Her growing heart

My soon-to-be 4 year old carefully inserted the doctor’s stethoscope in her ears. She was eager to hear for herself the sound of her heart.

I thought her growing understanding of how blood flows through the body and how her heart beats might just be from all the Magic School Bus videos she’s seen. It’s her favorite show and thanks to the wonders of VHS taping when big brother was young, I have every episode on tape. I was glad for the leg-up in her science education.

Her eyes lit up as she heard it amplified for the first time to her little ears–the beat-beat-beating of her very own little heart.

“Do you hear it?” asked our pediatrician.

“Yes,” she says.

“What does it sound like?” he asked.

“It sounds like Jesus in my heart!” she proclaims.

I beamed at the sweetness of her answer. Forget about science lessons, I was amazed at how a 3-year-old makes connections and shares them with the world so bravely.

As a mama of a full-house brood of children, I worry sometimes that the younger ones aren’t getting the prime teaching their older siblings got from a younger, more intentional mama.

But today, I rest easier, knowing that my baby understands that Jesus lives in her. And that she can hear him. Someday, we’ll explain the finer theological details of how it is that God’s Holy Spirit makes her hearts his home. But today, I’m going to let the mystery and wonder of her 3-year-old faith grow and beat on its own.

It’s her journey with Jesus. A beautiful beginning if I might say so myself.