kickstarted by a kid

They say that people respond one of two ways when crisis hits. Either they cling to God, or run from Him.

Purely by the Lord's grace, for the majority of the duration of the storm of watching my mom die of cancer, He kept me clinging on for dear life. Mostly out of necessity, spurred on by the question posed by Peter in John 6:68 when Jesus asked the twelve disciples if they, too, wanted to desert him. Considering his alternative options, Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life."

Now that the storm is over, however, I will admit that this period of calm has been a little too ... flat. Not that I am asking for another storm. But isn't it true that it is easier to depend on God when one really needs to? Isn't it true that many people only pray when they are in a state of desperation?

The bland taste in my mouth was given a taste of something more just before the kids' bedtime last night.

My daughter slipped me a tissue with her handwriting on it. I read the words she had written, and, quite frankly, was blown away.

Her message?

Mom, Dad,
Will you baptize me?
I am a bit scared.

Please don't show this to other people.

Amazing, isn't it?

I will clarify by explaining that this candid tissue message does not come unprecedented. For the past three or four weeks, she has consistently been asking me questions about baptism, deep questions, mature questions, unthinkable questions. Questions like, "I know I should be baptized, but what if people try to kill me after they find out that I am a Christian?"

Upon receiving the written message (just as our Bible study group was arriving at our door, I might add), I went into her room to talk to her about it. I encouraged her that I was happy that she was thinking about it so seriously, and I thought that God would be happy too, because it showed that she had a sincere love for Him and a concern to do what the Bible taught.

I asked her what made her to start thinking about baptism, and she replied, "Well, I was thinking about Grandpa, and the fact that he doesn't love Jesus, and I was trying to think of a way that I could tell him, and I thought that maybe if I got baptized, it would give me a way to tell him about Jesus."

What?!

She is willing to do something that terrifies her for the sake of someone else's soul? At the age of six?

Whose child is she, anyway?

She is the Lord's child, that's whose child she is. She belongs to Him, and I have the amazing privilege of watching Him grow in her day by day.

Praise be to God.