Big Decisions

I am not sure that words can adequately express the joy and satisfaction that fills my heart since last night’s Upward cheer practice. 

It had all the makings of a normal practice,

1. Stretching
2. Warm-Ups
3. Motion Review
4. Cheer/Chant Review
5. Devotion Time     <------------- THIS is where things got amazing!
6. Jumps
7. New Cheers

During the devotion time, we talked about their Bible verse for the previous week, which was

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.”  John 14:6

This prompted conversations about how to get into Heaven; that no amount of money will get you there, and that good deeds are not enough.  The girls were very interested in the conversation and started asking questions like, “How DO you get into Heaven"?”

I explained to them that the only way to get into Heaven is to believe and KNOW that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins and was raised up three days later and ascended into Heaven.  He died for us because He loves us SO MUCH!  And if we talk to God and pray and ask Him to come live in our hearts that He will forever!

This made the girls very excited – of course, it is VERY EXCITING!!  Katie was the first to say,

“Can I pray that prayer now?”

Oh, the melting that my heart did at that moment.  But I had no idea as we said her prayer and she repeated the words after me, that six other little girls would pray the same prayer and also ask Jesus into their heart as well.  One by one they lifted their hands and asked if they could do the same and before I knew it, we had the most wonderful circle of cheerleaders and mommas with big smiles (and some teary eyes), rejoicing in the decisions that were just made by God’s own little princesses.  Our rejoicing came in the form of a huge group hug that, honestly, could have lasted a lot longer for me because it was amazing. 

I am so humbled to be used by God to play a part in these children’s lives and the development of their faith.  I pray that this is only the first step of many that they will take in faith.  I also asked God this morning in my quiet time that He would give them the support and encouragement they need from their family and friends to develop into the people that God would have them to be.  It was truly a blessed evening.  And it was REALLY hard to go back to learning cheers after that!  Somehow we managed.

Katie could not WAIT to tell her Daddy and brothers after practice; they were practicing in the adjacent gym with their ball team.  She ran up and told Jack, and they have now decided that they are going to get baptized this summer in the river, together.  How great is our God?!  I mean, seriously?!  I know I say this a lot, but really, MY HEART IS SO FULL.

Ok so anything I could possibly tell you now is going to pale in comparison to the recounting of last night so I’ll just tell you that I ran 7 miles this morning on stiff legs and I am looking into getting a foam roller to help this.  Oh, and I ran it pretty fast with a negative split to boot.  That is all.

For those of you who have prayed and are still praying for our Upward program: THANK YOU AND PLEASE KEEP IT UP! 

Love y’all.

xoxo