Chloe's Prayer

My Chloe oh how she is growing. She has started to really love praying, and if we forget to at dinner or bed she doesn't.

Her prayer for the past 3 days has been the same, and it brings joy to my heart. "Dear God, please help Jesus not to die again. In Jesus name we pray, amen."

Ask her to tell you about Easter, and she will sadly tell you how Jesus had owies, and that he went in the tomb, but that he's alive! At the alive part she gets happy again. Well, I started thinking, how can I explain to a 3 year old that He won't die again, that He did it once, for all. So one night I followed her prayer with "Dear God, thank you that Jesus died once and for all, so that we could be in Heaven with you someday. In Jesus name, amen."

But then I realized, that just like Serena did, Chloe is grasping the love and sacrifice of Jesus one bit at a time, and that her little 3 year old heart surely makes Jesus smile. After all, even she sees that His death was wrong. He didn't deserve to die, and we surely didn't deserve for Him to die in our place.

Serena used to always tell me "Mom, it's sad that Jesus died." And I would respond, " You're right, it was sad. But we call it Good Friday, because the story doesn't end there. Our joy comes when Jesus rose again on Easter Sunday. He paid the price for our sin, and He overcame death. He died so you could be in Heaven with Him. He died to forgive your sins."

We had this conversation every year, until lsat year, as we were in the car, driving down Adams, past Orange Coast College. I remember that day as if it happened just now; "Mom, I'm glad Jesus died for me." She finally got it. It finally hit home. She finally got that Easter is about a salvation for the sinner, a reuniting of each lost child with thier Father in Heaven. Easter is pure, unabounding joy.

Someday, just like her sister, Chloe will understand that He died once, for all, and that even though it IS sad, Sunday morning, Easter, makes it a story of joy too.

Someday... it's a day I already see coming... like a glimpse of the future hope for my Chloe.

Chloe's heart is turning to her God with openness, and it is a joy I can not express in any blog, with any words, ever.