At the turn of the New Year we all make resolutions. When Ethan, my eight year old son went to school after the turn of the new year he and his classmates did a project where they made a wish. The teacher got the idea from the Japanese Daruma Doll. Here’s a quick second grade summary of the Daruma Doll:

“In Japan, one way to make a New Year’s wish is to buy a daruma doll. This doll has no arms, legs, or eyes. It does have a heavy bottom. If the doll tips over, it rights itself. The doll is a reminder to never give up! When a wish is made, one eye is drawn on the doll. When the wish comes true, the second eye is drawn. The doll is kept until the end of the year.”

So each student colored a doll and then responded to three questions:

  • My wish for the year 2010 is…
  • One way I can help make my wish come true is…
  • Another way to help my wish come true is…

Ethan is eight. He is in second grade. When he was baptized, our pastor Bob Smart, prayed that Ethan would become an evangelist. He asked God to use him to lead many people to Jesus. We talk to both of our children (we also have a daughter Libby who is 6) about their “bapitisms” (as they say it) often. We show them how God is making good on his covenant promises that he made to them and to us on the day of their baptisms. They are embracing these promises too.

Back to the story. Ethan brought his daruma doll project home a week or so ago and here are his responses to the questions (his spellings, not mine!):

  • My wish for the year 2010 is… to teach more people about Jesus’s ways!
  • One way I can help make my wish come true is…to meet more people that dont belive in god!
  • Another way to help my wish come true is…get my friend’s togeter that do belive and tell people that don’t belive!

Our kids go the neighborhood school. They meet kids who are Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Atheist, and anything else you can imagine. They both come home regularly and say, “We have to pray for so and so because they don’t believe in Jesus.” Ethan and Libby long for their friends to know Jesus. I have to tell you I am learning more about what it means to be on mission for God from my “Beast” and my “Princess” than I ever did in seminary or in any of my training as a missionary.

In the world of an 8 year old Christ follower there are people who believe, there are people who do not. If you do not believe then you are missing out on so much love, fun, and friends! He can not understand why anyone would not want to know Jesus.

How about you? Oh, in case you think I made this up, the picture on the left is Ethan’s daruma doll.