The day was May 29th, 2010.
It was a great day, and I was thinking things just couldn't get better. ( I was wrong!) It had been a tiring week, and I was EXHAUSTED. But we were headed in to a three day weekend with Monday being Memorial Day.
It was around 10:24 pm and we were leaving a local rodeo. Mario had won first place in the tie-down calf roping, and our nephew, Breylin had entered the breakaway roping for the first time ever. He placed 4th out of 15-20 ropers of various ages. We had had a great day together, the kids were excited to be up late, and I was wrapping up last minute tasks for Jeryn's birthday party for the following day.
It was a great day, and I was thinking things just couldn't get better. ( I was wrong!) It had been a tiring week, and I was EXHAUSTED. But we were headed in to a three day weekend with Monday being Memorial Day.
It was around 10:24 pm and we were leaving a local rodeo. Mario had won first place in the tie-down calf roping, and our nephew, Breylin had entered the breakaway roping for the first time ever. He placed 4th out of 15-20 ropers of various ages. We had had a great day together, the kids were excited to be up late, and I was wrapping up last minute tasks for Jeryn's birthday party for the following day.
We pulled out of the rodeo arena parking and headed for home, Mario and Breylin trailing us. We were all tired, but still excited, and I felt a little for twinge of guilt for having the kids out so late since they were both recovering from strep. I reached over and turned on a cd that I had found a few days earlier after having misplaced it for some time, and had been listening to it throughout the week. (album Everything Glorious by Passion)
I thought some soft music would help the kids to wind down. We first got our praise on with Jesus Paid it All. Once it was over, I drifted off into deep thought during the next song or two, justifying why it was okay to have them out so late:
It was Mario's first time to win on that particular horse (Raider, a horse my mom raised that he has been training in calf roping)...we wouldn't have wanted to miss that!)
School is out now anyway, and they can sleep in tomorrow morning and we'll just go to the late service... They had a blast and we were all there as a family...
Breylin gets to spend the night and we were there to show our support at the first rodeo he entered...
My thoughts were interrupted by, "Mom, start that song over."
It was Jaiden, and it was obvious that she was listening very closely.
I cleared my mind and just settled in and listened to the song with her. I could hear her singing along with it from time to time. Her voice sounded so sweet.
'I love to hear you sing and praise, Jaiden" I said.
She smiled and tucked her little chin down and thanked me.
I kept listening...to the lyrics and to her...
Chorus
Oh, Christ, be the center of our lives,
Be the place we fix our eyes,
Be the center of our lives.
Verse 1
And You’re the center of the universe,
Everything was made in You, Jesus.
Breath of every living thing,
Everyone was made for You.
Pre-Chorus
You hold everything together,
You hold everything together.
Bridge
We lift our eyes to heaven,
And we wrap our lives around Your life,
We lift our eyes to heaven, to You.
And then the music faded out and it was just voices ending the song, singing:
And turn your eyes upon Jesus, And look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.
The next song came on and she listened to it.
We are Yours--kind of a different song, but it talked about being a 'generation touched by your salvation" and it prompted a conversation about what salvation means. We had talked about this nearly a month ago, and she was recalling some of that.
She told me that she had learned the story of Nicodemus. We talked again about salvation and how Nicodemus was "born again"...and how if we gave someone a gift and they didn't accept it, it was their choice and we weren't at fault for that. We discussed how that was similar to God offering us the gift of salvation and eternal life. We talked for a while and I remember saying, when you have any questions about all of this, just ask me or daddy and we can talk about it some more."
A silence fell and I looked in the mirror to see if Jeryn was asleep yet. He wasn't, but he was as quiet as a little church mouse back there, holding his ear with one of his hands--something he does when he is sleepy :) I reached back over and turned the music back up just a tad.
By this time, Chris Tomlin was singing I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) , and just a few moments later, Jaiden announced from the back seat, "I want to be saved!"
There were no words to describe the joy that overcame me with her decision to accept Christ. We were nearly home, just around the corner...and while I hated to make her wait, I didn't want Mario to miss!! So I called him to tell him about Jaiden's decision. He was right behind us, so I told her we would pray together as soon as we got in the house because I wanted Daddy to be there. She was excited!
