By Mallory Leisy – Wake Forest, NC
Jesus, you are Lord over my family. These are words that I speak often. Every morning before my feet hit the ground, I declare that Jesus is Lord over my family and my day.
There was once a time in my life that I put Jesus on a shelf, on the back burner. He was my savior and someone I highly adored, but I had never truly invited him in to be Lord over my life, and I most definitely never spoke a word to him.
These barriers I had placed around Jesus kept me from him for so many years until I began going to Father about my Lord Jesus Christ. I would ask permission to get closer to Jesus.
I would ask if it was okay to truly follow our savior. God’s answer was always, “YES!”
Take the Challenge
I then decided to take on a 30-day “grow closer to Jesus” challenge that I created for myself. My goal was to receive Jesus on a different level than before.
I was determined to see how big of an impact he could have on my life within these 30 days by putting his name continually on my lips.
“Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:2 NKJV
And so it began. Every morning, I spoke Jesus as Lord over my family and my day. I invited him into every second of my day and had his name on my lips from sunup to sundown.
As I prepared food in the kitchen for my family, I would invite Jesus to take part in our supper. I went on strolls in the yard with Jesus, talking to him about anything and everything that popped into my head.
I would take drives down the road and blare music to sing to him. During that month, I called on Jesus to heal the numerous bumps and scrapes that my children collected.
This became a special time connecting with Jesus because as I truly saw him as my Lord, and I realized that I CAN have a real relationship with him.
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV)
A Bathroom Miracle
The icing on the cake was when I was standing at my bathroom sink, preparing to wash my face for the night. As I took off my wedding rings (two separate rings) to place them in the ring dish I have next to my sink, they slipped from my hands.
Before I even had time to think, I yelled out, “In the name of Jesus!” I didn’t hear them drop into the ceramic sink.
Can you guess where those two rings ended up? Not down the sink! They were perfectly placed directly on the ring stem — both of them!!!
I felt Jesus’ presence at that moment, and I knew he had done a miracle for me to show me that he was near. At that moment, I knew Jesus revealed himself to me.
Wedding rings by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images
What started as a 30-day “grow closer to Jesus” challenge turned into a walk of growing closer to Jesus every day of my life and inviting him to be a guiding light for raising my children.
The more I learn about Jesus, the more I desire to raise my children to reflect the same qualities he showed when he walked this earth.
As I have invited him to be Lord over my children, I have seen them call on him more themselves for the little things, such as bug bites or scrapes from falling. They have drawn closer to him because they see the fruit of what the name of Jesus can do!
Praising Jesus through music has become an everyday occurrence in our home, and oh, what fruit we have seen from doing so! Our little ones have learned the lyrics to many praise and worship songs just by having it on in the background throughout the day.
On any given day, we find our children singing to the Lord as they are playing with their toys, riding their bikes or playing out in the yard. It has almost become second nature to them!
Photo courtesy of needpix
As we decided to actively invite Jesus to be Lord over our family, we have seen our entire family grow closer to the Father.
God put him at His right hand (Romans 8:34) and head of the Body of Christ for a reason, and you can see the fruit of that in your family also. Invite him in!
Mallory is a homeschool mom of four children who has a love for the beach, a good cup of coffee, and old classic books. Mallory and her husband Jeremy are both ordained ministers who co-host The Vine, a podcast dedicated to all things marriage and raising children in God’s true Word. She has a passion for spreading God’s Word on marriage and raising children.