Brett's Burgeoning Faith

My little second grader, my firstborn, my "mini-Greg," my talker, my "remind-me-of-myself-child," is growing up. I can hardly believe Brett can read chapter books, add, subtract, spell, and receives number grades on homework instead of letters like 'S' for Satisfactory and 'N' for Needs Improvement. Yes, our little guy is growing up.

Last week, we watched videos of his birth, his first steps, first words, and first birthday. I remember all of it like it was yesterday. I also remember praying for him since he was in the womb... praying that he would know God and love God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and spirit. That he would love others. That he would have a faith in God that is all his own based on his experience and God's word.

Brett is in church a lot as you can imagine. After all, his parents work there and he is required to go! I have often wondered what his personal relationship with Christ would look like in light of his "socialization" in all things Christianity. Just like we teach our kids to speak our native tongue, we teach our kids about faith based on our own experiences. The beauty of our faith, of Christianity, is that we serve a LIVING GOD who speaks to us through his Holy Spirit. This means that even though we teach Brett foundational truths about our faith, our God actually speaks to Brett all on His own without us. Brett prays and reads his Kid's Bible and I know the God of the Universe speaks to him.

Brett says the most profound things about his faith. It might not be profound to you and me as adults, but in his own age appropriate way, Brett is learning to articulate what it means to be a Christian. Brett recently prayed the ABC prayer as we like to call it:

A: Admit that we are sinners (we have all thought, done and said things that do not please God, Romans 3:23).

B: Believe that when Christ died on the cross, it was the ultimate sacrifice for those sins. He rose from the dead on the third day and now lives eternally in heaven (Romans 5:8 and 10:9).

C: Choose to follow Him.

Praying this simple prayer means we have died to our old self and we are a new creation in Christ. Brett asked us a few weeks ago if he could now be baptized. Water baptism is an outward symbol of this experience according to Romans 6:4, "By being baptized, we were buried with Christ into his death. Christ has been raised from the dead by the Father's glory. And like Christ we also can live a new life." When we are submerged in water, it symbolizes our old self being buried with Christ; and, when we come up, we are a new creation in Him.

It was really cool that Greg got to walk him through this experience and baptize him. Here is Greg asking him if he has accepted Christ as his Savior:

And, here is Brett coming out of the water:

*Lighting not so good!

Brett is just beginning his walk with Christ. He has a lot to learn just as I, an adult, do. I know life will come with challenges and difficulties. His faith will be tempted and tried (even Jesus was tempted). My prayer is that those experiences will continue to build Brett's faith in a God who loves him and who created him for a purpose.