Review: Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing

We've long been fans of Sally Lloyd-Jones' The Jesus Storybook Bible, so when I saw Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing, a children's devotional book by the same author, at TGC's Women's Conference, I snagged a copy for our oldest daughter.

Since she recently became a Christian, I wanted to give her something to help foster her growing relationship with the Lord. In the week and a half since her baptism, we've read an entry in this book every single day, and it has sparked lots of conversations about what God is like, who we are in relationship to him, how to pray, and what it means to be His person.

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing is a beautifully written and illustrated book, and I love that it's simple enough for my almost-first-grader to understand without watering down profound spiritual truths. Lloyd-Jones is a master wordsmith. In a recent interview for Christianity Today, she said that she writes with her niece and nephew in mind, seeking the best way to describe spiritual truths honestly yet simply.

Here are just a few examples of her beautiful prose in action:

Describing Sin: "God made his children's hearts to join together in the wonderful Dance of Joy—orbiting and circling around him. But we put ourselves in the center instead of God. We put ourselves in God's place—which is what sin is."

On Praise: "God didn't create us so he could get joy—he already had it. He created us so he could share it. He knows it's the thing your heart most needs to be happy. When God says, 'Glorify me!', he's really saying, 'Be filled with Joy!' He's inviting us into his Forever Happiness."

God's Timing: "Does it seem like God has forgotten about you? If God is delaying, it's not to make things worse. It is always only so he can make things better."

I may or may not be finishing off my own quiet times with a page or two from the book. It's a keeper. I mean, just look at some of these pages.

Gorgeous, right? It's been a great tool for us to help teach our daughter some spiritual disciplines in this early stage of her walk with Christ. If you're looking for a child's devotional book, I can't recommend Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing highly enough. You won't be disappointed.

Until next time, grace and peace.

When Your Child Gets Baptized

So. This happened Sunday night.

I've tried and tried to come up with words to describe watching my child get baptized, but nothing I say can even come close to describing the flood of emotions I feel when I look at this picture.

It's a hard thing to see sin growing and flourishing your child's heart. Back in the spring, we were having a bit of a rough time with this one. There were bad attitudes and harsh words and selfishness and downright meanness. It was not a fun time.

As I prayed for her and talked with her, I knew that what she needed, more than anything else, was Jesus. She needed him to sweep into her heart and fill her with his Spirit. She needed a fresh start. She needed mercy and grace and redemption. She needed salvation.

On May 1, this sweet girl looked up at me after church one morning and said she wanted to ask Jesus to come into her heart. And so, that afternoon, she did. She's been impatiently waiting for her baptism ever since.

I'll never forget standing there beside the baptistry when our pastor dipped her under the water. She came up with the biggest grin on her face—it was a moment of pure joy for her. And for me. And for all of our family that was there to witness such a sweet moment. 

What a sweet, sweet gift God gave to us when he made her ours. Parenting is hard, and there are definite ups and downs. But Sunday night? Definitely a high point.

I'm so grateful that God, in his great grace and mercy, looked down on her and drew her near. I'm so thankful that she heeded his call and went running to him. And more than anything else, I'm so glad that we get to be a part of the journey as she grows to know, love, and serve the Lord.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Returning to the Real World after TGCW16

A week ago at this time, I was driving home from The Gospel Coalition's Women's conference in Indianapolis. I attended the conference with my friend Meredith, and we met up with our friend Kristen, along with several other friends, old and new, while we were there.

It was such a life-giving and affirming experience for me, and I enjoyed reconnecting with friends from my days at Beeson nearly as much as I appreciated the Biblical teaching I received. It was a welcomed and much-needed reprieve from daily life.

But from the moment I dove back into the real world craziness of life as a mom of two active little girls, I've caught myself wondering if the weekend away was really real.

Did I really listen to Don Carson give a Christian response to suffering in this day and age? Did I really receive sound parenting advice from Jen Wilkin on raising children to be different from the world? Did I really hear my friend Betsy Childs Howard propose a Biblical viewpoint for approaching all our periods of waiting? Did I really get to meet and hear about the work of several recent Beeson grads for TGC and Proverbs 31 Ministries?

The answer, of course, is that yes, the conference really did happen. I really was there, and I really was encouraged and renewed by the people that I met and the messages that I heard. 

But in the midst of swim team practice and playdates with friends and preparing for Limitless and ohmyword catching up on the laundry and figuring out what in the world we're going to eat for supper and balancing the checkbook and paying bills, it seems so very far away. 

The good news, though, is that TGC has uploaded all of the conference media to their site, and I can listen any time I want to remember. There are several sessions that I know I want to revisit, and I'm looking forward to doing that over the coming days and weeks.

Conferences and camps and trips are always fun, but our faith is lived out in the real world. I'm thankful to TGC for giving me a piece of the conference to bring with me into this everyday ordinary life.

Until next time, grace and peace.