Scarlett and her Prince Jesus



Scarlett Hopey-dope
3 years old



In the last few months, Scarlett has been growing in her love and understanding of Jesus. It truly has been amazing to watch. I feel like in these last few months, both my girls have grown up so much and have attached themselves to the Lord in such a real and beautiful way. As our family has been hit hard with a lot of unknowns and confusion and pain, my children have clung to Jesus. There is nothing more beautiful in this life then watching your children fall in love with Jesus for themselves… Not for you as a parent to look better because your children are walking with the Lord like they are “suppose” to, but they are walking with the Lord because the Lord has opened their eyes to how good and wonderful He really is and they love Him because He is real in their lives. It’s what I’ve prayed for each one of my kids even before I ever had them.

Scarlett, for awhile now, has been talking a lot about her “Prince Jesus” and how much she loves Him. She makes up songs about Him and sings all throughout the day of her love for Him. She really seems to have a true love affair with Jesus. She talks about Him all the time and says how handsome He is and that she wants to marry Him someday. She has two princes in her life which are her Daddy and her Jesus. She knows she can’t marry her Daddy because her Mommy already married him, so next on the list is her Prince Jesus. It’s something she brings up every day.

Last month, we were getting ready to have a garage sale.  As I was setting things up, the girls were playing on a couch we put out. They were being silly sisters, lost in imagination land. They were so cute so I wanted to cross the street to take a picture. I turned away from them and then heard a crash and Scarlett start to scream. I turned back around and saw that Scarlett had flipped backwards on the couch and landed on her arm straight onto the pavement. She was screaming so hard, she looked like she was going to pass out (which they have done since moving here to this elevation). I ran and picked her up just as Tony was running out to see what happened. Tony took her from me and brought her inside and laid her on a couch to try and check her arm to see if it was broken. Anytime we got close to her arm she would scream. Moriyah ran upstairs and brought Scarlett all her “comfort “things (blankets, buddies, stuffed animals).  I started praying for her and then the most amazing thing happened. She looked at me and started saying over and over, “I want Jesus! I want Jesus!” She was desperately calling out for Jesus. All I could do was pray for His presence to be close to her but she kept calling on the name of Jesus. It was like a Holy moment. In her pain, she knew Jesus was the answer. It wasn’t Mommy. It wasn’t Daddy. It wasn’t medicine. It wasn’t marshmallows (I was trying everything!). She knew it was Jesus. She called on Him in a way that was so incredible to me. It wasn’t some faraway god, or some made-up being. In that moment she was calling out for someone she knew. He was real enough to her that that was all she could think about or ask for.

The next morning she came into my room and said, “Mommy, I’m all better! Jesus came into my room last night and touched my heart and healed me.”  Now, my Scarlett Hopey-dope is full of imagination and gets lost in princess land, but there was something different about this story. I asked her if she saw Him and she said “yes” like it was an obvious answer. I asked her what He looked like. First she said she didn’t really know and then she stopped and said, “He looks like His Father.”  I asked if His Father was there and she said He was. I asked her if Jesus said anything to her.  She said that He told her that she was being mean yesterday but that she is a nice a princess. She said, “He’s really sweet, Momma.” She then looked at Tony’s computer and saw a picture from a promo clip for an old Easter service which had an image of Jesus and she got really excited and said, “Oh! That’s Jesus right there! See, He looks like His Father!”

It was such an unexpected conversation to have with my 3 year old. I’ve asked her about it later and each time she talks about it like Jesus, in the flesh, came and talked her that night. Maybe she had a dream. Maybe it really happened. I know as a little girl, I saw angels several times. The faith of a child is very powerful.

Since that night, she talks a lot about Heaven as well. The other day, Scarlett said that she wished that she was ginormous so that she could reach to Heaven. I asked her why she wanted to go to Heaven and she said that she wanted to see God and Jesus. I asked her what she wanted to do when she got there and she said, “I want to play hide-and-seek with the angels!”  

She also heard someone say, "It was like a little piece of Heaven." Scarlett gasped and said, "They got a tiny piece of Heaven?!! I want a HUUUUUUGE piece of Heaven!" 

Just a few nights ago, she came up to her Daddy and asked him to pray that they can go to Heaven. Tony prayed and then she quickly ran to the window and opened up the curtains and then sad, “OH man! We’re not there yet!”  My girl is very Heavenly minded these days.  She loves to pray, whether it’s someone praying for her or it’s her praying for someone else, she is always on top of things. She ALWAYS asks for forgiveness whenever she does something wrong (without being told to!).  The other day she kicked her brother (very gently but it was still not something she is allowed to do). She cried, asked for forgiveness and then went up to her Daddy and asked him to pray that she can be more kind.  I’ve never known a 3 year old to do that on their own, without any prompting.

She is amazing to watch. Her love for Jesus, her heart for Heaven, her quickness to seek forgiveness, her humility to ask for help to be kinder, her passion for prayer… all of it is amazing and so beyond what I expected to ever see in such a little one. She speaks of her Prince Jesus the same way she speaks of her Daddy or of her family. To her, there is no difference. She has some fierce faith, that little 3 year old!

Tony and I are in awe of what the Lord is doing in our children’s lives and hearts. Even when Tony and I have times of discouragement, the Lord speaks through these little ones He has given us, and it brings so much joy and encouragement. 

No matter what season you are in as a parent, whether in plenty or in want, your children are watching and learning. Can you praise the Lord with much AND with little? Is Jesus really your all in all or is it just a song to sing?  Tony and I are learning so much right now and seeing in an even greater way then ever before our need to have our faces in the Word and our eyes fixed on Jesus. No matter what, He is worthy of our praises. As we hope in the Lord, our kids do the same. Living as a Christian is hard, but the rewards of seeing your children cling to Jesus in their moments of pain and struggle, not Mom and Dad, but in Jesus, there is nothing sweeter. Walking by faith is easy when everything is going your way. Walking by faith when all seems lost, is painful and hard.  As we walk, so our kids walk with us. Our need for Jesus is massive, but as we walk in faith with Jesus, our joy is watching our babies walk right along with us. God works all things for good…