So at 11:25 p.m. Mario, Jaiden, Jeryn, Breylin and myself knelt in a circle in our bedroom floor. I read the following scriptures from my bible:
23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus
And then Mario led Jaiden in a sinner's prayer to repent and accept Christ. This is the moment we had hoped for. Prayed for. Waited for. To see our child acknowledge Christ and accept Him at an early age.
If you are reading this and you have never done this or have questions about what all of this means, you can go to THIS site to read what Billy Graham has outlined as steps to experience a new life in Christ.
Praise the Lord for answered prayer! Now, I continue to pray for Jeryn, that he too will accept Christ at an early age! Will you also pray for him?
And please pray for Jaiden to grow spiritually in the days, months, and years to come!
God is so good!
I thought some soft music would help the kids to wind down. We first got our praise on with Jesus Paid it All. Once it was over, I drifted off into deep thought during the next song or two, justifying why it was okay to have them out so late:
It was Mario's first time to win on that particular horse (Raider, a horse my mom raised that he has been training in calf roping)...we wouldn't have wanted to miss that!)
School is out now anyway, and they can sleep in tomorrow morning and we'll just go to the late service... They had a blast and we were all there as a family...
Breylin gets to spend the night and we were there to show our support at the first rodeo he entered...
My thoughts were interrupted by, "Mom, start that song over."
It was Jaiden, and it was obvious that she was listening very closely.
I cleared my mind and just settled in and listened to the song with her. I could hear her singing along with it from time to time. Her voice sounded so sweet.
'I love to hear you sing and praise, Jaiden" I said.
She smiled and tucked her little chin down and thanked me.
I kept listening...to the lyrics and to her...
Chorus
Oh, Christ, be the center of our lives,
Be the place we fix our eyes,
Be the center of our lives.
Verse 1
And You’re the center of the universe,
Everything was made in You, Jesus.
Breath of every living thing,
Everyone was made for You.
Pre-Chorus
You hold everything together,
You hold everything together.
Bridge
We lift our eyes to heaven,
And we wrap our lives around Your life,
We lift our eyes to heaven, to You.
And then the music faded out and it was just voices ending the song, singing:
And turn your eyes upon Jesus, And look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.
The next song came on and she listened to it.
We are Yours--kind of a different song, but it talked about being a 'generation touched by your salvation" and it prompted a conversation about what salvation means. We had talked about this nearly a month ago, and she was recalling some of that.
She told me that she had learned the story of Nicodemus. We talked again about salvation and how Nicodemus was "born again"...and how if we gave someone a gift and they didn't accept it, it was their choice and we weren't at fault for that. We discussed how that was similar to God offering us the gift of salvation and eternal life. We talked for a while and I remember saying, when you have any questions about all of this, just ask me or daddy and we can talk about it some more."
A silence fell and I looked in the mirror to see if Jeryn was asleep yet. He wasn't, but he was as quiet as a little church mouse back there, holding his ear with one of his hands--something he does when he is sleepy :) I reached back over and turned the music back up just a tad.
By this time, Chris Tomlin was singing I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) , and just a few moments later, Jaiden announced from the back seat, "I want to be saved!"
There were no words to describe the joy that overcame me with her decision to accept Christ. We were nearly home, just around the corner...and while I hated to make her wait, I didn't want Mario to miss!! So I called him to tell him about Jaiden's decision. He was right behind us, so I told her we would pray together as soon as we got in the house because I wanted Daddy to be there. She was excited!
So at 11:25 p.m. Mario, Jaiden, Jeryn, Breylin and myself knelt in a circle in our bedroom floor. I read the following scriptures from my bible:
Romans 3:23-24 (NIV)
23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus
Romans 10: 9-10 (KJV)
9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvationAnd then Mario led Jaiden in a sinner's prayer to repent and accept Christ. This is the moment we had hoped for. Prayed for. Waited for. To see our child acknowledge Christ and accept Him at an early age.
If you are reading this and you have never done this or have questions about what all of this means, you can go to THIS site to read what Billy Graham has outlined as steps to experience a new life in Christ.
Praise the Lord for answered prayer! Now, I continue to pray for Jeryn, that he too will accept Christ at an early age! Will you also pray for him?
And please pray for Jaiden to grow spiritually in the days, months, and years to come!
God is so good!
Acts 4:12 (New American Standard Bible)
12"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
Posts
