Tabitha's Tough Decision

This evening Tabitha decided to become a Christian!  It's kind of a funny story actually.  She tends to mix up words a lot, and for several months she's been saying at random times, "When I grow up I want to be a Mommy, not a Christian."  We hadn't been able to figure out what she meant or why she thought she couldn't be both.  It turns out she was thinking "Christian" meant "missionary" (which of course it should), and that "missionary" meant going all over the world telling people about Jesus and probably being shipwrecked and beaten and imprisoned.  I think the stories she's been learning about Paul's journeys had her a little hesitant.

She and I were driving home this evening, and she asked me something like, "When people die, do we put them in the ground?"  I said we put their body in the ground, but their soul goes to be with Jesus if they're a Christian.  She was quiet for a minute and then said, "Mommy, I changed my mind about something.  When I grow up I want to be a Christian AND a mommy."  I told her that was great, and I was glad she finally understood that she could be both.

A couple minutes later she asked more about what a Christian is, and I told her it's someone who loves Jesus, believes that He died and rose again so we could be forgiven, and wants to follow and obey Him.  She said she wanted to be a Christian while she was still a kid.  I asked her if she loved Jesus and wanted to obey Him, and she said yes.  And then she prayed a cute, simple prayer, telling Jesus that she believed He died for her and that she wanted to obey Him.  Then she said, "And one more thing . . . please help all the poor people to be happy."

When we got home, I told her to tell Daddy about what we talked about in the car.  She said, "Oh yeah!  4+3=7, and 5+2= 7!"  Well, yes Tab, we did talk about that too, but that's not what I meant.  Finally, with a little hinting, she figured out which thing I wanted her to tell him about.  He's had discussions with her about it in the past too, but we haven't wanted to push her at all because she tends to agree with any little fad that passes by and then change her mind the next day.  We wanted her to come to a genuine decision.  So we're both very excited that she has taken her time to think about this and has chosen to follow Jesus!  We pray that her commitment to Him and relationship with Him grow stronger and closer throughout the rest of her life.  And hopefully one day, she'll be a Christian AND a mommy AND a missionary, and many other things as well!