On Christmas Eve as I was saying good night to my oldest daughter Mikaela when she asked me how old my sister was when she died of cancer. We talked about this for a while. She said, “Did she go to heaven?” We talked about this for a while, then she kind of made the statement,
“You have to be good all the time to be a Christian hey?”
No matter how many times we have gone through the concept of grace it hadn’t sunk in, so I explained again how in Christ, salvation is a free gift, we just need to accept his death for us and live for him.
She said, “Dad, I could do this, I would like to be a Christian”
I’m like, maybe I didn’t explain this well, so I went through it all again, making sure she understood the significance of it all. It seemed that all the things we had spoken of to this point all made sense at that moment, not yesterday or last week, but right then on Christmas Eve 2004. We pulled the whole family in as I believe a decision like this is a community event, I’m not so big on the ‘personal faith’ thing, but that’s another hobby horse. We prayed together as a family, Mikaela prayed, she dedicated her life to Jesus.
The follow few days Mikaela told her grandparents and close friends and we all celebrated her decision.
My big girl is growing up. I never wanted her to be pushed into this decision, in fact I would say at times I was more than passive about it, it was her call. I wanted to “make her a believer”, but only she could do that…not even God. Sure the Holy Spirit brings conviction of our need for Christ, but ultimately it was her decision – and she made it. I see this as a stage in her discipleship journey, not the begining, just a step along the way, lots more to go from here!
Thanks Lord!
No Guarantees 
Must have been a great start to Christmas for you.
Goosebumps! Only a dad knows the feeling i reckon!