Little miss walked into the kitchen and hiked herself up on her usual stool at the bar as I was fixing myself a grilled cheese lunch.
“Hey!”
“Well, hello little miss.”
“I’ve been wanting to tell you something.”
“And what’s that?”
I continued to put the butter on each side of my bread pieces as she was talking.
“A couple of weeks ago, on August ninth, I was upstairs in my room at my mom’s house.”
“Yes.”
“And I was looking at my laptop, all by myself.”
At this point, I heard her become a bit nervous. I put my buttering knife down for a minute to look at her. I wasn’t sure if a confession or an announcement was on the horizon.
“Yes?”
“Well, while I was sitting there, I heard God speak to me.”
My demeanor changed to a cautious excitement.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“And then what happened?”
“Well, it was like nothing I had ever felt before and I knew it was God. So I just said, ‘Yes, God, I want you to be in my heart.’”
I left my sandwich on the counter and flew over to her shiny, small face.
“This is the best news you’ve ever given me. Ever. Did you know that your name has now been written in the Book of Life? God wrote your name, Layla Jane Blaschke, into His heavenly book. Your life has been sealed for all eternity.”
She smiled.
We walked into our bedroom, so she could tell her dad the good news. Then, we called all the grandparents and they celebrated with her too.
My favorite part of this whole story was her first word, her very first response to God’s voice. She repeated this story several more times to family members and she always said it the exact same way. When she felt God speak to her, she said back to him, “Yes. I want you to be in my heart.” It wasn’t, “Dear God” or “Is that you God?” or “I” or “Please”, not that there is anything at all wrong with those words. I just love that her first word to her Savior, was “yes”.
What a beautiful way to start her spiritual life! “Yes!” This then is my prayer for our new young warrior, that her answer would always be ‘yes’ to Jesus. When He commands her, she would say ‘yes’. When He sends her, she would say ‘yes’. When He corrects her, she would say ‘yes’. When He asks her to trust Him, she would say ‘yes’. Of all the responses she could give to Jesus, I pray she would always start with a ‘yes’.
Layla, we are so proud of you and we are celebrating with all the angels in Heaven that you have been born anew. May you always say ‘yes’ to our King.
