4 year old theology

-Lala?

-Yes baby.

-I don't want the devil to be making messes in my heart.

-Oh?

-yes, I want Jesus in my heart and the devil can't be in my heart if Jesus is in my heart.

-Well, do you know what you have to do?

-Yes, I have to say the name of Jesus! See, JESUS!

-Well there is more...

-what?

-You have to tell God about all the sin in you and then you have to ask Him to take it away and come live in you. You have to make that choice. No one can do it for you.

-Well how does the devil stay away?

-Jesus has a whole lot more power than the devil ever had! He is the light of the world and the devil can not be around the light at all!

-Because Jesus is Lord over everything?

-Yes, because Jesus is Lord over everything.

-But, He's not Lord over me?

-That's a choice you have to make yourself baby. No one else can make that for you.

*silence*

-Can Jesus be in everyone's heart?

-Only if they ask.

-I want Jesus to be in my heart. But not right now.

If you skip to 4:40 seconds you can see the song that spurred this precious conversation with my 4 year old this morning. My friends, I learned a powerful lesson this morning. I learned that you are never too young to be convicted by the Father. I don't know how the Father is working in this child's heart. Quite frequently we have a couple lined conversations about how Jesus makes the devil go away, or how he doesn't want the devil in him. Never in my years have I seen someone so request the Gospel. There is no way he doesn't know the truth and everything in me I believe that at his 4 year old capacity he understands.

I am praying for a real and completely clear understanding of where this little boys stands. God may not see it for His glory for me to know but I am praying He does. My heart's desire is for this little boy to come to a saving knowledge of the Father's gift meant just for him.

I know that God plans and sets things in motion that don't always come to the outcome we think it needs to. In the mean time I don't know where He is taking him but I know that He has convicted me in so many ways. Oh, the faith of this child. Oh, his precious heart of understanding things so black and white. Oh, the longing for comfort in structure. I don't know the things God is preparing him for but He has sure prepared me for some tough questions later on!

His ways, aren't my ways!

::Thanksgiving Fast Track:: Green Bean Casserole

November 11 - November 24 

Thanksgiving Fast Track 

Call me crazy. Go ahead. You know you want to! This has to be one of the BEST things about Thanksgiving dinner. This and something else I will post later! I am a homemade queen all the way except with these two items! I love, love, love green bean casserole. More specifically, French's Green Bean Casserole!

Oh man, to be thankful!

Images from Google

Here's the recipe! Seriously, looking for a side to your turkey, this is it!

French's Green Bean Casserole (source)

Ingredients:

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can CAMPBELL'S® Cream of Mushroom Soup

3/4 cup milk

1/8 tsp. black pepper

2 (9 oz. each) pkgs. frozen cut green beans, thawed*

1 1/3 cups FRENCH'S® Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions

Directions:

MIX soup, milk and pepper in a 1 1/2 -qt. baking dish. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French Fried Onions.

BAKE at 350°F for 30 min. or until hot.

STIR. Top with remaining 2/3 cup onions. Bake 5 min. until onions are golden.

::Thanksgiving Fast Track::ESL thankfulness

November 11 - November 24

Thanksgiving Fast Track

Monday nights I teach an English class to a half-dozen or more people (16-56 years old) from various South and Central American countries. When I first began a little over a year ago I didn't quite understand the extent of my involvement in this. One of the guys from church requested I start working with some of them on practical conversational English. Little did I know, one thing lead to the next and 14 months later I have 3 different levels on comprehension, literacy, and drive.

Most Monday evenings spent around my dining room table are spent in stitches with various English slip ups, or blunders! They keep me on my toes with their spelling, questions, and misuse of wording!

This week I decided to break away from the norm and do some focusing on Thanksgiving. After breaking Beginner - Advanced levels I spent some heavy time focusing on the story of the first thanksgiving and having the advanced students write out what they were thankful for. In the next room the beginners were going over the things they were thankful for only on a lighter scale. After having them read over their papers there was a little something inside me that got excited.

I have been a part of this church for a little more than 2 years and in that time I have seen them increase in their English by a lot! My class has grown from 2 - 3 guys to the 9 we had last night! As my students were reading, in English, their thanks for meat (yes, this is big one), health, family, and their lives, I was so excited just listening to how far they have come!

So as they are thankful for their meat, I am thankful to witness their knowledge in the language and how they are now able to use it! I am thankful in retrospect that God chose to bless me simply with the location of my birth. Not to mention parents, family, and economical standing. Being in this group of my "extended family" the last 24 months has shown me so many things but something big is how blessed I am. I haven't had to fight for life, I've just lived it. I am thankful that I am working to understand a language that will help me communicate with this group of people and others around me but not one that is required for living.

What are you thankful for?

::Thanksgiving Fast Track:: and YOLOMondays Link up

November 11 - November 24

 Thanksgiving Fast Track

As I sat down to start this series I came across this picture. I don't have a computer of my own right now so keeping track of the pictures I have means comparing notes from 3 different computers, a handfull of thumb drives, and my camera! Whew! So ready for my computer to come! =)

Back to the post: when I saw this picture I knew that this would be the theme of one of my posts. Today I choose to declare my thanks for this girl! Being the youngest of 5 girls has to take it's toll on her poor little pre-teen emotions! Sure, she is spoiled (rotten) and totally lavished with attention and gifts, she is also kept in the position of "baby" sister in our eyes just because of her birth place. This picture screams to me oh how quickly she is escaping her "little" girlness. Her classic teenager messy hair, hand on the hip, and not to mention the fact that she and I have shirts from the same department. As in, it isn't a happy coincidence that our shirts happen to look the same!

She sure has matured a TON in just the last year! She is a SUPER huge help with the kids and most days will change a diaper without being asked, including the not so pleasant ones! She happily crawls on the floor with them and will wrestle and make animal noises to accommodate their childhood imaginations. A matter of hours later you can find her in front of a mirror fixing her hair and picking out the right shirt to head out to Bible Study. Just don't look too long or she will stop dead in her tracks!

Today I am thankful for the Bean! Bean, I am thankful for your sweet personality, your helpful attitude, and your generosity! I am thankful I am your sister. 

What are you thankful for?

Thanksgiving Fast Track!

I always felt so sorry for Thanksgiving. It was the holiday squeezed in between Halloween and Christmas and totally overlooked. With the hype that surrounds Halloween (which is a post for another day!) and the black Friday deals descending before we've digested our turkey, Thanksgiving keeps itself tucked away on it's own little Thursday. 

This day is a little larger than a few hours of food, a football game, and family near and far. The day of Thanksgiving is rooted in a group of people celebrating the God that delivered them from hardships and blessed them with a good harvest. Now many, many years later turkeys, stuffing, and cranberry sauce have paraded onto the scene. I don't doubt that people work to be thankful but I want to make a personal effort to do so. 

In efforts to keep this holiday not so tucked away, I am making a Thanksgiving Fast Track series. I will be posting everyday until Thanksgiving and the theme will be that of Thanksgiving. A recipe, a giving of thanks, a memory or tradition, etc. 

Join me as we give thanks! Leave a comments and follow along!

November 11 - November 24

Thanksgiving Fast Track