Say Amen

"Say Amen, Tal!" I say as we finish the prayer for the food at lunch. My two year old lifts her big blue eyes to mine and stubbornly yells "No!"

"No nummies till you say Amen." I sigh. It's become a daily struggle. Every meal. She'll say "Thank you Jesus" and "Amen" all day long, but if she's sitting at the table and it's time to eat, she simply refuses to comply.

I thought my first two children were strong-willed. I didn't yet know the meaning of the term. When Talia joined our family and became my daughter, it didn't take long to figure out that Talia wants Talia's way and will fight to the end to get it.

I'm not very strong willed. I'm a firstborn who likes to take care of people and seeks peace and harmony. If someone asks me to do something, and I can't find any reason to believe it's wrong to do it, I'll do just about anything. I can't understand why a barely two-year-old girl would put her meal on great hold just because she doesn't want to obey.

And it bothers me as her mom to withhold her food until she is finally broken down enough to mumble something through her tears that sounds remotely like "Amen." I want her to have her nourishment. I want her to grow into a strong, healthy young woman.

But I want her to love God more.

And so I fight, knowing that this struggle now while she is so young and tender will give her an easier life, and a better relationship not only with the people around her but most importantly with her Savior.

It makes me see Jesus so much more clearly. He doesn't want us to suffer. He hates it when we cry, when we struggle, when we lose. He created us to be eternally happy and carefree. But he knows that a little struggle now is what causes us to trust. To be put to the test where we are forced to stand up and choose whether we will follow God or follow ourself is His gift to us - the gift of choice.

I can choose to love Him, to serve Him, and to trust Him no matter what. And in return - I receive the benefit of joy and peace, no matter what. Or I'm free to refuse.

But that means no lunch. And who wouldn't want to eat a feast when it's set before you?

God has set before you life everlasting and happy or eternity without Him. All you have to do is be humble enough to admit you need Him. You need what He sacrificed for you on the cross. You need the power that raised Him from the dead. You believe His Word and you want to belong to Him.

You'll never regret "saying Amen" to your Creator.

You will most certainly regret the alternative.

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life." - Deuteronomy 30:19-20