Teaching the Little Ones

I'm grateful today for visiting teachers who teach by the Spirit. When they shared the monthly message with me and encouraged me to read scriptures and pray with my 16 month old and teach her the Gospel, I wasn't sure she was old enough to understand. We talked about the teachings that children are never too young to feel the Spirit and learn of Christ's love for them.

I kept it in the back of my mind but was a little lazy in changing my before-bed routine. Adding scripture and prayers with a 16 month old seemed like it would be adding quite a bit of time to the process, and I still wasn't convinced it was going to work.

One of the main reasons I procrastinated was that I didn't know how to go about it. I know it sounds silly, but something so simple seemed mysterious to me. I have seen families pray with their children, but they kids were always older (at least some of them), and I have experience teaching children 3 years old and up. I felt unprepared. How would I begin? How would I keep her in one place?

Well, I finally decided to just start a new routine. I consoled myself by thinking that at least she is too little to remember if I am awkward and don't know what I am doing. After bath and p.j. time, we headed to her room with scriptures in hand. I don't have any of the cutesy-fruitsy books with kid-friendly Book of Mormon stories and pictures of Jesus like the super-moms at church. (Note to self: You need to get more cutesy-fruitsy stuff!--But first you gotta figure out where in the world they get it from!)

I thought a picture of Christ would help a little, so I grabbed a missionary pamphlet about the restoration with a portrait of Christ on it. (I felt ill prepared. Can it be that I don't have a picture of Christ for my daughter? Ugh!) We sat in the floor of her room, and I sat her in my lap. I opened the scriptures to a random verse and just read it. I don't even remember which one it was. I didn't know what to do after that. What should I say? I knocked on strangers' doors for a year and a half for goodness sakes! I got chased away from people's houses. What is so scary about teaching a little baby? Why is this so hard?

 As I searched my heart, I decided that the most important message that anyone could hear is the love that Christ has for them. So I told her that Jesus loves her so much He sent her to me and her daddy to take care of her and teach her about Him. That's about all her attention span could take. Then I folded her arms and "we" said a very short prayer. We thanked Heavenly Father for each family member and for Christ's love. Amen.

She was wiggly. She was distracted. I don't know how to talk about the Gospel with a toddler. I felt inadequate  and clumsy, but I knew it was what I was supposed to do, so we kept it up.

Two short weeks later...

After bath and pajamas, I sit in her floor and she crawls into my lap. I choose one verse that's highlighted in my scriptures. She points to the pages as I read. I turn her around and tell her that Heavenly Father loves her so much he gave her eyes to see, ears to hear, nose, mouth, etc. We point to each one as we say them and giggle. I tell her that Jesus loves her so much He sent her to me to love and teach. She is quiet. She looks into my eyes as I speak. I ask her if she wants to pray, and she nods. She sits down and folds her arms. When we are done, the sweetest word falls from her lips--"amen".

I was crying as I closed her door, and I guess I gained the beginning of a testimony of the importance of teaching our little ones. After only two short weeks he looks forward to what has become my most special moments of the day. I know she won't remember this night. She's too young. But her spirit isn't. That's what I learned tonight. I have no idea how much our spirits remember, but I got a glimpse tonight of our eternal nature. She wasn't a little baby who doesn't understand what I'm reading. She was a daughter of God who learned of Him long before she was entrusted to my care, and I am blessed at this time with a knowledge of the Gospel and of the Lord's love for her. She may not understand all my words, but she can truly feel the love of the Lord and the peace the Spirit brings.

I thought I wouldn't be good at raising children in the restored Gospel because I didn't grow up with that myself. It's scary. I feel like a pioneer of sorts...like I'm making it up as I go along. It's a new kind of anxiety for me, but I was reminded tonight that I'm not ever truly alone. Even if the delivery of the message is clumsy, it's the Spirit who teaches, and I know with certainty that the Spirit was teaching both of us tonight.

I'm grateful for visiting teachers who listen to the Spirit, and I'm grateful that I listened to them. I've got a long way to go, but it's all about the baby steps.