Bigger Picture Moments: To Plant Truth

Every night as the sun goes down and the kids cozy up in their bedtime clothes, daddy sits down with our two quickly growing children and opens up their favorite book.

"Yay!  God-book!" they declare and stare at the page mesmerized as daddy reads the words that tell the most beautiful story.

Their eyes wide, daddy sees an opportunity to teach truth and train up these little ones in the way they should go.  He takes their wild imaginations and gives them each a part to play as the words on the page take on new meaning through drama.

"Here, Valerie, you can be the angel and this will be your sword.  Almanzo, you can be Balaam and I'll be your donkey," he explains as they giggle at daddy down on all fours with a silly three year old boy on his back.

"Now, Almanzo, Balaam told the donkey to go that way, so tell me to go that way," he continues.

"Go that way!" he declares as another fit of laughter makes him nearly fall off his noble steed.

"Ok, Valerie, now, you're the angel and the angel doesn't want us to go that way, so hold up your sword to stop us," he says as our four year old holds up the coat-hanger-turned-sword shaking with the humor of the entire dramatic scene being played out in our living room transformed into a stage.

The story moves forward as daddy explains how God sent the angel to protect Balaam from the danger ahead.

"Daddy, God sent a angel to me while I was sleeping!  The angel was singing and dancing so I not be afraid," Valerie blurts out and daddy seizes the opportunity to tell her how much God cares for her, so much that He sent His son to die on a cross.

"And He rose again!" both kids exclaim and our four year old daughter, who so often understands far more than we give her credit for asks daddy to tell her more and then, as my heart nearly explodes with joy, she says she wants Jesus to be in her heart too.

Later that night, as I curl up in bed with my love, we pray for our daughter's sweet heart and the beautiful decision she made to open the most precious gift.  I fall asleep thinking about all the times we have talked about Jesus as we go about our days wondering if we were really making a difference.

All those times we shared truth, even when they seemed far more interested in making messes and running circles around us, were worth it.  Because you never know when those seeds planted and watered will fall on fertile ground and God will make them grow. 

Linking up with Bigger Picture Blogs for this weeks' Bigger Picture Moment.