I want to invite Jesus into my heart.” My first
reaction embarrassingly was she is too young, too little. But as she talked the lord, showed me how
much work He had already begun in my sweet baby’s heart. She shared her thoughts and her
feelings. I shared with her what it
truly meant to be a Christian. Her daddy
walked in during the middle of this conversation and we quickly filled him in
on what was going on. My mind was
turning to mush, and my eyes were filling with tears and for the life of me I
couldn’t remember the ABC ‘s of salvation.
Brad stepped right on in, and shared with his daughter the ABC’s of
being saved. As I listened to my husband
leading my child to the Lord, all those prayers that I had prayed came flooding
back to memory and all I could do what cry out to the Lord, for the ultimate
blessing He gave us that night. Both her
parents witnessed Anna Lee except Jesus into her heart. When it became the time to pray the sinner’s
prayer, we shared what that prayer meant with her, and I told her I would pray and
she could repeat after me. In the
typical Anna lee fashion she told me, “ I don’t want to say your prayer momma,
I want to say my own prayer to Jesus, I want to pray myself to Him, and so she did. She prayed one of the sweetest prayers of
admission, she prayed one of the most grown up prayers I have ever heard her
pray. She prayed everything she needed to and all by herself! When she opened her eyes I noticed they were
filled with tears and as the tears fell she told me, “Momma, I don’t think I am
ever going to quit smiling!” At that
point I melted and as I looked at my daughter I felt the Love of a Heavenly
Father that was remarkable. OH, how Great
is the Love of the Father, that He has lavished on us, That we can be called
the children of God. She woke up the
next morning and the first comment out of her mouth was, “I can’t believe I got
saved last night! I am going to tell everyone in the campground today.” How I pray the Lord nourishes her soul and
she never loses that feeling of telling everyone she ever meets! We now have the pleasure of watching our
little sister in Christ follow through with her baptism this Sunday. What a day of rejoicing it will be.
Thank
you Father for the Blessing you continue to bestow on us each day. Thank for a Son who was willing to die a
sinner’s death so that we can live Forever with you in eternity. Oh, how You love us.
If you
have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior I pray the Lord softens your
heart through Anna lee’s story, and I pray you find the peace she has found in
Jesus our Savior.
Romans
3:23; John 3:16 ; Romans 10:9-10; Romans
10:13
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