1. Trash-bag Princesses

My Dad unrolls more tin foil, scrunching it up into a “flower” and artfully tying it on the black trash bag that was adorning me. He steps back and looks at his handiwork with pride. “You’re a princess!” he declares. My four-year-old sister grins at me. We are certain we look incredible in our trash bag dresses decked out with tin foil for decoration. We pose for pictures by the fireplace, eager to start "trick or treating" and get candy. 

​

An hour later, tummy full of candy, I walk into my parents’ room, heave myself up on the bed, and sit by my Dad, brow furrowed as my five-year-old self thinks about how to ask him my many questions.

“Daddy?” I start.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“What was that man talking about at the school program today? About the gospel and Jesus or something?” The school I attended for kindergarten was a Christian school.

My Dad turns to me on the bed, giving me his full undivided attention. “That man was sharing about what Jesus did for us when he died on a cross.”

“What?” I look at him, confusion on my face.

“’Gospel,’” he began, “means ‘good news’. Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, died for our sins, the wrong things that we do, dying a horrible death on a cross. God raised him from the dead three days later, so if anyone puts their faith in Jesus Christ, they will be saved and can have a relationship with God.”

“I want to have a relationship with God,” I say.

My Dad looks at me and smiles. “Well,” he says, “You can. You just need to pray and ask God for forgiveness for your sin. Tell Him that you believe that Jesus is Lord, died for you, and was raised from the dead. Ask Him to help you live for Him and begin a relationship with Him.”

“Can you help me pray?” I ask.

“Of course. Let’s pray together.” My Dad leads me, and I pray, committing my life to God and putting my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior, at the time not knowing the gravity of the life-altering decision I had just made. To my neighbors that night I was dressed in a trash bag, but now to God I was dressed in the righteousness of Christ.

I became a daughter of God.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

"...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" Romans 10:9-13