A song for Jesus

A few weeks ago Natalie told me, “Mom, I wrote a song! Do you see it?” Unfortunately, I was distracted with caring for 3 sick boys and didn’t truly take notice. Fast forward a bit to the quiet afternoon while the boys were napping and I was cleaning the house and came across this...

If I am being completely honest with myself, I don’t think that our daughter would have created something like this last year. And it's not for lack of effort on our part to help nurture her faith either. We are a family who loves and practices our Catholic faith. From Sunday Mass, to religion class, family prayers, reading the children’s Bible, and extra little activities, etc., we are a family who regularly and openly talks about God. Up until these past few months (when we started noticing changes in Natalie) I thought that what we were doing to foster our kids’ faith was, for lack of a better term, "good enough." However, God has opened my eyes to a much different story. 

Our daughter has always been a loving, outgoing, full of life little girl but now there is something wonderfully different about her since attending Catholic school this year. Her light is shining so brightly! Being a part of this school family, having her faith nurtured not only at home but also in the classroom, has given her the special gift of confidence. She now feels confident to share God’s light with others in everything she does. She writes letters to people which always include a “Jesus loves you!” She is writing prayers in her journal, sweet little songs, all her artwork lately is all centered around God, and just last night she told me that not only is she very happy at her new school but that she wishes her friends are her old school cold come to her new school and learn more about Jesus! Wow! What a beautiful transformation!

We are also in awe of how much our son has grown- he now loves to lead us in prayer and and is fascinated about St. Michael the Archangel, his level of confidence in social settings has skyrocketed and he has been teaching his younger brother "the ropes” of preschool. My favorite moment is when I watched Conner in the rear view mirror, listening to his favorite praise and worship song, Oceans, by Hillsong. He listens so intently, sings so sweetly and has the most precious smirk on his face. It brings such joy to my heart.

They older two boys often spend their days in the play area pretending to be priests and saying the Mass.They grab plastic cups and play food and pretend they are having communion... "Da bod-eee of Chrwist." Cracks. Me. Up. There is nothing sweeter than hearing them upstairs playing and then pausing to saying their prayers together. What priceless gifts these are! 

I am so thankful that they are in such a wonderful, caring school environment. But I am most thankful for the important reminder they they ARE in the hands of our most loving Father- one who loves them more than I can ever comprehend. I have to quit (unintentionally) stepping in between our children and the work that God is trying to do in them. Too often I worry about cramming in as many teachable moments into the day as I possibly can, secretly stressing out that I am not doing enough to help them grow spiritually. As if I am a somehow a better teacher than God (umm, how incredibly bold and stupid of me!)… "TRUST. HIM.” is what I have to keep reminding myself throughout the day. Our kids have been beautiful examples of what it means to place their hearts in Jesus' hands. They show me each day how to be present in the simple moments and to not sweat the little stuff- to be open and ready to share the love of God everywhere we go and in all that we do! 

** I came across this poem that I saved while deleting some old files. A friend sent it to me (ok, that was back in the day before email. So they actually wrote me a note during class!) when we were in high school. Not sure of the original author but this seemed appropriate)...

As I live each day, may I do my part, 

To make one difference; to touch one heart. 
And through each day, may it be my goal, 
To encourage one mind and inspire one soul. 
To spend my days wisely, in all that I do, 
Caring and loving and living for You!