He grants the desires of those who fear him;
He hears their cries for help
He hears their cries for help
and rescues them.
(Psalm 145:19 NLT)
On Easter Sunday, we gathered around my mom's picnic table feasting on the spread placed before us. Afterwards, I gave the nieces and nephews tote bags for them to keep their jammies and bedtime books safe and in one place. Patrick proclaimed himself a hobo, and the three little ones paraded around the yard with their "hobo" bags. I don't remember telling them about my hobo honeymoon Lenten journey, but it made me smile that they wanted to be hobos.
Then Loryn, the youngest, surprised me with a presentation and a gift she made for me. She ran in the house and came back with her hands behind her back. She said something like:
First: I love you. Second: You're the best aunt and so are all my other aunts. Third: This is a gift for Easter.
She handed me a scrap of notebook paper with words scrawled in her own hand, with one correction made by her mom.
I read it out loud to all present, and barely could keep from choking back tears as God loved me in words from the pen of a child. (I was touched by her desire to record her worship experience with pen and paper.)
She wrote:
Today I am going to church.
Day 1: Alive
God is always with you.
You can hare (hear) God.
God loves you.
God is always in your hearts.
As I read the sentence, "You can hare (hear) God," it pierced my heart, because earlier that morning I was doubting my ability to hear. Later my sister told me that was the exact question she and Loryn were discussing at church. Loryn knew God heard her, but she wondered if we could hear God. Her mom assured her that we can hear God, so Loryn wrote it down, affirming her new found truth.
The other message that seemed directed to my heart was; "Day 1: Alive." After these past forty days of observing the fast of Lent, I sensed that in her simple way of keeping track of the first day in her journal and the title of the sermon, she hit on another truth. Easter Sunday is Day 1. We can keep counting on the aliveness of Jesus each day. Alleluia!
Day 2: Alive! Jesus lives and I am glad to be alive!
And for those following the church calendar, I was pleased to be reminded that Easter is a season, not just one Sunday. I look forward to the continued feasting which lasts fifty days, until Pentecost. Grace, grace, God's grace!
There is so much richness to this post, Kel, how God can use a child to speak important, but simple truth....that writing down our days' vicissitudes and prayers becomes an important record of remembrance of God's faithfulness through an entire lifetime (particularly when one begins writing these things at a young age such as your little niece), that Jesus is ALIVE and, therefore, we can call on him at any time, and that, yes, we can actually hear from God. And if there is a season we don't, we know we will again. Because that is the nature of God--all-loving, all communicating....and that Easter can be onoing...that we don't have to stop celebrating. I must stop now...am on pain med. post-op and it makes me dizzy.
ReplyDeleteLove you!
Lynni (excuse if there are typos).
Lynni- You summarized exactly the gems of this encounter of God's grace and life through my niece's little note :) Hope you are feeling better. Thanks for stopping by even while you are recovering...Love and hugs-Kel
ReplyDeleteOh so much comes from the mouths of children, doesn't it? I love this post and what her words spoke to you, kel. Thanks for sharing.
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