Fights and Faith

little Fight - 

Both girls were up before I was today.
Giggles and love
Quickly turned to
Fighting and squabbling.
It ended up one spitting in the others toothbrush cup
And the other in a fit of rage
And me annoyed
Tired
Angry
Frustrated

BIG Fight - 

At 1:05 this afternoon,
I still had no after school care for Ms. O.
And the CPS caseworker's voice mail box was full
Again
And I have no contact numbers for anyone else
To make a hour and a half story short
Multiple calls made
Many people telling me they couldn't do anything
Finding out that no official referral paperwork was ever turned in
My agency on-going caseworker stepping up to bat for me with her boss's boss
And I had to bring Ms. O to work with me for the last 1.5 hours of the day.
(Thankfully my boss okay-ed that.)
Still no response from anyone at DES/CPS on this matter
We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Please pray.

little Faith - 

Ms. O needed short sleeve shirts.
We headed over to JcPenny's after work
And I drove past Kid to Kid
(A resale store I've been meaning to try!)
And we went in.
$61 later
(Including 15% off because I am a foster mother buying for my foster girls!)
Ms. O has 12 short sleeve shirts
(I know - we went overboard!  But so cute and so reasonable!)
Miss M got 4 more short sleeve shirts
Ms. O got two pairs of jean shorts
And
Some awesome silver glittery high-top tennis shoes.
$60 was the budget limit I gave myself as we headed to JcPenny's
And I had been hoping to get at least 4-5 tops!
Praise God for this gift today!

BIG Faith - (by a little girl with the middle name of Faith)

Two girls equals a lot of extra
Love
Conversation
Fights
Questions
Attention
Laughter
Laundry
Etc.
But I do love it.

My favorite time is always bedtime.
Yes - because they go to sleep....but more than that....
We read the Bible together.
Miss M has been asking a lot of questions for a lot of weeks
Ms. O seems to feel comfortable doing the same.

The main topic for the past three nights has been about heaven.
Will everyone go to heaven?
How do you get to heaven?
Will my great-great grandma be in heaven?
Will we be people or spirits in heaven?
If we won't be sad or sick in heaven, we'll we get tired and have to sleep still?
What will we do in heaven?
If God created the earth, then who created God?
How do we know about heaven?
Will heaven have all my favorite foods?

I love that they are comfortable enough
And free enough to ask
I loved my family
But I was often too scared to voice my questions
I didn't want to stir any pots.

Tonight
On the ride home from shopping
Down the San Tan Freeway
Miss M
Again
Wanted to talk about how you get to go to heaven

We talked about John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son and that who ever believes on Him will not die but live forever with Him.
We talked about that Jesus's forgiveness is a free gift
There is nothing we can do to earn it
We can never deserve it
We can never repay it.
But, it is FREE and we only have to accept it
Believe in it.

We talked about Acts 16:31
Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
She asked how people got to go to heaven and how others didn't.
We talked about the Book of Life.
Last night the girls had mentioned that they were Christian's because their whole family was Christian.
Tonight I brought up the truth that faith is individual
Faith is YOU believing that Jesus is God's Son
That Jesus died for YOUR sins
That Jesus rose from the dead
That, because of Jesus,
We can be made clean
Be made new
That's it's because of Jesus that we can go to heaven.

Miss M asked if people said a prayer to God about believing in Him quietly in their head or out loud
I told her there was no right way or wrong way to pray
Pray is a way of talking to God and it can happen
Does happen
Will happen
Wherever it is needed
Wherever God puts it on your heart to pray
I said that there are some prayers I like to share with others
Or say with others out loud because then it helps me when the devil comes back to
Tempt me
Test me
And I can say -
Nope - so and so heard me say that prayer

She said
"I can't wait until we pray tonight.
I have a lot of things I need to pray about."

Fast forward through Bible reading time
And Roses and Thorns time
To prayer time.
An hour or more had passed.
The car conversation had been replaced by
Laundry
Picture forms
Planner signing
Putting sibling fires out.

So...
We tag-team pray.
(My term.)
I "dial-up" God
And then I pass it to one of the girls
Then they pass it to the other
And then they pass it back to me to finish up.
I passed to Miss M tonight.
(Ms. O was first last night.)

This was Miss M's prayer.
On her own.
Unprompted.
From her heart of hearts.
"Dear God.  I believe in you.  I believe in that Jesus is your Son.  I believe that He died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead.  Please forgive me for all my sins.  I want to live in heaven with you when I die.  I love you.  Amen."

God
At
Work.
Stirring the heart of an 8 year old.
Sincerity.
Humility.
Pure love.

I didn't know if Ms. O was going to feel pressured to feel she needed to say a similar prayer,
But she just prayed what was on her heart.
Thanking God for a good day at school
Thanking God for new clothes
Thanking God for dinner out
Thanking God for letting the Tigers win.
(Seriously - I'm not making that part up!)

When I took back the prayer chain
I praised God for Miss M's prayer
I asked God for her to never forget this moment,
This time
This decision
This confession.
I asked the Lord to help Miss M when the devil would tempt her and tell her she wasn't a believer in Him.

A few minutes later
I was tucking the girls in.
Covers tucked in around them.
Kisses on the forehead
Miss M says
"Thanks, Mommy
For praying that the devil would leave me alone.
He likes to bug me.
I'm going to need God's help."

I replied.
"Well - just remember that the angels are up there dancing in heaven right now
So as you go to sleep you can picture them partying
And the devil crying."

She giggled.

Now I am processing.
And crying.
And rejoicing.

My God is amazing.
My God is faithful.
My God is all powerful.

"It's not by might, nor by power, but by MY Spirit, says the Lord!"