She is 6 and a true girl through and through. The world is pink and is ruled by cuteness and cupcakes. We had a special weekend, just the two of us. I don't know what her favorite part of the weekend was but I know what mine was. We had a bit of a lazy Sunday morning before going to church and while eating our pancakes, and after teaching my beanie babies a ballet lesson, she pops the question. I don't know if she had been mulling it over or if it was spontaneous but my heart leaped when she asked me, "Why do people raise their hands in church?" My response, stripped of all the reasons that were running through my mind, "because it's a way that you can praise Jesus". She accepted that and continued with her pancakes. No discussion needed.
We drove to church, sat in the back (mostly because I hadn't sat through church with my niece before and didn't know if she would be fine without childrens church) She proved me wrong. In fact, I re-learned something that morning. Just praise Jesus. He is all that matters. We had song some songs, prayed, listened to announcements, and then there was one more song before the sermon. It wasn't a song where you jump around and have a happy Jesus party but rather one that was good to sing just sitting down. I don't remember it exactly but it was one of the oldie but goodies because it doesn't get pulled out too often. We sat there with everyone else and sang. She sat on my lap. She raised her hands. No one else was, at first. There was my niece, sitting on my lap, praising Jesus.
I have to admit that maybe I'm getting more sentimental the older I get but the purity of just praising Jesus hit me that morning through my niece. I pray that she continues to grow into a godly woman who continues to praise Jesus. I pray that she doesn't allow all the what if's, doubt, distractions, and traps that Satan lays out there to taint the relationship that has started to grow between her and her Jesus.
