“ The Faith of a Child “

Our family shared our meal together at suppertime on Thanksgiving day. While Our son, Jonathan, was frying the turkey outside, I had the dressing cooking in the oven. One of the last things I cook is the sweet potato souffle. Just before it finishes, I sprinkle marshmallows over the top and return it back to the oven to lightly brown on broil cycle. I hurried into the bedroom to change out of my worktop into a nicer top.

My two granddaughters (my little helpers, Ally, age 8 and Maggie, age 4 ) were waiting for me in the kitchen. It didn’t take but a moment. Yet a moment to long, for the girls informed me that something was smelling. Sure enough, Instead of lightly browned, the top was dark brown or you might as well say burnt. As I began to remove the top of the burnt marshmallows from the dish, the girls began to get real excited “YES,OVER BURNT MARSHMALLOWS.” They didn’t see burnt marshmallows. They began to say “Yea, we have s’mores and roasted marshmallows like over a fire!!!”

I began to laugh at these precious little girls view of the whole situation. They didn’t see this as a negative, but, as something positive. Little fingers began to pull off these “roasted marshmallow” and pop into their mouths with such enjoyment. Then, they sprinkled fresh marshmallows over the dish, even dropping a few on the floor, which of course brought about what they called the 10 second rule. Grabbing these as quick as you could blink, and putting them in their mouths to eat and yes, I joined them in chewing these soft cushiony delights. My little helpers and I began to giggle and laugh over the whole thing.

Then, Ally moved real close beside me and asked me, “Memaw, can I ask you a question?” Of course, I said, “Yes, Baby, you can.” To which she continued her question “Memaw would you talk to me about what it means to ask Jesus into my heart?” I replied, yes, I will be glad to talk with you. Give me a minute and we will go back to my bedroom to talk. Before you could blink, Ally and Maggie both raced back to my bedroom, hoping up on the bed to wait for me. I quickly turned over what I was doing to my daughter-in-law.

You can imagine the thrill of this grandmothers heart at this moment, as, I opened the door to find my sweet girls full of joy and excitement, Ally desiring to have the questions of her heart answered, and Maggie was excited to be apart of this whole thing. I am reminded of what Jesus said to his disciples in ( Mk. 10:13-16, ) “Suffer the little children to come unto me, forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God. Verily, I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein .”

My question to Ally was, what has brought you to this question; to which, she placed her hand over her heart and responded, “For sometime I keep feeling in here that I need to be saved.” I asked her to tell me what she thought that meant. She answered that she knew that Jesus was God’s Son, that He had sent Him to earth to save us who are sinners. We talked about how much God loved us from ( John 3:16-18 )

“For God so loved the world ( Ally, Maggie, You, and I ) that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus that whoever would believe in Him, would not perish, but would have everlasting life……….that we all might be saved.”

We talked about what it meant to believe, that God had given to everyone the measure of faith to believe, to be able to trust and commit their hearts to Jesus. In (Rom.10:8-13) the Lord says “ The word of faith is near thee, even in your mouth and heart. That if you would confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved.”

After discussing this for a short while, I asked Ally what would she like to do now. Without any hesitation, she said, “I want to ask Jesus to be my Saviour.” Then, this precious child began to pray with me “Dear God, I believe that Jesus is your Son and He came to save me, forgive me of all my sins. I open up my heart and ask you to come in and stay as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for saving my soul!

I shared with her how important it was to share what had just happened in her heart with others. She called her Mom, Haley, her grandparents, Keith and Renee, and then, her great grandmother. Great Grandmother Brenda said “let’s go in the living room and tell my family that’s here.”

It is never too late to believe – it’s a choice – it’s a faith action of the heart! Tell Jesus that you need Him as your Saviour, open wide the door of your heart, just pray like Ally did. I assure you that Jesus promises to save anyone who calls on His Name. Now, let Him lead and guide your life from this day. Refuse to live your life like you have been living it. Follow after Him with all your being, He alone satisfies the longings of our hearts.

Love forever,

Tricia Cook ( grt.grandmother of Ally, Maggie, & 3 mo. old Charlotte Hays)