So, most of you know I have a sometimes rocky relationship with my Grace. I feel like I spend 85% of my time coming down on her for one reason or another. I pray about this more than anything else in my life. It scares me to think of her teen years if I’m already having this much trouble connecting with her.
I had a revelation tonight that God is answering this prayer.
This past weekend I was supposed to (or so I thought) go to the Mandisa concert with a friend, but my friend backed out the day before. I was bummed and wondering who I would go with when a Mandisa song came on the radio. Grace pipes up and says, “OH, I just LOVE Mandisa!” I remember thinking to myself that I should take her with me, but I am ashamed to say I quickly dismissed the notion thinking I ‘deserved’ a night away. A few hours later Chuck suggested I take Grace with me…gee thanks Babe.. ;) But, I decided she would love it and it would probably be good for us to spend some “girl time” so I asked her if she wanted to go.
We had a blast!!
This is us taking that token picture that is always taken anytime you get a group of girls together…
Of course, it took several tries before we got one that didn’t have one or both of us blinking, eyes crossed, head cut off… So after this one Grace said, “Ok, enough with the smushing our faces together stuff, it’s really starting to creep me out!” HAHAHAHA! That child.
We had such a great time and got along so well. The only snag was at the end when they announced that anyone wanting someone to pray with them should look for the people in the green shirts. Grace wanted to go pray with someone. I told her we would pray together as soon as we got to the car. She insisted she NEEDED to go pray with someone.
I said, “Grace when you go up there they are going to ask you what you want to pray about. What are you going to tell them?”
“Faith, I want to pray about Faith.”
“But, baby, then you’re gonna have to tell them the whole story and we’ll be here forever, let’s just go pray about Faith in the car…or we can even sit down here and pray about Faith. We don’t need someone to pray with us.”
“But momma! I don’t care, I like for people to know Faith’s story! I’ll tell them the story and you can help me. Let’s go pray with someone!”
I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t let her go pray with someone. Who knows what kind of opportunity she might have missed.
What would it have hurt for me to just let her go pray?
JC and Grace were supposed to (or so I thought) spend time with their Nannie this week. At the last minute Grace decided she didn’t want to go so JC went alone. Last night Grace asked if we could stay up after the little kids went to sleep and have some “girl time” painting our nails. We did and had a good time.
Tonight her request was this…
Mom, after the little kids go to bed can I play games on your computer while you read me the Bible?
So, after I got the little kids in bed Grace sat down at my desk and played Minesweeper and Purble Place while I read her Matthew 25. I read the whole chapter, but this is what stood out for her:
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
As soon as I finished the passage she turned around and said, “Mommy, so is that last part kinda like when I was nice to [that bully]? Was I being nice to Jesus then? Is that what it means? You know what, as a matter of fact, let’s stop RIGHT NOW and pray for her!”
What a sweet precious girl.
Then she turned right back around and went back to playing her games. I read another passage. She would pipe up every now and then and ask me what this word or that phrase meant, never looking up from her computer. The next thing I know she says this:
*sigh* “I just love that sound.”
“What sound Grace?”
“The sound of your voice reading me the Bible”
♥
Then we curled up and read Disney’s Goofy and the Gondola: An Adventure in Italy. :)
What a sweet precious time we spent together. All week things haven’t gone how I thought they would or should, but God had bigger and better things planned.
What do I know?
