Murphree Six

God's precious gift

You know how when you have children and you hold them in your arms for the first time it feels like the closet thing to heaven you can get? Then they grow up and continually amaze you by the things they do and the questions they ask. You do your best to stay out of God's way so that they can be raised the way he would want, without all the garbage that society feeds them. Then there are the moments, sometimes when we need them the most, that our absolute greatest hopes are confirmed - that we actually ARE doing the job that God has asked us to do. This one job, the most important job of all, is the upbringing of our children to be God-loving, compassionate, sincere children in the hopes that one day they will be leaders of men. The following are the photos of one of those "fatherly confirmation moments" as I like to call them. This is the spontaneous question and answer session between Cole and I as he ponders Jesus' crucifixion.

While looking through his Bible he suddenly realizes that the nailing to the cross must have actually been painful for Jesus and his eyes well up with sorrow at what he must have gone through. He is very concerned about the fact that he had to carry his own cross and how heavy it must have been.

He asks about the scars that will be left behind on Jesus' hands and feet and if they will ever go away. With tears in his eyes he stares at the book and ponders out loud about the need for Jesus to pray because of the pain he is in. I did my best to explain the story of the resurrection so that he would understand what a triumphant moment it was, not a tragedy.

Through the entire conversation the only thing I could think of was that it was not important whether he gets it or not today. He will, eventually. The important thing is that he cares. He wants to know. He asks because his heart is good. God has provided my child with the tools of the heart to be a good person, a GREAT person. Hopefully I did a good enough job to explain to him that it is what Jesus did that allows me to spend eternity with my child. I can't imagine a second of eternity without Cole. He truly is the closest thing to heaven for me. I love you son.

Todd