Precious Moments

My daughter, Abigail - Abby, as we frequently call her, is probably one of the sweetest, most gentle, loving, smartest, and spunkiest 19 month olds I've ever met.  And I'm not just saying this because she is my daughter (although it may play a small part), but because she amazes me more and more each day.  From an early age (around 3 months), I started to use sign language with her so she could communicate.  I taught her "milk", "more", and "please", which she still uses to this day, even though she can say those words now (she just says and signs both together).  Her current vocabulary just amazes me!  She probably knows about 50 words, and pronounces them fairly well.  She's always seemed to be a fast learner and catches on very quickly.  Recently, she's been saying, "please" and "thank you, Mama" - all on her own!  She's just becoming such a polite little girl!

Jeremy and I try our hardest each day to show Abby how much we love her.  But more importantly, we want her to know how much Jesus loves her.  Every opportunity we get, we try to teach her about God and Jesus and what His word says.  We have a children's bible that she loves to read as well as many movies based on the bible.  At each meal before we eat, we pray together.  When we ask her if she's ready to pray, she grabs both of our hands and closes her eyes.  So cute!  She also does this before nap time or bedtime.  And she won't let you forget to pray!

Yesterday, while driving in the car, I had my I-pod playing Shawn McDonald's "Take My Hand".  Love this song!  If you've never heard it, look it up sometime.  I just love the lyrics and the beat and the way it makes me feel when I listen to it.  A couple months ago, as we were in the car, Abby started complaining and crying about something, so in an effort to redirect and distract, I turned this song on and we "praised Jesus" together.  There's a part in the song where the lyrics are "na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-naaaaahh, I need You!" and it repeats a couple times.  During this part, I had my hand in the air waving it back and forth "praising Jesus".  Abby had fun copying me, and soon quit complaining about whatever it was she wasn't happy about.  Well, yesterday, I had this song playing again, and heard Abby in the backseat doing something.  I look back, and she has her hand in the air waving it to the song singing "na-na" with the beat!  My heart just melted!  I joined in with her, and soon Abby's baby doll was "praising Jesus" with us too!  How awesome to see her love for the Lord, even though she may not understand everything fully at her age.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it."  Proverbs 22:6.  How reassuring and awesome God's promises are!