Ava's Joy

Today is a very special day, or at least July 31st will be a very special day in our house from now on.  Ava and I got to spend a few hours alone because Eric is working and Lukas went to Vacation Bible School with his friend Austin who lives behind us.  It was a rare treat for me to get to spend time alone with Ava, but it wasn't nearly as special as the conversation that Ava and I had.

After Lukas left for the evening, Ava and I pulled out the painting supplies and sat at the table to paint together.  We are both expert artists.   I think she might actually be better than me, but that is beside the point.  Totally out of the blue, this is the conversation we had:

"Mama, Jesus died on the cross so we could go to heaven."

"Yes, He did, but you have to ask Him to live in your heart if you want to go to heaven."

"I know.  I did that."

"You did?"

"Ummmmm, I don't know."

"Well, if you want Jesus to live in your heart, you have to be sorry for all the bad things you've done."

"Like tearing up the book?"  (side note...Ava destroyed a library book beyond any hope of mending it the day before yesterday).

"Yes, like tearing up the book or hitting your brother or yelling at people or anything that you've done that was naughty.  Are you sorry for all of those things?"

"Yeah."  She looked down as she said this as if she were truly repentant.  It was so sweet.

"Then you can ask Jesus in your heart if you want to!"

"I can!?!" said with great enthusiasm.

"Sure you can!  Do you want to do that?"

"Yeah! "  said with even greater enthusiasm.

"Right now?"

"Yep!"

And then she prayed the prayer to ask Jesus in her heart.  It was so special, and so sweet.  She called her Daddy right afterwards to tell him, and, of course, Daddy got choked-up.  Then we called both grandmas and Aunt Cassie to tell them, and then Ava was clearly ready for bed, so we didn’t make any other calls tonight.  Everyone was thrilled for her, which made her very excited to share her news.  I hope that all of you reading this will join us in celebrating!  The feeling of knowing that your kids will one day join you in heaven is not one that can be described in words.  Eric and I will go to sleep with smiles on our faces tonight.

If you are reading this and you don’t know if Jesus is living in your heart or whether or not God is out there, I hope that you read these words and know that He is real.  He wants to be a part of  your life.  He will forgive anything, no matter what, no strings attached.  He loves you already just the way you are.  Just drop me a line if you want to talk about it.  I’m here any time!