Too Blessed to Be StressedSample

"He Got It"

Read Isaiah 11:6

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning at our remote Smoky Mountain cabin. My three-year-old grand-buddy Blaine had enough of a cough and runny nose to keep us away from traditional church, so we decided to worship at the Church of the Prayer Rock.

It really was a prayer rock – two boulders shoved together in the woods to form a crude bench facing a wooden cross nailed to a towering birch. The perfect setting to drink in the beautiful and majestic workmanship of the Creator.

Brother Blaine led us in singing “Jesus Loves Me” and “Amazing Grace.” Pastor Pop-Pop (my husband Chuck) shared a made-up-on-the-cuff, toddler-friendly sermon about three little boys learning to be good in order to please Jesus, not just their parents, mimis, or pop-pops.

Then when Blaine pointed to the cross on the tree and asked why Jesus died there, Mimi (moi) had the privilege of explaining that because we all do naughty things, someone had to be punished (THAT concept he understands all too well).

I told him that Jesus loves us so much, He chose to die on the cross as punishment in our place so that we could live with him and Papa God forever and ever. Blaine’s little forehead wrinkled in deep thought. He slowly nodded. He got it. He really got it. Let me tell you, there wasn’t a dry eye in the Church of the Prayer Rock that day.

Does your heart still melt when someone meets Jesus? Are you tenderized to the God-shaped holes in the lives of people you know?

Additional Elements:
BFF (Blessed Friends Forever) prayer: Master Creator, thank You for saving my soul through the willing sacrifice of Your son, Jesus. Make me sensitive and ever aware of others’ need to know Him too.

Digging Deeper: Read John 3:16-17

Was this plan helpful? We adapted it from the book Too Blessed to be Stressed by Debora M. Coty.