Early the other morning, as I sat at my dining room table having coffee with the Lord, my sweet Grant quietly crept over, sliding a round post-it note beside my Bible.
It read....
Some mornings, the boys wake and walk downstairs before I've had a chance to write their Bible verse on the chalkboard. In that case, I give them permission to climb up on the counter (which they love to do) and I tell them the verse for morning quiet time.
This particular morning, Grant gave me his suggestion.
I read the note and asked, "James 4:10. OK. What does it say?"
So he came over and peeked over my shoulder. I flipped back to the book of James.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:10
"Oooh. Good one, buddy. Why this verse?"
"I just like it," he said.
Oh, you have no idea. Listen, I write this not to say "Look at my overly-zealous, humble and spiritual eight-year-old." No way.... in many ways it is the opposite.
You see, when I started using my prayer cards, one of the KEY WORDS on Grant's 3x5 is my cry out to God for HUMILITY for this kid. I pray often that he would have desire to put other's needs over his own. I regularly pray Colossians 3:12 over his life. I pray Grant would..."Put on a compassionate heart, kindness, HUMILITY meekness and patience."
This post-it note was confirmation that God is doing a work. It may be years before I see a huge harvest of humble pie, but today I am encouraged.
And when I see him literally pushing his brothers to the ground to be first in the van or ferociously scooping up the last helping of macaroni and cheese, I will remember the little note he slid beside my Bible. {grin}
It serves as hope to this little mama. I trust and BELIEVE that God is revealing to Grant that humility is where his bread is buttered.
Lord, thank you thank you thank you. I needed the encouragement. I pray you will use this little post-it note to encourage other mommies and daddies today. That no matter if they are seeing the fruit of the prayers going up for their own kids, YOU HEAR EACH PRAYER and are at work. In Jesus Name, Amen.
I'd love to hear of a time you've seen a little (or a lot) of fruit from your own prayers. Share if you have a minute...
Not to brag on myself, because I know I am far from perfect and that any good in me is only because of His grace and goodness...but I've gone through a real season of trials for the last two years, both big and small ones, the biggest being postpartum depression and anxiety and all the mess wrapped up with those two diseases that held me captive for over a year. I have found victory, not by my own strength, but in calling out to Him and finally asking for help when I so desperately needed it. It is still a struggle, but the verse Psalm 119:71 is so true - "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes." A few weeks ago, completely out of the blue (and totally unlike my hubby who is not at all a writer like me), my hubby slipped a handwritten note my way saying how blessed HE is to see me spending time daily in His words and leaning on the Lord because he sees the difference it is making in me. And at the moment he gave me that note I was struggling with doubting myself and beating myself up over the fact that I keep on messing up...but his not reminded me that what God loves most is when we consistently run to Him and that no matter how many times we mess up He loves our repentant and obedient hearts.
ReplyDeleteAw, what a sweet story! I've been seeing some fruit here & there! I've shared a story about my sweet boy, and I continue to see growth in him. Baby girl is the one I was a little more concerned about. She has been introducing her non-Christian friends to Christian music & posting encouraging things on facebook! :)
ReplyDelete{p.s. Is that coffee mug from Anthropologie? Too cute!}
Becky, I love this. It is very encouraging for us mommies. Thank you for sharing.
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