I will say yes, Lord, yes!

Austin said yes to Jesus.

A few months back, Austin was crying during an invitation and I asked him if Jesus was talking to him. Austin said that He was. I asked Austin what Jesus was saying. Austin said he didn't know. I told Austin to keep praying and ask Jesus to make it clear to him what He was saying. I explained to Austin that Jesus doesn't hide his will from us. He just shook his head and hugged me. After church, Austin went and told Pastor that God was talking to him but he didn't know what He was saying. Pastor encouraged him to keep praying about it and God will make it clear to him.

A few weeks ago, around the dinner table, we all picked 2 preachers to pray for daily that would be preaching at the Bible Conference and that the Lord would use those preachers specifically to speak to our hearts. Austin picked Bob Bevington and Tom Sexton. Like the rest of us, Austin sent cards to these preachers telling them that he was praying for them every day and he was so excited about the upcoming Bible Conference.

Wednesday night, April 15th, Tom Sexton preached on "Seperation unto the Gospel". The devil was fighting Austin from the beginning of the service. However, the devil did NOT win! At the invitation, Austin was crying again. I pulled him close to me and asked him if Jesus was talking to him. He told me He was. I explained to Austin that Jesus wants him to say "yes" before He will tell Austin anything more. Jesus wants us to say we are willing to do whatever He has for us to do. After we tell the Lord we are willing, He will tell us more specifically what He has for us to do. Austin asked if he could pray right then. I asked him to wait until after the service, so we could talk to Daddy and make sure Austin understood what I had explained. As soon as the service was done, we sat in the pew and made sure Austin understood what we were saying about surrendering. He said he understood. He wanted to pray but first asked if there was a certain thing he was supposed to pray. I told him there wasn't a certain way to pray, just like when one gets saved, but that he was telling Jesus "Yes, I will serve You for the rest of my life".

SIDE NOTE:
~~~The next morning, Brian Green was preaching about our High Priest. He used this analogy about our prayers to God. He said it's just like when a little child brings his hand picked flowers to his mother. The mother picks out the weeds, adds some flowers of her own and puts them on display. He said that we bring our prayers to Jesus, our High Priest, and He picks out the "weeds" and adds what He knows we needed to say, and presents our prayers to The Father. After Mr. Green told this example, Austin looks up at me with a great big smile on his face and said "Just like last night, when I surrendered". I smiled back (my heart was beaming) and agreed with him.~~~

After the service, he told Pastor what he had done and Pastor encouraged him to come forward the next night and tell the church family of his decision, which we did. Austin was also able to tell Tom Sexton and Dr. Keen.

At our afternoon church service at our Assisted Living Home, Austin gave his testimony and sang a special called "Here is Love". Over lunch, I explained to Austin that he had told Jesus "yes" today by giving his testimony and singing a special. He was surprised. Every day, we all have the option to either say yes or no to the Lord, and Austin said yes.

Thank you, Lord for this blessing of a boy, Austin. We have known for a very long time that Jesus has something special for him. Austin had a rare blood disease that gave him a sickness at a very young age (approx 5 months) that almost took his life. The Lord raised him up, healed him of his blood disease and is using Austin for His glory. We pray he will always choose to serve the Lord. We are striving to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and to shield him from all worldly influences that would hinder his growth for the Lord.

1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him;
that, when he shall appear,
we may have confidence,
and not be ashamed before him at his coming.