Lessons From My Daughter

In the last few months, Paul has been asked to fill in and worship lead at a church in the area. Due to being a one-car family, the distance to the church, and his early call time, we are unable to go to church as a family. Therefore, I have tried VERY hard to make it to our church without him.

This has been tough. Some of you that know me closely are aware that I have had a very hard time connecting at church and I wonder if God is even listening. So to rent a car, get Chloe and myself dressed, fed and out the door each week is very daunting.

One of the primary motivations that I do get to church is that the children’s program is wonderful. Each week when I check Chloe into the nursery, she is excited and happy to be there. When I pick her up, I find that they have had a snack, taught them a Bible story, and completed some type of coloring page or craft that corresponds to the story. She has learned lessons about Nicodemus, King Josiah, Matthew the tax collector, Jesus and his disciples, Queen Esther, and how God created the earth and all that is in it.

Today, I was the one that learned the lesson. As I picked Chloe up from her class and walked out to the car, I started talking to her about her coloring pages and the characters in them. They had learned that day about Mary and Martha serving Jesus, and how Mary loved the Lord so much she chose to wash his feet with expensive perfume. While putting Chloe in her car seat I asked her, “What did you learn today about God?” To my surprise she replied, “He cleans our hearts.”

I never thought I would hear such tender words come out of my two year old daughter’s mouth. I started crying right there in front of her. I don’t know how it fit with her lesson that day or what she understands about God cleaning our hearts, but I was struck by how profound her response was to me. I am asking God to continue to clean out all the dark, rough, ugly, angry places of my heart and continue to mold me into who he wants me to be. Most of all, I am thankful that I made it to church today with my daughter.