The power of a song

I will never cease to be amazed at the working of the Lord in my children's hearts.  It's not that I don't believe that God can and will work in their hearts, it's just that the daily responsibility of dealing with bad attitudes, disobedience, and disrespect can make us all lose perspective at times.

The other night, as I prepared the children for bed, I was reminded once again about the amazing Sovereign power and grace of our Lord. Josiah had a particularly trying day. Earlier that week, he cashed in his piggy bank money and purchased a new Lego set online. It was expected to arrive that day, but morning passed into afternoon, afternoon into nighttime and no Lego set arrived. For a 4 year old who had already waited over a week, waiting an entire day and not receiving it when it was supposed to come was devastating.

This resulted in impatience and rudeness spilling out of Jo.  We easily saw it as a character building moment for him. He just saw it as disappointment and sadness.

Back to our bedtime routine, as Josiah waited for Abby and I to join him in the bed for our prayer time, I over heard him singing a song.

"All I know is that I'm not home yet. This is not where I belong."

The song by Building 429, Where I Belong.

Joining him, I asked him, "do you know what that song means?"  Almost instantly, Josiah's demeanor changed. With a joyful smile he responded, "Yes!! It means this is not our home but our real home is in Heaven with Jesus!! And we get to play with Jesus ALL day long!"

We then proceeded to have a 5 minute discussion about all the wonderful things about Heaven. Streets paved in gold. Thousands of toys and playing with Jesus all day. No worries of getting hit by cars on those gold-laden streets. Never having to go to bed. Living forever. No sadness. No fear. No monsters.

And right before my very eyes, my sourpuss changed. The Lord was doing an amazing work in his heart, and you could sense and feel all the frustration and strife from the day melting away. Not only that, but the Lord was using Josiah to minister to me. So often it's easy to lose perspective of our day and get caught up in all our troubles and trials. I was brought to tears when I paused for those 10 minutes with my son and really processed with him the wonder and glory of our true home in heaven.  It always puts everything into perspective to be reminded that where we are is only temporary, but we have an eternal home to look forward to.

So it all started with the power of a song. Those words the Lord used, not just to change Josiah's heart but also mine. What a good God we serve.

**the Lego set finally arrived!!