The Best News of Your Life

“Jachin, do you sin? Do you ever do things you aren’t supposed to?”

“Yes” he replied

“The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Who is Jesus?”

“God’s son”

“Did Jesus ever sin?”

“No” Jachin said emphatically

“Then why did He die on the cross?”

“Well Daddy, He had to die for my sins...”

That is a snippet from the best conversation I have ever had. Jachin has been talking about God, Jesus, and salvation for the last year. I remember his Nana sitting down with him at Ted’s Mexican Restaurant. She was so excited and so wanted him to say the prayer, but Jachin wasn’t ready yet.

A few months ago, Jachin and I had a similar conversation and right before I asked him if he wanted to pray a prayer and ask Jesus into his heart, Jachin looked at me and said, “Am I going to go swimming with Brooks tomorrow?”

Christy was not exempt for this saga, she recently gave me a ‘to do’ list that included:

Custom Water Bottles for College Promotion

Cross for entry of the College Building

Jachin’s baptism

Haiti video

Babysitter list

We were all reacting to Jachin’s openness to talking about God. He is very in tune with spiritual matters and he loves talking about it. We didn’t want to push him, so we tried to be patient and give Jachin the opportunity to work it out with God.

Last night the PM service started with a baptism. Jachin asked me if he could do that. I told him that baptism is a way that we show everybody at the church that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Jachin said he wanted to do that. So after the music part of the service, and the sermon, Jachin was waiting for the invitation. Because we had the Lord’s Supper, we didn’t have an alter call, we just started the Lord’s Supper.

Jachin asked if he could take the Lord’s Supper and I said no, because it is for those of us that have accepted Jesus and we do it to remember what Jesus did on the cross.

The service ended and then Jachin’s buddy Brooks came up to us and asked us what we were talking about, and I said, “We are talking about being a Christian”

Brooks said, “I am a Christian, I just haven’t been baptized yet.” Jachin then said that he wanted to be a Christian, then he saw another of his friends and ran off to say hi.

Christy asked me after the service if Jachin had become a Christian because she and Susan had heard us talking and Susan was diligently praying for Jachin the whole service.

The aforementioned conversation happened as Jachin went to bed. He prayed and asked Jesus to come into his heart and he thanked God for forgiving his sins.

I was saved when I was five and watching Jachin take this step was so encouraging to me. I don’t remember the details, but I got to be a part of the details of Jachin. He may not remember all the conversations, but he will have this blog to remind him and see how many people were praying for him and waiting for the day that he asked Jesus to save him.

Today was great. Jachin walked into our room singing a song “I am a Christian, I am a Christian”. He made it up himself. When I took him to school, he told me he will always be a Christian because it “doesn’t wash off”.

He talked to his Mimi, Pa, Nana, Papa, Grandmother & Papa Cross, Jeremy, Melissa, Jenny, Jacob and apparently everyone in Mrs. Hughes class!

I’ll end this blog with Jachin’s first sentence to all of them...

‘I have the best news of your life....”

Andy

First Day of School

What a big day! Jachin started Kindergarten today--all day Kindergarten. He is so excited to eat lunch at school. He has been talking all month about how he is a Kindergartner now, so he can do anything. He thinks he is all grown up now. We have to keep reminding him that a Kindergartner is not an adult. That surprised him. He suddenly wants to take showers. He didn’t want Andy to kiss him the other day. He asked what else Kindergartners do, and of course we used that to our advantage. We told him that they take out the trash every Monday (that is our trash pickup day). Three of the kids that were in his Pre-K class last year are in his class this year with Mrs. Hughes. One little girl lives across the street from us. I know Jachin is going to have a blast, but I am a little sad. What am I going to do until 2:45?

Kimberlyn has open house today to meet her teacher and look around the preschool. Her first actual school day is Tues. She is so ready to make friends of her own. She has been making up friends names and stories. We really do know one little girl already. Kimberlyn can’t wait to see her. Last night when Jachin and I were making his lunch for school, Kimberlyn wanted to make her lunch too (she doesn’t eat lunch at school). She wants to be just like her brother. She will only go on Tues. and Thurs. for 2 1/2 hours. I thought Bo would be here by now, so I never prepared myself for two mornings a week by myself. What am I going to do? I am sure I can figure something out! :)

God Rocks

God Rocks is the cutest kids show about the Bible. Usually I think the shows are great for the kids, but are a little annoying. Well, with God Rocks I have learned something. They basically make bible verses into songs (BibleToons) and then do a little show about it. Some of the songs on their CD are done by a guy doing an Elvis impersonation (I could do without those). But for the most part, the songs are catchy and well done. Most of them are rock style, but a few are Elvis, Beetles, MoTown, or Beach Boys. I have learned more bible verses in the past year than probably ever. And it is so nice to hear the kids singing away in the car. They are at the perfect age to memorize and soak up anything they hear. Why not bible verses?! Maybe when they get older they will remember these cheesy songs. And hopefully they will understand what they have been singing about for years.

Fun Memories

2000-Don't we look young?

I thought it would be fun to start our family journal with a brief history. Our family began in 1998 when Andy and I were married in Norman, OK. We graduated from OBU, got married, and moved to DFW. I started working as an RN for the first time in the NICU at Parkland. Andy started seminary. We lived in a little apartment for way too much rent. I worked nights and Andy went to class/work during the day. But really it wasn’t so bad because we didn’t know what married life was like anyway. It was all so new and exciting. It is funny to think back on the emotions and perspectives. We thought we were busy, tired, and poor. Little did we know that parenthood would later change that paradigm. We lived in the DFW area for a year and a half. We moved back to Norman and Andy became a college ministry intern and commuted to DFW for school. I worked at Baptist Hospital in the NICU. Soon Andy was hired as the college minister. When we received the wonderful news that Jachin was on his way, we bought our very first house. We moved when I was pregnant, so I got out of the heavy lifting. Jachin was born on Dec. 26, 2001. He was an easy delightful baby. I enjoyed going part-time at work to stay home with our beautiful boy. Kimberlyn came on Nov. 29, 2003 a few weeks early, but healthy. She was just precious. Although not as easy, she was such a joy. And then in 2006 we began the process of adopting our adorable little boy, Bo, from Haiti. To be continued....