Almost every night Phil reads to the kids from the “Jesus Storybook Bible”. The kids love it! Now that we're reading through it for the second time, Evelyn has shown how strong her memory is by pointing at pictures and telling us the story. The other day she found the page depicting Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and said, angrily, “guy cut his ear off!”
On Friday night the story was about Namaan, a man who had leporosy and was healed by God through Elisha. The story went on to tell of the promise that God would later send his son, Jesus, to heal every broken heart. Jonathan asked if everyone's heart was broken and we explained that they are. “Even Evelyn's?” “Yes,” Emily said, “but if you ask Jesus to come and live in your heart, he can fix it. Would you like to ask him?” Jonathan enthusiastically agreed and prayed this prayer: “Jesus, I know that you died on the cross. Please come live in my heart.” We cheered and prayed for him, and Evelyn, caught up in the excitement, leaned over and kissed him!
The next morning at breakfast we asked if he remembered that he asked Jesus to live in his heart, and with a huge smile and light in his eyes he said, “Yes! He is living inside of me, and he's fixing my heart!”
Rejoice with us and pray for our son as he faces the many hardships and temptations this world will bring.
Dear Jesus, please continue to draw Jonathan close to you. Let your Holy Spirit dwell in his heart and stir up within him the joy of companionship with you, of citizenship in Heaven, of the abundant life you have called him to. And enable us as parents to stoke that fire, build a foundation for faith, and model the Christian life in a God-honoring, humble, compelling way.
Thank you God for this glimpse of childhood faith and wonder!
10 comments:
I'm crying tears of deep joy for you all. How exciting for Jonathan. I will keep praying for your family and your work.
Oh, how precious is that?! I just got chills readig that. Oh, that we may all have faith like a child! Thanks for the glimpse into your lives. I know that ya'll are enjoying your time there with Eli and Bethany. Ya'll are all in our prayers, especially little Jonathan now!
Woo hoo! What great parents you are. We're praying for you guys and sending love through the sky, on a cloud, over to Sudan.
Hurray! Praise God!!! What an incredible blessing. We're praying for all of you...
Awesome!! I look forward to celebrating the Lord's supper with him next time you guys are at Trinity :)
Aw man guys...so sweet. Thanks for sharing and keeping us updated. We are praying for you all!
Wonderful, just wonderful! As always our prayers are with all of you, but we'll lift special requests for Jonathan as he learns what it means to live as a follower of Jesus. He couldn't have better role models!
That's really awesome and sweet, you guys! So glad you are able to keep everyone updated through these posts. We miss you and hope you're all hanging in there as you're almost through this adventure and the "baking process". Wish we could send you a gigantic package of cool breezes and even some rain! Happy Birthday wishes to Jonathan and Evelyn! Sending our hugs and prayers for you all.
update!
Amazing. Glorious. I love reading about your family!! (this is jenny ashley).
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