A Teachable Moment

Last night as I was gathering the trash to take out, I walked past the boys playing on the floor with their legos, and we had the following conversation:

David looked up at me and said, "Mommy, they had a baptize."

"Who had a baptize?"

"At cubbies, they had a baptize."

"Oh, you saw the baptistry."

"No, It was a baptize."

"No, sweetie, it is called a baptistry."

"No, it is a baptize!"

(at this point I decided not to agrue with a 4 year old about the correct name...)

"Did you see someone get baptized in the water?"

"No, but Bro. Hal got in it."

"Oh, he did."

"Yes, the water washes your sins away. "

"David, water can't wash our sins away, only Jesus can wash your sins away."

(I tried to explain a little about baptism being a symbol of the fact that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and you wanting to live for Him. David goes back to playing with his legos.)

After he and Paul had played with their legos a few more minutes, I restarted our conversation...

"So David, who is the only one who can wash your sins away?"

"Jesus can."

"Can you tell Mommy something that is a sin?"

At this point Paul and David both begin answering...

"Lying..."

"Hitting someone..."

"Taking toys away..."

"Talking ugly..."

"Hitting Bootsie (our cat) ...."

They came up with all of these on their own, but of course I had to throw a few more examples out there, like not obeying Mommy and Daddy and talking disrespectfully.

I just think it is so precious how during the mundane things of life God often opens up an opportunity for us to share with our children about His marvelous grace and love. I fear that all too often I let those opportunities slip by, but my prayer today is that I would be extra sensitive to the leading and prompting of His Holy Spirit, and that I would be eager and willing to stop what I am doing and spend some time teaching, training, and instructing my children. The housework will get done, and if it doesn't, that is ok!

So what about you? Are you taking advantage of those precious teachable moments with your children and letting them know about the marvelous grace and love of our Savior?