Another

We had another awesome experience in the Rader household last week.  It's something that Marc and I have prayed for for each of our children before they were even born.  The last few weeks Maggie has been asking a lot of questions about Jesus.  This all started when we started reading the Easter story a few weeks back.  Maggie, even though she is my most ornery child, is my most loving child.  She is the one that's most concerned with other people's feelings and if they're o.k. or not.  Last Thursday we were heading to Walmart and she again started asking about Jesus and heaven.  She wanted to be able to see Jesus when she got to heaven.  I gently told her that the only way she would ever get to see Jesus was if she asked Jesus into her heart.  If she didn't, then she didn't get to go to heaven.  Now, you're probably wondering if we talked to her about hell.  The answer to that is no.  Marc and I have talked together and decided that we didn't want to scare our children into accepting Christ.  Anyway, back to my story.  She kept asking questions about Jesus - going back to the Easter story.  We finally made it to Walmart and in my heart I was praying for this precious little girl's heart.  We did our grocery shopping and while we were in the checkout line, Maggie said, "Mommy, I want to ask Jesus into my heart.".  Well, I would have loved to have been able to pray with  her right then and there.  But there was a line and I quietly asked her if she could wait until we got out to the van.  "O.K. Mommy.".  We got out to the van and she didn't say anything about it, so I figured that she wasn't ready.  I went over to get gas for the van and she asked again.  "Um, honey, there's a long line of cars behind us.  Can you wait until we get home?".  Again, "O.K, Mommy.".  I decided to call my mom on the way home.  I hadn't talked to her in awhile and just wanted to chat.  I got home and was still talking to her 1/2 hour later.  As soon as I hung up, Maggie walks up to me and says, "Mom, we need to talk.".  O.K.  So we went in her room and I asked her what she wanted.  "I want to talk about what we talked about in the van".  "Well, Maggie, what did we talk about in the van?".  I wanted to see if she would remember.  "About asking Jesus into my heart.".  So, we talked, and prayed, and as soon as we were finished, she jumped up into my arms and was so excited!  So was I.  She immediately wanted to give Jesus a present.  I asked her what she wanted to give Him and she walked over to her closet and pulled out a book.  "Mom, I don't read this book anymore.  We can give it to Jesus.".  "Um, sweetie, I really don't think this book is going to make it to heaven.".  Then she asked the best questions.  "Mom, when I get to heaven, can I give Jesus a hug?".  "Well, Mags, I don't think He would turn that down at all!".

So, there it is.  Maggie's whole story.  I know it's a little wordy, but I didn't want to leave anything out.  For those of you wondering, yes, Maggie is young.  She'll be 4 at the beginning of July.  But I feel that she was very sincere.  We will keep an eye on her and if we see that maybe it wasn't genuine, well, we'll talk to her about it.  But for now, I'm going to take it as it is.  That another one of my children found Christ!  And I couldn't be any more excited!!!