2Y11M Inviting Jesus

Say grace at supper time.

Praying at church. 

We have been in the Vacation Bible School for the past two days. Kodi goes to the nursery while I teach the bible activities with the first and second graders. She seemed bored whenever I walked by that one way window. I'd see that teachers were dancing and singing, with a few enthusiastic children following them, a few others playing toys here and there, younger babies dozing off, and Kodi sitting there looking that she didn't care about what's going on. 

Maybe she did care. She just didn't know what to react at the moment.
She sang "Into my heart" after bathing while I was dressing her with the pajamas.
I asked, just out of curiosity, " Are you inviting Jesus into your heart? She said joyfully "Yes"

"Do you know who is Jesus?"

"Jesus is God"

"Does Jesus love you?"

"Yes!" almost shouting out. 

"Do you realize that you do bad things some times?" 

"Yes" 

"Can Jesus help you to do good things?"

"Yes", with lots of nodding

"Shall we ask Jesus to come into your heart now and help you?" 

"Yes"

So we started the prayers. In fact, she was more than ready to pray as she got her head down and her hands together. It was not our normal praying time. When we pray at bed time after finishing the story and lullaby, she'd often hug her blankie or me while we pray. She doesn't usually get down to a perfect praying posture like this so I believe this is a Godly timing. God is calling Kodi for something. After the prayer, she got up and looked for her bible and devotion book. We read the story of John the Baptist, Jesus called his disciples, and the paralytic that was dropped from the roof to be healed. I pointed to the baptism picture and asked if she would be ready to wash off the bad things. She said "I don't want, I don't  like" (OK, she has started this sort of Singlish and I am still working on it). When I probed a little more about why is it that she doesn't feel ready. She said "I don't like John" (referring to the graphic character on the book).

I needed to talk to someone at the church about this tomorrow and figure out what I should do next. This occurs at an interesting timing as we are going to share the ABCs of becoming a Christian with the VBS kids tomorrow. Nonetheless, I rejoice at God's calling that she was ready to say a prayer with me about inviting Jesus into her heart, and that she knows Jesus is God! Thank you VBS nursery teachers!

2Y10M Dancing

Kodi has always loved dancing. She just hasn't had so much fun dancing until the day Rebecca got married.

It was a formal reception at the Dupont Country Club. Everyone dressed up nicely, the silver wares were sparkling, the food was delicious, and the service was remarkable. The photographer roamed through the tables taking shots while we toast to the newly wed. We were very happy for Rebecca and Steve.

Kodi was the only mini guest that evening.  The other guest under 18 was Rebecca's niece, Dodo, who is about 10.

Instead of steak or salmon, she was served chicken strips and fries, with LOTS catchup!

She had a huge tantrum outbreak earlier that day after the wedding ceremony at the church. She was screaming her lungs out, not wanting to do anything, and being so upset that got us real upset too.  On top of that, she refused to nap, not even for half an hour. Hubby and I were exhausted after an afternoon of fighting with her and trying to put her down for a nap.

We had to attend the reception although we did not have the nerve to think what could happen with a tired and angry 2 year old. Rebecca's wedding was the main reason that we came back. Let's brace ourselves for the worst tonight, we quietly thought. Nonetheless, I seriously explained to Kodi that we were celebrating for Rebecca, and she needed to be a good girl, before we left the hotel room.  She seemed to get it, nodding her head calmly.

Out of our most pleasant surprise, she behaved nicely at the reception. Actually she was extra good, even better than her usual table manner. She quietly sat at the high chair playing with tatoo stickers, and ate most of the food on her plate, and interacted with friends in the most adorable way. She turned into a sweet heart.

She was also the first one to jump in when the DJ opened up the dance floor. She did her best swaying, turning, feet shuffling, bunny jumps, and the wheels on the bus kinda arm gestures, following the rhythms most of the time. A lot of friends came up to us and commented on how comfortable she was while everyone was watching and how she was on the ball with the music and rhythm. Did you teach her how to dance (could be, we sometimes dance impromptu at home when the music feels right, but it's silly dance that I'd not show anyone else)? Were you a natural dancer too? (uh,,, couldn't you tell I wasn't?)

If you ask me whether I enjoyed the joyful moment as much as Kodi did. I'd say quite the opposite. I was anxious through the whole time thinking when and what will she turn into a screaming and unhappy child. Looking back at the photos from the reception, I should have enjoyed myself more.