My 6 yr Old and Communion

At our church we practice open communion. What that means is, if you profess a faith in Christ then no matter what denomination you belong to, you are welcome to take communion. Our children are to be taught by their parents as to the meaning of communion.

Our church bulletin tells parents that we need to make sure our children understand why they are taking communion and it's up to us if they partake or not.

I have my children expain to me why they are taking communion. If they can't explain it, then they need to wait. I only do this when they are little. Buddy, who is 10 is allowed to take it without explanation. Doodle on the other hand is 6 and I have him share with me each month we have communion why we take the bread and then the juice.

Doodle has had a sweet spirit toward the Lord for, well for as long as I remember. So, I know that he understands who God is in his life. His heart is truly affected when he's done something "wrong" and thinks of how the Lord sees it. It truly breaks his heart. This is just who he is, not something I've done or not done.

This past Sunday we had communion and I asked Doodle what the "bread" meant to him and he answered me. Wish I could rememeber now what he said. Next came the juice and he said to me, "didn't I already say this?" and I told him, "kind of with the bread," but I said that we need to remember that Jesus's hands and feet were pierced and his blood reminds us he died for our sins and we can live with him in Heaven. Then as I do after we discuss I tell him he needed to take the time to thank God for Jesus and to ask God to forgive him of any of the "naughty" things he's done like fighting with his brother or something along those lines, and help him to do better.

As we pray during church, I check on my boys to make sure they are taking the time to "pray" also. When I say pray I mean it differently for my kids than I do for me. At their young ages I just hope their eyes are closed and they are being respectful of that prayer time. There's no way for me to know if they are actually praying. I wish my eyes could've recorded what I saw next so that I could share it with you. I looked over at Doodle and the sight was seared into my mind. His eyes were closed, his brow furrowed and his lips were moving. He was fervently praying. Of all 4 of my kids, he's the first I've seen pray so earnestly.

I just sat there watching him. I wanted to nudge the people around me and say, look at how precious this is. Not because he was my child, but because it was so amazing. if it had been someone else's little one, I may have nudged the gal next to me. A childlike faith, is there anything like it? Jesus's disciples tried to prevent the children from being near Him and He responded by saying, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Mark 10:14-15


Here are some other scriptures that remind us of Jesus' thoughts of children:

Matthew 11:25 "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to the little children."

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them , for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Mattew 19:14

Mark 9:37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."