This is What it's All About

Today ended up being a very special Easter Celebration for our family. It was not a typical Easter for us. We didn't end up having a big meal planned, any family over or Easter baskets. We had a quiet day with just our family.
This evening, as I was cleaning floors and Pete was setting up a computer, Anna was bouncing back and forth between us talking about all sorts of things, but most of them centering around Easter and spiritual things.
It all started after she and Mark got into a bit of trouble over something. She bounced over to Pete and said, "Mom loves me even when I do sins." Pete assured her that he also loved her no matter what bad thing she did and that there wasn't anything she could do that would make him stop loving her. They then went on to talk about how God also loves her no matter what she does.
She then bounced over to me and started talking about dying, graves, heaven, etc and asked if her heart would still beat in Heaven. I sent her back to daddy and they talked about that a bit.
She bounced around a bit more and then asked, "Why did Jesus have to die?" Now we have talked about this many times. Many times she has talked about having Jesus in her heart and why we sin. She prays every day about many things. However, tonight, she seemed to be genuinely thinking about all of these things. Pete sat down with her and I joined them as I heard him answering her questions. At one point, I was able to give her a recent illustration that God really used to help her understand redemption. A few days ago in the car, she had been talking and asking about what could happen if she didn't wear her seat belt. She wanted to know if she would go to jail or have to pay lots of money. We had concluded that if she got a ticket, I would have to pay the fine for her since she had no money and that since I could pay, no one would go to jail. Pete was able to use this to help her understand the hows and whys of Jesus dying to pay for our sins. She listened so intently.
When she had all of her questions answered and we had talked again about Jesus being her boss and living in her heart we told her she could pray to live in her heart some day when she was ready. She said, "I want to do that now!" We talked some more and then she went and found all her sisters and brothers and had them gather around so she could pray.
It was a special time. When we were done, she called her Grandma and Papa and told them all about her prayer and how Jesus was paying her ticket for her sins so she could go to heaven after she was in the grave...
I know some people may doubt whether an almost five year old can really understand deep spiritual truths, but I believe with the prompting of the Holy Spirit, children can have a very genuine faith. I have now seen five of my children, around this same age, wrestle with their own sinfulness, ask deep questions about God, Jesus and redemption and on their own, seek to understand these things, profess their faith and pray on their own. I have seen genuine changes in their little hearts.
There is much growth and maturity that needs to happen in their walk with the Lord. That is true for me too! In the past couple of years, we have watched our teenage daughters process spiritual truths and examine their faith and relationship with the Lord through the eyes of greater maturity and understanding. That has also been a blessing and privilege as we have witnessed them surrender again to their Savior.
We are rejoicing in our home tonight and believe there is rejoicing in Heaven too. As we anxiously wait for news of our paperwork moving in China, we are reminded that THIS is what it is all about. Thank you Jesus!
Anna has recently memorized Psalm 23, if I can, I will add video. In the meantime, here is a cute picture of Anna at her desk and laptop "doing important papers so they will process our adoption paperworks to get Joshua home sooner..." (Maybe she will have greater success than me!)