Every night, after we read multiple books before bed, we lay Parker down and he, in hopes of prolonging bedtime, asks to hear a “story”. These 2 minute stories are always made up on the spot, usually about monster trucks racing, tractors on a farm, boats in the ocean… or something like that. However last night he laid in our bed before going to his room and I told a “Jesus story” and he listened intently as it went something like this:

“Did you know that God created everything? He created the whole world in 7 days. He made the moon, sun and stars, the plants, animals in the ocean, sky and land, and the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. He loved to spend time with Adam and Eve and their only rule was to not eat from a certain tree, but Adam and Eve were naughty and they ate from the tree and God had to send them away from the garden and separate himself from them. They were very sad and God was sad too. When we are naughty it’s called sin. Parker sins. Mommy sins. Daddy sins. Everyone sins. This makes God very sad (Parker is really into distinguishing emotions these days. Often telling me “Mama’s happy!” when he eats his dinner or “Mama’s sad” after he disobeys or throws a tantrum). However God didn’t want us to be separated from him so he sent his son Jesus to the world. Jesus was the only person who NEVER sinned. He always listened and obeyed his mommy and daddy and he never did anything wrong. He saved us from our sins by dying on a cross, so that now we can be with God forever!”

At this point, Parker who was quietly listening the entire time, spoke up in his sing-songy, sweet little voice and said, “I love God, mama!” and my heart swelled as I held him. “That makes mama so happy”, I told him.  That totally unprompted, innocent moment will be ingrained in my memory forever.

I can only pray that he continues to love God more and more each passing year. I feel so honored to be his mom and that I get to experience moments like that… makes all the hard days worth it!