I recently experienced one of my greatest joys as a young father. My seventeen month old daughter has taken to sitting in her closet. She asks us to open the doors by pointing and saying please, then she goes in, shuts the doors and can sit in there for quite some time. This was something she only did by herself until a couple of days ago, when she opened the doors from inside her closet, stuck her head out, grabbed my finger and pulled me into the closet with her. She intructed me to sit down. We sat in the closet for several minutes, just the two of us. occassionally she would babble and tell me about a dancing, jumping baby, but for the most part, we just sat.
It reminded me of being a third grader who had just received my first bible. I read chapter after chapter that night. I started in Matthew (the beginning of the New Testament). Some unthinking soul must have given me the KJV, because I remember in the 6th chapter reading, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret..." In accordance with the scriptures, I got out of bed, went to my closet, shut the door, and prayed, "Our Father which art in heaven..."
As I was reminded the other night, the closet can be an intimate place. I had forgoten just how special it can be to spend a few minutes with the Father in secret--in a closet.
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Great post, Eric. And thanks for leaving a comment at my blog.
Kids make prayer and worship so much more exciting. My son took us into the prayer chapel at our church and wanted to kneel down to pray. I didn't show him this. He just wanted to do it.
He's the most prayerful person I know, and he's only 2 years old. I thought my faith was growing, but until he was born, I don't think I knew what faith really was.
Those little miracles called children remind us that Christ wants us to come to him as our children do. There's nothing more beautiful than that.
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