New Life

A couple of weeks ago we were driving in the car and my five-year-old Arlene started telling me her plans for the future. "I want to be a missionary and a teacher and a mom. And Mom? I talked to God a lot last night."
"Oh, honey. That's good."
"Mom. Is't it strange that you can talk to God and he hears you even though you can't see him?"
"Yep."
"MOmmy, maybe sometime you or Daddy can tell me how to pray and ask Jesus in my heart."
We pulled over the car, right there by a grassy field in some new subdivision beside a garage sale sign and I prayed with her, for Jesus to forgive her and make her new and help her know him better every day.
I know it's special and I'll treasure that moment forever. I might never know all of the things I say or do that can show my daughter that God loves her, but that day it felt like I'd done something right. Like maybe it will pay off some day to be staying home with them, teaching them myself and doing all of this stuff that feels so... pointless most of the time.
I guess the best thing people hope for their kids is that they can pass on their beliefs, and that their children choose to live the right way. So I'm praying for the little seed growing in her heart, that it becomes bigger and stronger every day so that nothing in this world will pull it up or snatch it away.