She pondered them in her heart...I Get It

Luke 2:19, “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”                              

Luke 2:51, “…But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Who doesn’t want this for their babies?

You know how you can read a verse over and over again, and it doesn’t really mean anything to you until one day, BAM, it does? Luke 2:19 has been hitting me over and over this week and has hit me before.

There are times that my son blows me away. He can be the most obstinate,

antagonistic, strong-willed, rebellious little toot, but then he can be the most compassionate, comforting, protecting child I know. Then there are times he leads. He leads and kids who are older than he is, will follow. For example when he was four we were visiting our Spanish mission church, and something possessed him to start doing this particular activity. I didn’t think anything about it. It was silly, but he was enjoying himself and not harming anyone. Within ten minutes, children younger than Pearce up to the sixth grade were participating in this activity. They were all lying down on the top of the hill and rolling down it like little burritos. The pastor at the church came and spoke to me and talked of Pearce and his leadership. The pastor said, “One day, Pearce will be a preacher.” While I don’t wish this particular role on anyone, if God calls him to it, then God will lead him through it. I still can’t help but ponder Pearce’s ability to lead or what the pastor said.

And then there are the times that the depth of his wisdom and knowledge Pearce has, blows me away. For example, Pearce had asked Jesus into his heart, and Patrick and I had talked to him about it, but we just wanted to make sure, so we took Pearce to talk with our worship pastor. Bryan, our worship pastor, sat down and had a conversation that Patrick and I just observed. Bryan and Pearce have had an ongoing relationship since Pearce was a baby. Bryan asked Pearce what it meant to be baptized, and of course, Pearce knew, but he also pointed out that being baptized isn’t what saved you. Pearce also knew the symbolism of the baptism and what it meant once he came up out of the water. He knew he was expected to live a new way of life with Christ in the center of it. WOW! I pondered and I treasure this conversation in my heart.

And then there were the bad dreams he had on Wednesday night of this week. He had three of them. He came into our bedroom after the first, but he couldn’t remember it, but he was visibly shaken. The second dream involved him and his daddy walking in the woods, and before the snake could be killed, Pearce was bitten by a cotton mouth. His third dream involved Pearce being in the woods in the dark with a little boy and as they walked past a couple of men, one turned out to be the devil. It was obvious that this scared Pearce greatly. He told me, “Momma, I told him to go in Jesus’ name. In Jesus’ name he had to leave.” WOW! How many adults would know to say that?

Whatever I’m studying and learning in the Bible during my quiet time and my study time, I share with my children. For the first half of this school year, when I woke them up, I dressed them in the spiritual armor. Tickling their feet when I put on the shoes, pinching their bellies when I put on the belt of truth, mussing their hair when I put on the helmet of salvation, beating their chests when I put on the breastplate of righteousness, and making fun of their weak arms when I put on the sword and shield – this was our ritual. Recently, I told them about Jesus being tempted by Satan and how Jesus handled it and how we can handle temptations and dealing with the devil. Mommas, whatever you are feeding on you pass on to your babies! Is what your feeding on worth passing on?

Trust me when I say that I am not bragging because it isn’t anything that I’ve done. It is Christ in me. It is Pearce listening and learning the things to which we expose him too. And it is God working in Pearce. It’s when these things come together that things happen in the lives of our children, and I’m just so amazed.

In Luke 2 the Bible says several times how Jesus’ parents marveled, pondered, treasured, and were astonished by the things they saw in Jesus. I totally get it now. It’s amazing to see God working in the lives of our children. They are worth the investment. Just make sure you are equipped to invest.