Our Maggie is very special to us. She's been with us the longest and has broken us in well. She's not very average. Pretty mature. I get asked things like "Was she just born grown?" quite often. Don't get me wrong, she can still giggle, be silly, and pout like every other child. But, there is just something different about her. Could be that she had to grow up fairly quickly having Mac come along when she was barely two. She's always been my little helper and taken care of her babies. And does a fantastic job. I remember when Mary was born, it was crazy. Mag wasn't even 3 1/2 and Mac was 15 months. Sitting in the kitchen one day, I was trying to feed Mac and Mary was squalling in her car seat. Mag calmly said, "I've got it." She gave her a paci, rocked the car seat back and forth and sang her to sleep.
Having gone to school at Northport Baptist since she was a year old and having wonderful teachers at church, Maggie has been surrounded with Christianity. Her wheels have been turning for a while now. She zipped through her bible in no time during our nightly reading and her questions were getting deeper and deeper. It had not crossed my mind though that this day was approaching. On September 11th, she left church in tears. A friend mentioned her grandfather's death. Her Sunday School answered with something to the effect of "Well, one day, we'll all get to live in heaven forever." That stuck with Maggie. At five, you don't understand death, much less going to this "heaven" and staying there forever. We talked on and off all afternoon. I tried to answer her questions as simply and best I could. Not easy, mind you. By that night, she said she just couldn't get the thoughts out of her head. Yep, just like her mother. I was the weird kid that cried every night in fear of dying in my sleep. Don't judge. Laugh at this one if you want but I'm really a deep thinker. I wish I weren't but that's how God made me. Anyway, Mag gets it honest. That night, we had very lengthy discussions. Questions from her with lots of hand movements like, "Why can't God just sit right here and talk to me like we're talking now?" and "If Jesus comes back before we die and I sin, will my sin get back to heaven before me and Jesus do?" Ummm...Pass. Then she started in a different direction. I was shocked. Brett had joined us by this point. I looked at him and whispered, "I think this is it." After her talking for a bit, I asked her if she was wanting to ask Jesus in her heart. Very calmly, she replied "yes." It was an amazing experience to hold hands with Brett and my oldest child and listen to her pray. And in typical Shewmake household form, Mac and Mary busted in while Brett was praying. Yelling, climbing all over us. I had to giggle when he prayed, "And thank you also for these other two crazy kids." I know my Maggie better than anyone. She'll get on stage and shake her booty with no problem but can sometimes get strangely shy with people she knows well. When she's not sure or not serious about something, she gets sheepish and giggly. This was not the case that night. I know some may think that she is way too young to make this kind of decision. Do I think Maggie is ready to walk in front of the church and be baptized? Probably not. That may need to come later. And that's fine. Do I think a five year old of 4 days can thoroughly comprehend all of this? No. Do we, as adults, comprehend everything? No. I don't think we are made to. I do know that God has been working in her little heart.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me." And she did.
Having gone to school at Northport Baptist since she was a year old and having wonderful teachers at church, Maggie has been surrounded with Christianity. Her wheels have been turning for a while now. She zipped through her bible in no time during our nightly reading and her questions were getting deeper and deeper. It had not crossed my mind though that this day was approaching. On September 11th, she left church in tears. A friend mentioned her grandfather's death. Her Sunday School answered with something to the effect of "Well, one day, we'll all get to live in heaven forever." That stuck with Maggie. At five, you don't understand death, much less going to this "heaven" and staying there forever. We talked on and off all afternoon. I tried to answer her questions as simply and best I could. Not easy, mind you. By that night, she said she just couldn't get the thoughts out of her head. Yep, just like her mother. I was the weird kid that cried every night in fear of dying in my sleep. Don't judge. Laugh at this one if you want but I'm really a deep thinker. I wish I weren't but that's how God made me. Anyway, Mag gets it honest. That night, we had very lengthy discussions. Questions from her with lots of hand movements like, "Why can't God just sit right here and talk to me like we're talking now?" and "If Jesus comes back before we die and I sin, will my sin get back to heaven before me and Jesus do?" Ummm...Pass. Then she started in a different direction. I was shocked. Brett had joined us by this point. I looked at him and whispered, "I think this is it." After her talking for a bit, I asked her if she was wanting to ask Jesus in her heart. Very calmly, she replied "yes." It was an amazing experience to hold hands with Brett and my oldest child and listen to her pray. And in typical Shewmake household form, Mac and Mary busted in while Brett was praying. Yelling, climbing all over us. I had to giggle when he prayed, "And thank you also for these other two crazy kids." I know my Maggie better than anyone. She'll get on stage and shake her booty with no problem but can sometimes get strangely shy with people she knows well. When she's not sure or not serious about something, she gets sheepish and giggly. This was not the case that night. I know some may think that she is way too young to make this kind of decision. Do I think Maggie is ready to walk in front of the church and be baptized? Probably not. That may need to come later. And that's fine. Do I think a five year old of 4 days can thoroughly comprehend all of this? No. Do we, as adults, comprehend everything? No. I don't think we are made to. I do know that God has been working in her little heart.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me." And she did.
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