It seems like yesterday that Nick and I were in a little room and on the screen was a little girl with wild hair! But here we are- 26 years later- celebrating our little girl having a little boy! Man, oh man, time sure flies!
As I was journaling, thinking and praying for our little Roman this morning the Lord poured His thoughts into my heart.
Little Roman sure has a good beginning! A better beginning than I had. A better beginning than Nick had. This little boy has a head start! Why do I say that?
Let me start at our beginning.
Nick and I met in high school. He graduated in May of 1987. I graduated in May of 1988. We married on July 2, 1988. We were barely 18 and 19.
Then we started our family:
Allison Nichelle was born January 10, 1990
Cody Aaron was born November 13, 1992
Nicholas John Barry "Johnie" was born August 21, 1994
During this time we moved 325 miles from our family. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done.
When we first got married we went to church for a bit- and I was actually baptized- but I do not believe I was truly a believer. I don't know. Nothing changed within me. Some people will say, "Well, you were saved you just didn't realize it." But from the God I know now, that's just not how He works. For when I became a believer- SOMETHING really did change- I knew it.
In 2000, we had been married over 11.5 years when I became a believer. The kids babysitter invited our children to church and I just couldn't let them go without me. I wanted them to go and I was curious myself because my paternal grandparents were devout believers. I KNEW they had something I didn't have- but the god I understood was a mean, "take away" god. I didn't really want to believe in a god like that. (My mom went to church with my grandparents and I do believe she was saved but she was a new believer when she died and I was 9. My dad although raised by loving, believing parents was not a believer.)
So on March 8, 2000 I knelt on my bedroom floor and asked Jesus to come into my heart. Although I did not understand exactly what that meant. I just knew that I believed in Him- really believed He is Who He says He is. I didn't know what would change or life would be like after that but I was "compelled" to believe. And I did. I do.
Within the year our children made "professions of faith". Now, I say that because they were young- and I don't like to PUSH my children to make declarations they don't understand. I just let God do His work (persuading) in them. Faith means in it's truest sense of the word- "God's inward divine persuasion". Jesus IS Faith. He is the Author of Faith- He is the Finisher/Completer/Perfector of Faith. Faith moves and grows- Jesus moves and grows within my children.
Throughout the years my children have found Jesus to be- true and real. They are believers. They are His children.
In December of 2000 Nick believed and received Christ- and it was kind of funny. I was on one phone in the house, Nick was on the other- and we were talking to our pastor and his wife who were also on separate phones at their house! Nick invited Jesus into His heart- with all four of us on the phone!
We were all 5 baptized together in January of 2001.
So- none of children were conceived when we were believers. None of our children were prayed for before they were born or after for that matter- by us. None of our children were dedicated to God.
And yet God- and but God....they are all now His.
But they sure didn't have a good beginning. I didn't have a good beginning with neither of my parents believers (and yet, my mom became a believer before she died and my Dad received Christ almost 6 years ago). Nick didn't have a good beginning.
But Roman....has a good beginning. He has parents who Christ lives within. He has both sets of grandparents who Christ lives within. He is prayed for- was prayed for before he was conceived. He will be dedicated to God at our church.
And yet...Roman will have to choose to believe that Jesus is Who He says He is- and has done what He said He would do.
He may have a better beginning than his mother..and his grandmother....and his great grandmother....but he will still have to choose to believe-
It doesn't really matter, I guess you could say, how we begin...it's how we
END.
From Romans 10- The Message
(I just realized I picked a verses for Roman from Romans- after the letter he is named that Paul wrote to the people in Rome! LOL)
It’s
the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right
for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to
God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing
in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not
“doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do
it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God
setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set
everything right between him and me!”
Scripture
reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever
regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious
background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same
incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone
who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims,
A sight to take your breath away!
Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!
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