Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns
If you think Jesus would have come into your home that day and not issued a strong rebuke to the head of household, you are mistaken. These words of condemnation have been haunting me for days now. They aren’t all that different than the soundtrack I play in my head on an almost-daily basis. It’s…
I am nesting. On Saturday I emptied the refrigerator. Last summer’s homemade pickles in their jars. The bread ends that seem to multiply on every shelf. The eggs. The milk. The fruit and veggies. All of it sat on the floor or the counter as I carefully removed the shelves and wiped them down with…
I’ve heard that life is like a highway. And it definitely seems like that sometimes. The pace of life swirls around me at dizzying speeds. We’re all so busy. In such a hurry. Always somewhere to be, something else to do. I’m a get-to-the-point, get-there-quick kind of girl. I don’t like to waste time on…
“Daddy, Corban doesn’t want to go to heaven.”
My husband, the seminarian, was understandably shocked for several reasons by our 3-year-old’s declaration.
She continued by saying she was going to show Corban how to go to heaven.
“You fold your hands, close your eyes and say, ‘Jesus, please come into my heart.'”
Further investigation revealed that our daughter had learned this from another little girl at the Y.
When I came home from the library, where I’d been working on a writing assignment all afternoon, my husband asked her to tell me what happened at the Y. With a big smile on her face, Isabelle beamed and said, “I’m going to heaven!” Then she told me that she folded her hands and said, “heavenly father, please come into my heart.”
My husband, using his seminary education, had tried to explain to her that loving Jesus wasn’t all about going to heaven, that it was about a relationship and the way we live life now, too. That seemed a bit much for her 3-year-old mind. All she cared about was that she was going to heaven. And it was important that Corban be there, too.
My husband and I are Christians whose spiritual journeys took different paths. He was in church from infancy, as our kids have been. I was not in church regularly until I began seeking God in college. We have friends who testify of faith and conversion at a young age, 4 or 5, and other friends who have children who chose to be baptized in childhood. This has always been hard for me to understand. Because I was an adult, and able to take college-level Bible courses and study the Bible in depth after I gave my life to Christ, I’m amazed at children who make this decision and don’t turn from it in adolescence or adulthood.
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)
I don’t understand all of what Jesus means when he’s talking about children and the kingdom of heaven and how that relates to my spirituality, but I know that love is simpler for children than adults. Isabelle will cuddle up on our laps for no reason, or hug my leg while I’m cooking dinner. Corban will say “uppy” when I’m sitting in the rocker because he wants to sit on my lap. They hug and kiss profusely. Love, for them, is not complicated.
I could learn from my children.
I am thrilled that my daughter wants to go to heaven, but I’m not going to get overly emotional about her recent declaration. My uncle told me this story about my own confession of faith: When I was 5, he asked me if I wanted to know Jesus. I told him “yes.” I don’t remember this conversation, and it was many years later that I made the decision “for keeps.” While I don’t wish that for my daughter, I also know that this won’t be the last she hears of Jesus.
When the time is right, she’ll make the decision for keeps, too.
In the meantime, I pray that God will give my husband and me the strength and presence of mind to live like Jesus daily so that our kids see faith in action, not just in word.
This is new territory for us. So, if you can, help us out:
What are your thoughts on kids in the kingdom of God?
What has been your experience with your kids, conversion and discipleship?
If you made a decision for Christ as a child, what do you remember about it?
A few years ago I’d never heard of Jeanette Windle and I thought the U.S. could “win” the war in Afghanistan. Then I read Jeanette’s book “Veiled Freedom,” a work of fiction so believable it could be true, and I eagerly awaited the sequel, “Freedom’s Stand.” 
The wait is over. “Freedom’s Stand,” now available in bookstores and online, picks up the story of humanitarian aid worker Amy Mallory, Special Forces veteran Steve Wilson, and Afghan native Jamil where “Veiled Freedom” left off — all experiencing change through their time in Afghanistan, and all searching for purpose, love and freedom.
It’s difficult for me to review “Freedom’s Stand” without including my thoughts on “Veiled Freedom” because the two books really are one story in two parts. “Freedom’s Stand” is a fitting end to the saga, and I’d hate to give anything away about either story because the plots are so captivating. But don’t take my word for it. Read chapter 1 of “Freedom’s Stand” here.
I will say this: I first read “Veiled Freedom” because I’d met and gotten to know Jeanette through a local writer’s group, and I was intrigued by the premise that war and military action could not change a country. As the wife of a veteran who served in Iraq, I generally support military action. And as an American, I naively believe that all people who want freedom should have it and we are the people to help them achieve it.
The stories in these two books have changed my thinking and opened my heart to the vital role of prayer in changing the hearts of a people I will most likely never meet. Like Kathi Macias’ “People of the Book,” this series increased my awareness of the plight of women in Muslim countries and the possibility that Jesus can reach people where I cannot.
Jeanette is an amazing author who takes readers vividly to worlds they cannot or will not visit. And she is trustworthy in her depictions. Her research is thorough, so much so that she has been accused of receiving classified information.
For more information about Jeanette, click here.
To read her blog, click here.
I wholeheartedly recommend “Freedom’s Stand” for your want-to-read lists. But if you haven’t read “Veiled Freedom,” start there. I found myself a bit lost at the beginning because it’s been more than a year since I read the first half of the story. Re-reading the two together is on my list of when-I-get-around-to-it things to do.
Suspenseful, romantic, heartbreaking, inspiring — Jeanette’s books have it all and are not stereotypical Christian fiction.
Do I have to say it again? Read this book!
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In exchange for this review, Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.
