Lessons in Love: Little Visits with Jesus

The girls' teacher gave me a box of things that her daughter had grown out of (books and clothing, both), and the devotional book Little Visits with Jesus was in there. I remember going through a book like that with my mom when we were little (might have been the same one, come to think of it). I like the younger child devotional books that we can do as a family.

We have been reading one each night with the girls for the past week or so. I was reading a chapter of a book (Little House on the Prairie or another book of their choosing), but I'd much rather do a devotional geared toward them instead. :) I really like that the reading/story for each day is short and that it is easy to read (for me) and understand (for them). There is verses listed at the top of the page, a story relating to the verses, then a little prayer to sum it all up at the bottom. Iris and Lily have been wanting to pray after we read (I normally do the before-bed prayer time), and it's so cute to see them pray about the things we had just read in the devotional. Hopefully the lessons are making sense to them and they are really considering them. It's so neat to see them each apply or speak about the lessons in their own way and see their individual growth, spiritually.

Today, while they were doing math worksheets, Iris was asking about Heaven. I LOVE being able to talk with her about it and for her to understand as much as her 4 year old brain can. :) She likes to talk about Heaven and seeing Jesus and naming the relatives we'll see in Heaven. I have explained salvation to her and she sort of understands, but I think she hasn't quite yet personalized it or understood the decision that must be made about it. She's still in the "let's all love Jesus" way of thinking....which is great, but she hasn't quite caught on to it being more than that just yet. I cannot wait for it to click with her and for her to understand the choice and for her to make that choice and accept Jesus as the only way to Heaven and understand (again, as much as she can) about His death and resurrection. Coming up to Easter in the next few weeks, I can see we'll be talking even more than normal about Jesus and His death. I am really hoping she keeps asking questions and continues to WANT to talk about it and not just feel it's something we do only at church or during devotion time.

I am so thankful for the open minds and hearts of little ones. They seem to see so clearly the simplicity of loving God. Obviously there's so much more beyond just loving God, but it all starts with that and I love that kids seem so eager to love Him. :)