Evangelist Aiden

Recently a muslim family filled with young boys moved in the apartment next to us. These people have driven me crazy from day one. They apparently have no clue how to use their "inside voices", and I have thought that some may have hearing problems based on how loud they play their music and tv. They have made night time miserable, because they are so noisy it makes it very hard for me and Joe to sleep, since our room is connected to their living room. I have harbored very ill thought towards this family in my heart, wishing that they would leave as fast as they moved in. No one in the family speaks English except for the mother and father, who speak very little. Today was a nice day (Praise God!) so me, Aiden and Madeline spend practically all day outside. When the boys (about 4 or 5 all together) came zooming by on their bicycles, Aiden proceeded to stop them and ask them to play with him. I stood at the kitchen sink keeping an eye on the situation. After a few short seconds, it was very apparent to me that these children did not know any English, but it didnt bother Aiden at all, because he just kept babbling on and on, explaining his swing set, and how fast he can go on his bike. After a while, I brought Aiden inside and gave him a New Testament to give to the boys. Aiden did not like this idea at first, but I shared with him that we needed to share the love of Jesus with these boys, because they probably didnt know that Jesus loved them. Aiden looked at me with innocent surprise, how could anyone not know that Jesus loves them?! After that it was Aidens mission to get this Bible into these boys hands. He waited patiently for the boys to ride back by on their bikes while I silently watched from inside. Aiden saw me peeping at him and motioned a thumbs up at me. He apparently thought that his mom was so wonderful as to think to give these children a Bible, but what he didnt know is that he, at only 4 years old, just taught his mom a valuable lesson. As I had stood their earlier listening to Aiden interact with these young muslim children I was so convicted of my ill content towards them. These are lost children, and instead of opening my neighborly (and christian!) heart, I was wishing they would go away. Shame on me!
Soon I heard one boy ride back by and Aiden stopped him by yelling quite loudly "Jesus loves you!". The boy stopped his bike and Aiden thrust the small green New Testament in his hands. The child had no idea what to do with it so he looked it over and tried to give it back to Aiden. Aiden pushed it back into the boys chest and exclaimed "No, you keep it! Jesus loves you!". After some convincing the boy finally rode off with the Bible in tow. Not shortly afterwards, all the boys came back, and Aiden gathered them around the best he could, stood up on one of the back porch stairs and sang "Jesus loves me" to the boys, and their father who had joined them. How brave my small little four year old was! Oh, to have the courage to stand and sing the gospel like a child! Finally the New Testament ended up in the father's back pocket after being passed around the group. I pray that it will be opened and read from soon.
After all was said and done, I pulled Aiden into my arms and told him I was so proud and happy that he shared the love of Jesus with that family. And so sincerely and innocently, his little blue eyes looked into mine and he said, "Mommy, is God happy?"

Yes baby, yes He sure is.

Contentment

In my Bible Study at church, we are studying Jerry Bridges "The Practice of Godliness", and this weeks chapters focused on Contentment and Thankfullness. I guess I should say that I have really struggled with both these issues. My husband has been working alot (praise God for work!) but I feel like an exhausted single parent. I have been struggleing to balance the house, the children, and trying to live life as normally as possible. I feel like Im doing everything with one arm missing. On top of that, when I go to my Mommy and Me workout class I am confronted with everything I dont have. Everywhere I look, I see moms who (I feel like) have it all. The awesome double seat strollers, the latest sippy cups, the matching diaper bags and purses, the cool snack holders that let the kids get the snacks, but the snacks dont fall out. They all have the latest organic healthy snack foods for their kids, while mine are still eating the stale triscuits that we got for free from our apartments food line. I have to fight the urge to be embarassed of my childrens clothes when I take them to church, because they are not clothes from The Childrens Place, Gymboree, or Babies-R-Us. As for me, I am clad in worn used clothing from my mom or various (generous!) friends. The Mall? Whats that? Instead of adorable little ballet type shoes that are in style now, my feet are sporting worn out used-to-be-white tennis shoes my mom gave me. I often harbor the thought that I am the only 22 year old mom in the world actually looks like a mom of 40. Oh, do I hear violins playing a song just for me? I could probably spend my whole blog complaining about all the things I can point out thats wrong with my life. So as you can see, contentment and thankfullness are a real struggling point in my life. But as I look back over my life, I see it all very differently. I see where me and my son used to be. I see how God literally spared me from death numerous times. I see how God brought to me and my son a loving, Godly husband and father. I see how he took us from having literally no food, to a pantry full of it. I see how God took me out of the pits of hell, to the knowledge of getting to spend eternity with Him. He grabbed me out of deaths hands, and placed me at His table. And oh, how I do not deserve any of that!!! So, in light of all of that, suddenly the appeal of the latest sippy cup looses its luster. And, thankyou God for giving me the wonderful women in my small group who let me know generously that I am not alone in the place that I am at.