the paquettes

Today was the first day that the good ‘ol wading pool came back out and I let the girls ‘swim’ in the backyard.  I had only two rules for the girls to follow:  No chalk in the pool and no sand in the pool.  They repeated the rules back to me and knew them.  I go back in the house and am pleasantly surprised how entertained they are and how much fun they are having.  I love watching them through the window when they think I’m not looking.  Awhile later I go back outside to find…dun Dun DUN…sand in the pool!  Rilyn immediately starts bawling when I asked who did it and she confesses that both her and Ella brought sand into the pool.  “Well, that’s it,” I said.  “No more pool for today.”  (Both girls are crying their eyes out now.)  You both broke the rule, and the consequence is no more pool/backyard for the rest of the day.  (You really would of thought I sentenced them to life in prison by the way they were crying-but this is how my girls are-DRAMATIC)  Then Rilyn, through her blurry eyes, looks up at me, ever so innocently, and asks if she is still going to heaven.

Wow.  I quickly say a little prayer for God to give me the words…

“Yes!  If Jesus is King of your life, nothing can separate you from Heaven.  Not the worst kind of sin you can think of.  And God wants to forgive our sins if we ask Him.”

I then explained to Rilyn and Ella that I sin everyday too, just like them.

“I think we should all ask God for forgiveness right now,” I said.

After our prayer and confession, I told the girls that God has now forgotten that they put sand in the pool!  Their sin is no more!  Rilyn then asked, “Does He still love me?”

“He will ALWAYS love you.  He gets disappointed in the wrong choices you make, but now He forgave you!”

“Where did our sins go?”

“Remember, when we went to the beach 2 weeks ago?  Our sins have been tossed in the deep part of the ocean.”

“Wow!” is all she could say.  And then they both wanted to cuddle.

Lord, let me be Jesus with skin on.

Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”

Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all oursins into the depths of the sea.

**Shock!  There are no pictures of the girls in the wading pool because I’m trying to cut back my picture-taking in May, (a little bit of a detox if you will), since I have over 250 pictures to scrapbook right now of Easter, Disneyland, and Asher’s birthday!