The Most Important Choice

Last week Carlos and Danny prayed to be saved. We've talked about it before, but this was different.

We were driving to Chuck E Cheese’s. On the way, Carlos started asking questions about Jesus and when He would come and we could see Him. I explained that no one knows when He will come but we have to be ready at any time. If we are ready, we will be able to go live in heaven with Jesus. His mood suddenly changed, and he got pouty and upset. Then he said “I’m not going to be able to go! They won’t let me in.” I asked him if he wanted to go to heaven, and he got more upset, saying “Yes, but I have done bad things. They won’t let me in!”

So we talked about asking forgiveness, that Jesus wants us to come to heaven and He doesn’t want to turn away anyone. It is our choice whether to ask for forgiveness. The light started to turn on in his head as he realized he still had a chance. For the first time, he really got it and understood what asking Jesus to live in his heart meant! I offered to help him pray, but he wanted to do it on his own. He prayed out loud in the car, while we were driving to Chuck E Cheese’s. A simple, straight-from-the-heart prayer.

During all of this, Danny, AJ & Brian were quiet and listening in. I knew that AJ and Danny would copy Carlos if I encouraged them to, but I didn’t want to coerce them into an important decision. But about 5 minutes later, (Thank God it is a long drive to Chuck E Cheese’s!), Danny yells from the back seat, “But Mom, I want to pray for Jesus too!” Who could help but smile at those words? He wasn’t ready to pray on his own, so I had him repeat phrases after me, but even then, he ad-libbed a bit and made it his own.

I am so proud of my boys. It was a very profound drive to Chuck E’s! Even though they had heard all of these things before, and they have even prayed for Jesus to live in their hearts before, this time was different. It really meant something to them, and they UNDERSTOOD. I felt such a peace and contentment from that pride in the boys and the choice they had made. Even better, they are proud and excited about that choice too.