She arrived by 9am on Tuesday morning.
In our preparation to welcome her, Brandon asked me, "Mommy, Great Aunt Toby doesn't know Jesus, does she?"
"No, she doesn't, sweetie," I said.
"Well then, we need to tell her."
"Yes, we do. Knowing Jesus is the most important thing we do in our whole life."
I didn't know if Brandon really had anything planned and so we continued cleaning up the house (it had gotten neglected...nothing like a surprise visitor to whip us/it into shape in light speed!).
She arrived and the boys were so excited that I'm pretty sure they pulled every toy they own out of their room to show to her. Silas dragged out this gun and that gun. LOL. Eventually we sat down at the table for some pancakes and pears.
Brandon: "Great Aunt Toby? I want to read something to you." He proceeded to pull out and read from his Bible various memory verses he had collected from church in recent weeks. "I'll be right back, Great Aunt Toby, there's something I have to get from my room." He returned a few seconds later with a neon green bracelet with the words "Jesus made me special" stitched onto it. "Great Aunt Toby, do you know why I am wearing this bracelet?"
After breakfast, she and I collected the dishes, cleaned up, and chatted. Brandon entered the kitchen and said, "Great Aunt Toby, I want to read my Bible to you." Me: "Brandon, can you wait a minute until we finish talking?" So, Brandon with his Bible sat on the bench in the dining room and patiently waited for us to finish. Finally, I realized (yes, some of us are slower than others) his motive. He wanted to share God's Word, God's love and Jesus with my Aunt whom we all love so dearly and pray for so often and desperately plea with the Lord for her salvation and that of her entire family. I asked him to read to Aunt Toby in the living room while I finished cleaning up. He read the most random passage from 1 Samuel....all I could hear was something about boiled meat. LOL. And she helped him with all the hard words...and it blessed my heart. (All the while, Silas was blasting into the living room with this weapon and that. Bahahaha!) It was certainly a sight! So funny and sweet. But later as I pondered the morning and really let Brandon's actions settle into my core, I realized that it wasn't just sweet or cute, it was all that I desire as a mother: to raise children who understand the most precious thing in life is Jesus and to introduce others to Him. It is EVERYTHING. My 7-year-old, more bold than I, did what I should have done many times over. And he did it without considering rejection, ridicule, embarrassment. What a sweet gift he desired to give to my Aunt. And what a blessing he is to my own heart.
My Aunt is so beautiful and dear to me. I love her life and her attitude about things. I see in her so much of what I want to be. Her first grandchild will arrive in another month...and I am a little jealous of this precious one soon to be born because I have coveted and loved her attention and affection imparted to my own boys. Soon, she will have her own grandson to embrace, snuggle, chase and have fun with. Really, I am glad. Everyone should have a grandma like the one she is going to be.
Share Jesus with your children and with all --- in love, in word, in deed, and in truth. Raise disciples of Him who gave everything for you and for me and do not hinder them to share.
Have childlike faith.
"Whoever receives one of these little children in My name, receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me." ~Mark 9:37
