WOW (God) Moments

I am working hard to live out Deut 6 in my parenting walk.  To love God with all my heart and soul.  To teach his ways to my children in every part of our day.  To pass on a legacy of faith.  And there are some little moments along the journey that are so powerful, I just have to share them.

Today I taught my christian living (bible in schools) classes about the story of Jairus' daughter.  After reading them this miraculous story from The Jesus Storybook Bible, I had the attention of every wide eyed 6 and 7 year old in the room.  I followed up this story by sharing this one:

"Once upon a time there was a little girl who dreamed of being a mummy.  Do you ever dream about becoming a mummy or daddy?  (hands shoot up everywhere).  Well, this was that little girls dream.  She grew up, got married and waited for a baby to come.  But no baby came.  The doctors told the mummy and the daddy that they were not going to be any babies, because there was something wrong with her body.  The mummy and daddy was so sad.  She prayed and prayed for a baby.  She ran to the church, just like Jairus did and the church leaders prayed  for her.  And do you know what?  6 weeks after the church leaders prayed for that mummy, that mummy found out that a baby had been made in her at the same time they prayed.  She WAS going to have a baby!  It was a miracle!  And do you know who that baby was....?"

The class leaned in, with wide eyes.  The teacher smiled and put her hand up.  She had worked it out.

"It was Jaimee"  I whispered to the class.  Jaimee is in this class of kids, and she started giggling uncontrollably as everyone started talking at once in amazement.  As I told them that I was that lady who dreamed of having a baby, and that Jaimee was my miracle baby, an answer to prayer, I noticed her giggles were mixed with happy tears.  Wow.  What a gut reaction to hearing a miracle God moment.   This in turn, led to tears from Mrs Trowbridge (that's me!) and a big cuddle shared.

Written on the pregnancy confirmation to our fertility specialist from our GP.  

My daughter was just so in awe of this story of God working in OUR lives.   Another child in a different class also burst into joyous laughter and swept his hands over his face in sheer wonder as he heard my story.   Children need to know that God didn't just work miracles 2000 years ago, but also that he is still alive and very active today.

I have so many more of these WOW stories to share with my children - how God helped mummy and daddy found each other even on other sides of the world, how God watched over Jaimee's hips for the 3 years we had no idea they were out of their sockets, how God provided for us the means to buy a house in Hastings against all odds when our old home became an unsafe place.

 God is alive and active TODAY.
Do we tell our children this enough?  I know from Jaimee's powerful reaction that this can be very impactful and I also learnt a lesson -  that I need to share more of these stories more with my own children, who obviously had not heard this one before.  I am considering creating a "family God moments" scrapbook, with stories, photos and reminders of God's work in our lives.  Something to look through together and share and wonder.

The Bible instructs us to pass on our faith stories to our children.  "We will not hide them from their descendants, we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done" (Psalm 78:4).  I encourage you to do this more.