poke, poke, polka

at night, camden gets pretty slap happy when bedtime comes around. he goes hard all day long! and then he crashes about as fast and as hard as he has been going during the day. it's not unusual for camden to be going through some of his memory verses, and fall asleep in mid-sentence. or, for him to be going hard (read not cooperating) while we're reading Scripture, and suddenly there's silence. i'll look over and literally camden will have been busy 10 seconds earlier, and he will be sound asleep, and the zzzzzz's are rolling.

tonight we were working on some memory work from john 14, the text said, "these things I have spoken unto you, being yet present with you." (vs. 25) when the text says, "I," and it's Christ's words, i have use the sign for Jesus.

as we were talking about the verse, i was asking camden who the "I" was. in his slap happy mood, he said, "poke, poke, polka." i played along and we kept talking and laughing. several times i asked him the same question. always the same response.

finally, he said, "mama, where's my poke, poke, polka?"

he'd been so silly, and we were having fun, i wasn't really thinking too deeply - but he was.

i asked him what he meant. he signed Jesus, and said, "poke, poke, polka."

it hit me what he was talking about. when we were saying, "I" in the verse, he was thinking "me," while we were signing Jesus. we have talked a lot about why we sign Jesus by dotting the palms of our hands with the opposite hand, signifying the nails that the roman soldiers used to nail Jesus to the cross. in his three year old mind - pokes . . . poke, poke, polka.

so we talked again about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins, for all the times we don't obey God. and how because of His sacrifice, we don't have to pay for our sin. i know, i don't always get it, how is he supposed to understand? but his answer brought me to tears, seeing his tender faith become a little bit of sight tonight.
 
camden: "mommy, do i have to have pokes in my hands?"
 
me: "no camden. Jesus died for us. His hands had nails pounded into them. He did that so that we don't have to live with our sin. He had to die and be raised alive, so that we can be with our Father God. camden do you know what sin is?"
 
camden: "the yucky stuff." (refering to our memory work from lk 6.45)
 
me: "yeah camden, the yucky stuff."
 
camden: "hey mommy, is He the good stuff?"
 
me: "yes, camden. He is the good stuff. not only is His Word the good stuff that we want to put in our heart, but Jesus Himself will come to live in our heart and make His home there - all because He died on the cross for our sins."

camden: "but mommy, we have to keep His sayings and His Father will love us" (jn 14. 23)

me: "yes, camden. He takes our words and our actions very seriously. just like when i ask you to do something and i want you to obey. what happens when you obey?"

camden: "you're proud of me & i get a star on my chart."

me: "what happens when you disobey, and you're not trustworthy?"

camden: "you get tears in your eyes, and you're sad."

we talked a little more about how disobedience is yucky and that it is sin, that we don't want that in our hearts, because that's what will continue to come out. and about how Jesus is the good stuff. when we hide His Word in our hearts, good stuff comes out.

and in true form, camden immediately fell fast asleep.

i will never again doubt the importance of hiding God's word in his heart - i am constantly amazed at how young he is, and yet the little bit of scripture that we are memorizing, little by little he's putting it together.