Everyone can appreciate a cute baby/toddler story. So, I dedicate this post to sharing two lessons I have recently learned from young children. 

Cute Kid Lesson 1: - Pray any time, anywhere

We have now had a month of warm weather here, however, before this beautiful Spring weather arrived, we had more snow than I remember having in years. My sweet nephew Andrew (5 years old) asked me one day when he would be able to come over and play outside with Jaelyn on the trampoline, playhouse, and other outdoor toys. I told him that as soon as the weather was warmer he could come over and play any time.  "In fact," I said, kneeling down next to him "Next time you pray you should ask Jesus to send warm weather. You know, Jesus likes it when children pray to Him. He always answers your prayers." I then stood back up and cotinued the conversation I was having with his mom, not thinking any more about what I had told him. Andrew then came up and said, "Ssshhh...Can everyone please be quiet! I need to pray." He then got down on his knees right beside the couch and started, "Dear Jesus, please make it warm so we can go to Jaelyn's house and play with the outside toys."

This single moment has spoken to me several times since then. When I told Andrew to pray for warm weather, I thought he would pray about it before bed, it never occurred to me that he would stop everything and pray at that very moment. Wow! What a lesson to learn from a 5 year old! God is always ready to listen, not just at bed time or before meals. Whenever a need arises, stop what you are doing and go to the Lord. You can pray to Him any time, anywhere. Thank you, Andrew, for this great reminder!

Cute Kid Lesson 2: Jesus, our Healer, ever faithful, ever true

My daughter Jaelyn, now 2 years old, was getting ready for bed last week and bumped her head. She came up to me crying and said, "Mommy, my eye broken." I asked, "Your eye is broken?" To which she replied, "Yes, pray." So I placed my hand over her eye and asked the Lord to touch and heal her boo-boo. She then quickly jumped up and asked enthusiastically, "Jesus heal it?"  I nodded and said, "Yes, Jesus healed it." Full of joy and excitement, she said, "Yay! Woo-hoo boo-boo gone! Thank you Jesus!"

That quick and unquestioned faith astounded me. She had no doubt in her heart, her faith was simple and pure, as all of ours should be. Just a few days later we had to go to the doctor to get labwork done for some test that are being run on Jaelyn. Having been to the doctors office several times in the past few months, she knew as soon as she saw the chair, what was about to happen. She had her blood drawn, despite begging for no boo-boos  and the nurses wrapped her arm up, gave her suckers and stickers, and sent her on her way. Jaelyn waved by to all the nurses, blew them kisses and skipped out of the office. After getting in the car and pulling out of the parking lot, Jaelyn handed me her bandage. When I told her she needed to keep it on she said, "No, boo-boo gone. Jesus heal it!"  

I can't tell you how much joy it brought to my heart to hear her little voice say those sweet words. As we go through testing and doctors appointments with this precious little girl, it is a helpful reminder to hear even from her two year old mouth such words of encouragement and faith. Jaelyn doesn't know the things that may or may not be wrong with her, she only knows to give it to God and He will take care of it. There is no questioning it for her. God promises to never leave or forsake us. He is always faithful and always present. He is true to His word. Praise God! Thank you, Lord for the reminder from this sweet girl.

As I recall these stories, I am reminded of Matthew 18:3-4 when Jesus shows His heart toward children. "Unless you change and become as little children..."  How diffferent would our lives be if we had the faith of a child, without question or doubt, stopping whatever we are doing to bring our thoughts to the Lord? Make it a point this week, to walk in faith no matter the circumstances and to present your needs (and praises) to the Lord as they arise, rather than putting them off until later.

I am so thankful for these big lessons I learned from such little children and hope you can enjoy them as well!