A Child Changes Everything

A few mornings ago, I had just rocked my son to sleep to his nap, when one of the songs in my CD changer really really jumped out at me. I've listened to the same 3 CDs since the day after Thanksgiving, when we started listening to our Christmas music, but I'd never heard this song the same way before.

The song? "Welcome to our World," the version I was listening to was sung by Michael W. Smith - online I've found lyrics by both him and Chris Rice, among others.

the particular lyrics that moved me so:


"Tender brow prepared for thorns
tiny heart, whose blood will save us
unto us is born."


I had just kissed my tiny son's forehead as I lay him down for his nap.
(just as Mary had likely kissed her God/Man Son Jesus)

My baby's skin so soft, hair so fine.
(it pains me beyond measure to take him for his immunization shots, I cannot begin to fathom a crown of thorns!)

My young child's whole body, while growing stronger every day, so frail and fragile.
(Jesus, while He was God, would choose to take death so that I would never have to!)

My son is precious beyond words to me.
(More and more, I am realizing, all people are so so precious to the point that our Newborn King would knowingly place himself in our cursed world to put himself through extreme torture, just to save us. I love my son, dearly so....but if I were truly honest with myself, would I be capable of doing what Jesus did for us? Miserable sinner that I am, I could not, not even if I tried.)


Certainly I'm not doing a good job of getting across the feeling of amazement and gratefulness and guilt and wonder and love that washed over me then, and has now every time since I hear that song. But I wanted to try to capture it and share it here. Try a search for this song, take a listen yourself. leave a comment and let me know which lyrics touched you.

She wants to make something like Jesus

So this morning at the breakfast table, my girl (3 years old) asked me to tell her a story. "Okay," I said, "what about?"
She pondered, "umm, how bout Horses!"

Goodness, a story about horses, it's early in the morning, I'm still pretty foggy and not at all alert. I'd been reading in James the verses about "Boasting About Tomorrow" (Chapter 4:13-17) and feeling very convicted because I had just bought a new yearly planner.

Hmm, okay, horses. I asked her if instead it would be okay to have a story about a donkey. Thankfully, she excitedly agreed. So, rather than dream up a horse story, I read to her from Matthew 21, about the Triumphal Entry, and how Jesus sent his disciples to get the donkey and her colt and how he rode the colt into the city while the people shouted "Hosanna in the highest!" and we did it too.

I asked her if she liked the Donkey story and she said yes, and I went back into my morning fog of sleepiness, but my girl started jabbering about dressing up and it made me snap into attention. She said she wanted to dress up so she would look like Jesus. Wow! I told her what we really needed to do was to make ourselves look like Jesus on the inside and that was what Jesus wants from us, anyway. We need to love other people, just like Jesus does, and to serve other people, just like Jesus does. I asked her if we could try really really hard to do that together, to make ourselves be like Jesus, and she agreed. Now I am one happy mama, but my goodness, what a challenge! To model what it's like to be like Jesus so she can look like Jesus. Can't do it, not on my own strength. Jesus, fill me up with your Holy Spirit so I can look like you!

Then, she says she wants to make something like Jesus made. Where does she get this stuff? Is it something her heart craves without even knowing it?? When do we lose these desires as grownups? Well, I tell her, Jesus made disciples, he made fishers of men. She says, "Can we do it Right NOW?"

I didn't give her much of an answer....after all, it was 6 something in the morning - how do we make disciples Right Now? This silly mama does not even begin to know how to shepherd this little child's heart, to help her "make something like Jesus made right now" But I pray I don't squelch her spirit's desire to be like her Savior!