A Special BIRTHday

Tayler's birthday ended up being really different. There is no oven at the cabin, so I couldn't make my usual birthday muffins for her. We did get birthday decorations and put those up late Thursday night for her to enjoy. For breakfast, Troy made pancakes and we heated up some heat-and-serve sausages. The kids had school, as we really couldn't afford for them to miss--something completely new to her. I've always given the kids birthdays off. Anyway, we finished our abbreviated school day around noon and went into town for lunch at the DQ. Just as we all placed our orders, the power went off. Apparently there had been an accident and someone had slammed into the utility pole, knocking out power all up and down the strip in town---with all the fast food restaurants included. We drove around a bit, trying to find a place open, then ended up heading back to the DQ to see if their power had yet been restored. Thankfully, it had.

After lunch, we went to the laundromat to run some laundry, picked up her cake, and headed back to the cabin. Troy was going to grill these delicious sausages for the family. What I didn't know, however, is that Tayler doesn't like them. Oops! Thankfully for *her*, there was a mishap with the grill (turns out, those bacon-wrapped sausages SMOKE better than they GRILL) and the food was completely burnt to a crisp. We ended up driving into town to eat a late supper at a local restaurant.

ANYWAY. As this town is very big into Catholicism (there is a monastery and a convent in this little town), there were statues of Mary everywhere. Including in a little alcove of the restaurant right smack dab in front of our table. On the way back home, one of the kids asked why they had a statue of the Lady of Guadalupe, so we had a discussion about the differences (and similarities) between the Lady of Guadalupe and the Virgin Mary. This prompted a big theological discussion that ended with Cody making a comment that since "all of us have asked Jesus into our hearts"... We both looked at each other, momentarily uncertain as to what to say. To the best of our knowledge, that was a decision that Cody had not yet made, but how to get him to understand this? Interestingly, just a few weeks ago, we'd discussed our mutual concern that he had not yet made this decision. The other kids were each between 4-5 when they accepted Jesus, so we felt that a discussion was likely coming. We worried that it was something he'd think he'd already done. Sort of the, "well, my family members are Christians, so so am I" kind of thing. And as I had the privilege of leading both Tayler and Clayton to Christ (at the same time), and someone else led Tori, I really wanted Troy to have this privilege with Cody.

He explained to him, gently, that this was not something he'd ever done before and asked if Cody would like to do it now. He was so excited to accept Christ in his heart, he wanted to do it right there and then---on the road between town and the cabin! Troy had him wait until we got home, and then we all knelt around him while Troy led him in the sinner's prayer. It was absolutely precious. Tayler declared that it was the best birthday present she could've gotten (which made me even prouder).

So now all four of our children have each made the decision to trust Jesus as their Savior. We rejoice with Him and are thankful for His faithfulness to our children. It was especially poignant as our children, and their safety and futures, have been heavily on our hearts the last few weeks in particular. We've felt the enemy trying to instill fear in our hearts about them--hoping to deter or distract us from our purpose of ministry that seeks to set people FREE from Satan's bondage of sin. That this took place on the same day we'd both felt the most oppressed with fear only served to bring home in a tangible way to us Jeremiah 29:11. I even wrote it out, inserting each child's name and will pray that verse every time I feel tempted to fear for their futures. Truly, greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. Hallelujah, amen!