Saturday, October 18, 2014

Happy 1st SPIRITUAL Birthday, Summer!

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."  
 




The Bible teaches that all have sinned (Romans 3:23), and that the penalty of sin is death (Romans 6:23),  and that the only one who can save us from eternal separation from God is Jesus (John 3:16).  Anyone who believes that Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for their sin, is saved from their sin (Acts 16:31) through Christs' shed blood on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).

Last year, on October 19th, Summer made a decision all on her own that she was a sinner and that she believed Jesus could and wanted Jesus to take away all her sins.  (Read about it here!)

As I look back through blog post after blog post of how I would describe Summer before October 19th I find excerpts like:
  •  She is also a little girl, who, when she is first given a line/boundary not to cross, will put one toe over just to see what happens.
  • There are definitely days where I just don't know what to do next to encourage our little spark-plug to be the obedient and caring person I know God wants her to be 
  • Paul and I ran up against a wall this weekend, where defiance seemed to be rampant, and time after time Summer would disobey and enjoy seeing what negative consequences would ensue

 When I look back through blog posts after October 19th I find excerpts like:
  • Her whole heart attitude changed when she misbehaved from caring about the punishment, to caring that she did something wrong. 
  • In these last 6 months, Summer has truly grown from a challenging, spirited, little kid into an amazingly mature little preschooler.
  • You have grown up SO much this past year, from being a little girl who needed lots of timeouts and correction, to a little lady who makes right choices because the Holy Spirit lives inside you and guides your paths (WHAT an answer to prayer!).  Your heart truly feels sad when you do wrong and you only need your wrongdoing to be gently pointed out for you to genuinely repent (often with tears) and change your ways.
 
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Holy Spirit is now living inside of Summer and has COMPLETELY changed her heart.  I am so incredibly grateful to the Lord for answering our prayer, and that Summer is following God!  She truly was born again with a new heart on October 19th, 2013, and for that reason we CELEBRATE!

This is a video of a little interview with Summer where she describes her spiritual birthday:



Any of you who know Summer know that she is a VERY outgoing little girl who will chat your ear off :).  Well, God is already using her outgoing personality to share God's word with others.  Multiple times she has shared her faith including with the older neighbors on both sides of our house - running over to tell them the Good News when she sees them on a walk or working in the yard.  She has told her good friends as well as new friends at the park whom she just met about Jesus and invites them to church.  She has even talked to a lady in the grocery store parking lot to tell her about Jesus after the lady struck up a conversation with us about my kiddos!  I just watch to see what will happen :).  She has never met a person yet who has negatively responded to the message, and I love that she knows no anxiety or "political correctness"  like many of us adults have to work so hard to overcome when sharing our faith.  She makes it look easy :).

This weekend we celebrated Summer's first spiritual birthday - one year since she was "born again". Summer received a new Bible and she has already looked through the entire Bible and we have read quite a bit together too!


 Also in celebration she got to pick what we would have for dinner (cheese tortellini)...


and a special birthday dessert:


I am so proud of you Summer and continue to pray daily that you would grow closer to God and in obedience to his Word, sharing the Good News with those you meet!  I love your conscience that makes your "heart sad" when you do something wrong...you cry even without us even punishing you.  I absolutely love how you go to God right away for forgiveness and help.  You have such a tender and teachable heart and God can use that so much!  We love you!




For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23

2 comments:

Jill said...

Aw, just love her sweet heart and how clear her understanding is.

The Baum Family said...

Love this!!

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