Do you ever stop and wonder...

Since I became a mom, my stop and wonder-dreams for the future quickly stopped revolving around me and started to invest in my daughters. I often look at them and wonder how God is going to use them. I think about their personality traits and think of all the ways that God can use that for his glory and all of the ministries and careers that could result. This morning I had a moment like that in a big way with Mary Kate. A lot of it was spurred on by our conversation. Shortly after I we woke up this morning I was flipping through the channels on tv and came across a special on PBS about Iran. It was interesting to watch a tourism guide to the major cities and landmarks and people. I had never really seen or heard much about life there or what the cities look like or the people dress like apart from what our newspapers show (which is not that informative). I decided to stay there and watch because I was intrigued. About 15 minutes in, the host started talking about the mosque in this one city which is one of the biggest in the country. It was beautiful. And then they showed them praying and worshiping Allah. I wouldn't have normally thought anything of it really except that Mary Kate was sitting next to me watching as well. I wasn't quite sure what to say, but I knew I had to say something. I didn't want her to come to any conclusions in her head that weren't accurate. So I said, "In Iran, they worship a different god that isn't the real God. They don't know Jesus. " I wasn't sure how much she would understand, but I felt good about what I said. She got it. It clicked. She turned to me and said, "They don't know Jesus so they worship Idols. I think that is so sad, mom." WOW! She really understood. I didn't even mention anything about idols. But she is right. I told her it was sad...what she said next blew my mind. She turned to me and said, "I think I want to go tell them about Jesus mom...Is that ok? They need to learn about him so they can worship God and stop worshiping Idols. We should pray for them mom, all day and all night and pray that God helps us to get there because it is really far and will take a long time!" I almost cried. I knew she was a very compassionate child, but I never realized that her compassion flows from a heart of missions. A heart to reach people for Him. I don't know what she will end up doing with her life, but after today, I would not at all be surprised if she became a missionary! Dear Lord, Help me to raise Mary Kate and teach her how to follow you and become a Godly woman willing to follow wherever you lead her. Help me to nurture her compassion and guard her heart against the things of this world that seek to steal her joy and destroy her faith and innocence. Thank you for the joy of mothering this beautiful little girl and the blessings that she brings to my life every second of every day! Amen.